Client self-determination vs. house policy in residential care

Abstract

"Caseworkers have a corresponding duty to respect that right (self-determination), recognise that need, stimulate and help to activate that potential for self direction by helping the client to see and use the available and appropriate resources of the community and of his own personality. The client's right to self-determination, however, is limited by the client's capacity for positive and constructive decision making, by the framework of civil and moral law and by the function of the agency. During this study I shall analyse the last sentence of this paragraph taken from F.P. Biestek's book, "The Casework Relationship." Client self-determination is quite an issue in the world of Social Work. It seems that Social Workers and other field work professionals are acknowledging the richness in the personalities of their clients. Clients are reasoning persons, who can feel and think. However, one cannot assume that these persons go to an agency for help and guidance in bringing out their inner resources to face their problems and deal with them. Rather they would like somebody who would solve the problem for them. When one promotes client self-determination one cannot ignore the fact that the client has a constraint on his potential. This can be limited by institutions where sometimes the In this study I will try to analyse the client's potential for self-determination and the agencies' programs at promoting it. I will also analyse the types of conflicts that arise between client' s aspirations and institutional norms, and, the way these conflicts are resolved. I shall study two residential homes for boys and girls in Malta, run by religious persons. This will be done through unstructured interviews, both with clients and professional and 'non-professional' staff involved in these particular homes, participant observation and written material.