Paper 6- FAMILY INTERVENTIONS

Unit 2 Social Casework Practice

2.1 Definition and Principles of Social Casework Practice
Social casework is regarded as the primary method of social work. Social relevance and clinical
approach with scientifically grounded in nature are the theoretical characteristics of the casework.
Its theoretical perspectives are largely influenced by the charity organization society and from the
various schools of thought. It is understood as the concept or a practice where a social worker
is employed by the government or non-governmental organization to help an individual with
his/her case and provide advocacy and information. Moreover, it is about enabling individuals to
cope effectively for overcoming the psychosocial problem. To have a better understanding of this
concept let’s refer to the following definition.
Definition
Richmond (Richmond 1915)
Social casework may be defined as the art of doing different things for and with different people
by cooperating with them to achieve at one and the same time theirs own and society’s betterment.
Jarrett (1919)
Social casework is the art of bringing an individual who is in a condition of social disorder into
the best possible relationship with all parts of his environment.
Taft (1920)
Social casework means social treatment of maladjusted individuals involving an attempt to
understand his personality behavior, and social relationship, ad to assist him in working out a
better social and personal adjustment.

Principles of social casework.

Principles are the standard verbalized statement of a particular phenomenon. In general, it is
understood as the rules, law, concepts and fundamental truth. It is also understood as a hypothesis
that is to be tested by the empirical observation for the experimentation which may forward as a
guide to action. Similarly following are the principles that guide social caseworkers to initiate the
treatment process of social casework.

1. Principle of Individualization
2. Principles of a meaningful relationship
3. Principles of Purposeful expression of feeling
4. Principles of control emotional involvement
5. Principles of acceptance
6. Principles of non-judgmental attitudes
7. Principles of client self-determination
8. Principles of self-determination
9. Principles of confidentiality

1-Principles of individualization
Individualization is the recognition and understanding of each client 's unique qualities and the
differential use of principles and methods in assisting each towards a better adjustment. No
personal is alike their problem may be the same but the cause of the problem may differ.
Individualization is based upon the right of human beings to be individuals and to be treated not
just as a human being but a human being with these personal differences.

2-Principles of a meaningful relationship

The aim of establishing a meaningful relationship with the client in the social casework process is
to change the behavior of the client and to make the client more comfortable for the further
process. A meaningful relationship can be developed through the demonstration and showing
interest in the client's problem. The client should be convinced of the warmth and behavior of the
worker.

3-Principels of purposeful expression of feeling

Purposeful expression of the feeling is the recognition of the client's need to express his/her feeling
freely. Here the caseworker listens carefully neither discouraging nor condemning the expression
of the feeling. Sometimes stimulation and encouraging them when they are therapeutically useful
as a part of the social casework process and service.

4-Principles of Control emotional involvement

Whenever the client is expressing his or her problem the worker must respond to all the feelings
of the client with all his knowledge and principles without emotionally involved. The control of
emotional involvement in the case worker's sensitivity to the client feeling and un understanding
of their meaning,

5-Principles of acceptance
Principles of Acceptance are defining about accepting the client as the way he or she is in life. The
principles where the caseworker perceived and deals with the client as he really is including his
strength and weakness’s congenial and uncongenial qualities, his positive and negative attitudes,
his constructive and deconstructive without any prejudices. The worker should not feel hostile
toward client behavior differ from the approved one. The purpose of acceptance is a therapeutic
approach to help the social caseworker to understand the client as he really is, thus
making casework more effective the principles o acceptance is significantly important.

6-Principles of nonjudgmental attitudes

Nonjudgmental attitudes are the quality of the caseworker relationship. It is based on the
conviction that the worker should not judge the client on the basis of the problem and
circumstances of the client.

7-Principle of Client self-determination.

The principles of client self-determination are the practical recognition of the right and need of the
client to freedom in making own choice and decision in the casework process. The caseworkers
have the corresponding duty to respect the right of the client and allow them to make and take their
decision.

