COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION 103 DOC 225 PROFESSIONAL BOUNDARIES POLICY

PURPOSE: To establish a Department of Correction (“Department”) policy regarding establishment and maintenance of professional boundaries between employees, contractors, and volunteers, with inmates, inmate family members and friends of inmates; to discourage and prevent violations of professional boundaries with inmates; to identify risk factors and warning signs of possible professional boundary violations by employees, contractors, and volunteers; and to establish uniform procedures for identifying, reporting, investigating, and resolving incidents of professional boundary violations with inmates in the Department.

225.03 GENERAL GUIDELINES

Violations of professional boundaries may occur between an employee, contractor, or volunteer and an inmate with whom that person is interacting.

1. While some violations of professional boundaries may be viewed as minor deviations from acceptable practices, such violations can contribute to careless practices, incompetence, and negligence that compromise the Department’s core values and its ability to fulfill its mission.

2. It is the personal responsibility of each individual Department employee, contractor, and volunteer to maintain professional boundaries with inmates with whom they interact. Furthermore, each individual supervisor and manager is responsible for identifying subordinates whose job duties or life circumstances may place them at a greater risk for violating professional boundaries; providing supervision and direction to those subordinates so that incidents of professional boundary violations can be prevented; and reporting violations of professional boundaries when they occur.

3. When boundaries are blurred or non-existent inmates may develop inappropriate relationships with staff, which may compromise staff's professionalism and significantly jeopardize the operation of the Department’s institutions and divisions.

4. Undue familiarity with an inmate may lead to violations of professional boundaries which may also be violations of criminal law and place the violator at risk of criminal prosecution. Such violations may include giving to or receiving gifts or other unauthorized items of value from an inmate or the family member of an inmate or engaging in sexual misconduct with an inmate.

5. Employees, contractors, and volunteers from every discipline and rank who work within a Department correctional facility are at potential risk for violating professional boundaries.

6. Individual life circumstances may make some employees, contractors, and volunteers more vulnerable and at higher risk than others for violating professional boundaries. Risk factors for violations of professional boundaries include but are not limited to: a. life crises such as the death of a family member or divorce; b. personal or family illness; c. financial difficulties; d. major life transitions such as retirement or demotion; e. low self-esteem; f. job dissatisfaction or poor relationships with peers and coworkers; g. physical and/or social isolation from other staff.

7. There may be warning signs or “red flags” that an employee, contractor, or volunteer may be at risk of violating or has violated professional boundaries. These warning signs may include: a. sudden changes in appearance or dress; b. spending excessive time with a particular inmate; c. self-disclosure of personal problems or intimate details of one's life to an inmate; d. asking an inmate about personal information except on a “need to know” basis; e. giving to or receiving unauthorized items from an inmate; f. inappropriate communication with an inmate such as excessive joking or sexual talk; g. inappropriate communication with an inmate's family member or friend outside of a professional capacity; h. touching an inmate, such as patting, pinching, or repeated brushing up against the person; i. relaxing enforcement of rules with a certain inmate; when being guarded, sensitive or defensive interactions with a particular inmate are brought into question; k. doing or receiving favors for or from an inmate; l. responding to routine requests in a different manner for different inmates.

8. The attire of employees, contractors, and volunteers who are assigned to a correctional facility is important in establishing professional boundaries with inmates. For this reason it is important that a professional appearance be maintained at all times.