Consumer Reactions to Casework

For a long time it was assumed in social work, as in other helping professions, that the professional judged the quality and relevance of the given service on the basis of professional knowledge not available to the client. Caseworkers commonly assessed ‘movement in the case’ by changes in the client’s behaviour, but failure might be ascribed to resistance or lack of motivation to benefit from casework help. The distinction between the underlying and the presenting problem was valid when people did not recognise the source of their trouble or lacked the courage to talk about it or could not find words to express it. But it reinforced the assumption that professional caseworkers knew best what people really needed, whereas in practice much casework was short-term, related to specific situations in which the client’s own view of whether he could cope better as a result of help was highly relevant. What the client wanted and whether he thought he would get it, was also one of several ways that might have been used to test the effectiveness of a service.