8-Principles of confidentiality
Confidentiality is the preservation of the secret information regarding details of the client including
the problem. The social caseworker plays very crucial roles in keeping the information given by
the client during the casework process as secrete as possible. In social casework, the principles of
keeping the information confidential is the right of the client. It is an ethical practice and obligation
of the social caseworker

2.2 Process of Social Casework Practice

Phases in the Social Casework Process: Study, assessment, intervention, termination and
evaluation are the main divisions of the social casework process. They are the threads of the
process that will continue to be interwoven throughout the social casework process. We, as social
workers would logically place study, assessment, intervention, termination and evaluation in that
order. Actually these steps are not performed in sequence, and as Gordon Hamilton said they are
woven in and out, one process paralleling another. She further explained that we made a tentative
or temporary diagnosis in the beginning and even planned out a treatment. However, our minds go
on drawing inferences and we continue in the preparation of the study to understand the client
better. Intervention or treatment begins with the first contact. According to Skidmore the study
process is treatment when it helps the client to clarify the problem for him or herself, and to make
changes in or her life situation resulting from this understanding. Since our assessment is on
‘persons’ and not ‘problems’ and while we are trying to understand the nature of the problem, we
are also trying to understand what sort of person has the problem. So understanding the person is
a continuous process. As long as the assessment continues the phases of study, intervention,
termination and evaluation continue to recur. The phases may overlap and may proceed
simultaneously. However, there tends to be an emphasis in time on one or the other. Although,
specific stages are not the rule, the processes, though interwoven, should be stated in orderly stages
of procedure or the case may lose its focus and may drift.

Study, Assessment, Intervention, Termination, Evaluation and their Applications to Social

Casework Practice

In the study phase the client presents the problem. This phase begins with the caseworker
involving the client fully in the process. The essential functions of the worker are to facilitate the
client to participate and interact in the process. This stage is crucial because the client makes the
important decision of whether to enter into the treatment. Whether to accept or decline a service is
the client’s decision. The client, not the worker makes the choice. So the initial contact needs to
be fruitful and constructive to encourage the client to continue in the service.

Client-Worker Communication

The worker’s attitude is an important controlling factor in what the client decides. At this juncture,
the worker is guided by the basic values of social work. Showing respect for the worth and dignity
of the client profoundly influence the worker’s practice with individuals. Worker believes in the
‘worth’ value which places the individual in a position of ‘eminence’. Where a client is placed
above objects and institutions, worth caring for because he or she is an individual. While
communicating this value, the worker reinforces the problem-solving capacity, worth and self-
affirmation in the client. Worker also applies his/her skill and knowledge in helping clients to
decide, to express individuality and ambivalence in socially approved ways. This helps the client
to achieve social enhancement and personal growth.

It is the first task of the worker to hear the client’s description of his problem, catching not only
the words but also their meaning--- what is said and what is unsaid are important. Mary Richmond
described the first interview in the book, ‘Social Diagnosis’ as an opportunity for a full and patient
hearing and for getting an idea of the client’s attitude towards life. A sense of leisure, even within
the limited time, conveys to the client that the worker regards him as a person of worth to whom
the worker wishes to give the time that is needed for full understanding. A rapport is established
where in the worker is natural, outgoing, and at ease. Worker takes definite steps to establish the
so-called emotional bridge over which factual data regarding the client and his/her problem pass
to the worker and back, over which interpretations and guidance pass from worker to the client.

Much of this type of communication takes place through nonverbal or para verbal means---nods,
smiles, and an attentive posture. The worker usually tries, by giving the client an empathetic
hearing, to lessen anxiety and give the client the feeling that he or she is in a place where help will
be given. Remarks such as “You are looking well today” or “I can understand how difficult that
must have been” or “Such feelings are natural” are some illustrations.

Two factors are important in this stage --- the client’s trust in the worker’s competence and his/her
trust in the worker’s goodwill. The way the client sees the worker depends a great deal on the
worker’s true interest in helping the client, his/her warmth and his/her acceptance of the client.
The worker’s way of greeting the client, his/her tone of voice, facial expression, and posture, as
well as his/her verbal expression and the actual content of his/her communications will all
contribute to how the client feels about the worker. The worker will have to show his/her
competence by understanding the client’s needs and feelings, by his/ her knowledge of resources
and by the skill with which he/ she enables the client to communicate. The emphasis during the
interaction is on the ‘here and now’ and on the problem. The problem may not be as what is seen
by the worker but as experienced at the moment by the client. This relationship, which is
established between the two, is therefore a central means of help in casework. Perlman describes
it as ‘an attitude of attentiveness, respect, compassion and steadiness’ and adds, ‘‘It is this
demonstration of sympathetic attitudes and intent that, more than words, encourage the client to
begin to tell his/her troubles.”

Understanding the Client

Study basically involves three main activities, which will help in understanding the client:
a) Ascertaining the facts;
b) Pondering their meaning; and
c) Deciding upon the means of help.

Ascertaining the Facts

According to the Oxford Dictionary ‘a fact is a thing certainly known to have occurred or to be
true, a datum of experience.’ Facts may be a present fact or fact of history, it may be tangible or
intangible. All these facts are important in casework often the intangible ones most of all. The next
issue that we need to address ourselves is: What facts do we really need in order to help? Data on
the client’s feelings and emotions, communicated in the interview are of great relevance and
provide important clues regarding the problem. It also helps in understanding the way the client
perceives the problem and the way the client has handled the problem in the past. A client cannot
be isolated from the family. Study of the family gives a clear insight into the relationship and
interactional pattern amongst the family members and more importantly between the client and the
family.

There are three aspects on which the worker may focus the study of the client’s family:

1) The influences in the family, which shaped the early years.

2) The way the family relates to the problem and the client.
3) The way it reacts to the worker’s intervention.

Such data are useful for assessment purposes and for decisions on treatment goals.

The amount of information, which a worker needs in order to help his/her client effectively, varies
greatly. In some cases, long and detailed exploration may be essential, in others it may be
unnecessary. The casework skill here is the ability to determine what each case requires.

To illustrate: For any child care officer, when planning to receive a child into care, particularly if
this is likely to be long-term, it is essential to have a thorough understanding of the child’s home
background and of the kind of life experience he/she has had so far. Worker, therefore, needs to
understand what is likely to be relevant in any problem, which falls within a given category.

Tools and Techniques in the Study Process

Interviews with the client and those significantly involved in the situation can motivate, can teach,
can secure information and can help the client to bring out things, which are bothering him/her. It
is also one of the best ways of observing a person’s behaviour. Records and documents also have
a special place. Collateral contacts are also helpful as these are contacts other than the client or his
or her immediate family, for example, schools, hospitals, employers and relatives.
Assessment

Assessment is the understanding of the psychosocial problem brought to the worker by the client.
Assessment means to ‘know through’ or recognizing or understanding thoroughly; it attempts to
answer the question ‘what is the matter”. As Hamilton says ‘it is a realistic, thoughtful, frank and
“scientific” attempt to understand the client’s present need. Assessment begins with a further
elaboration of the problem by the client giving the worker a better perspective and understanding
of the problem. As the case progresses and more information are added, the initial impressions are
established, changed or even rejected. There is a circular quality about assessment. It never stops
during the casework process. As Skidmore and Thackeray say that it is fluid and dynamic as it is
ever changing, beginning at study and continuing to termination.

Drawing of tentative inferences begins with the first interview and observation continues
throughout the case. All skills rest in knowing what to look for, what to disregard and how to
review the findings in the light of the present data. As one moves along with the client to explore,
the meaning of the facts becomes clearer. When one asks relevant questions, helps the client to
bring out the necessary data, whether he/she is telling about his/her current situation, his/her life
experience, or his/her purposes in using the agency, whether he/she arranges with us for a home
or collateral visit or for an interview between the worker and another member of the family, one
comes to an understanding of the problem and the person who has the problem.

Tasks of the Worker

One of the tasks of the worker in this phase is to arrive at causes and this means a more precise
definition and a description of the problem. For example, when the client tells the worker that he
is not able to get along well with his wife, we note this as an instance of ‘marital discord’ which
need to be further defined and described. However, as a complete definition of the case is not
always possible and final, the assessment needs to be reviewed from time to time.

Another task of the worker is to establish causal relationships. Use of causal knowledge focuses
on answering the question, Why did a given state of affairs come about? Thus, a caseworker might
use such knowledge to understand how and why a particular individual developed as he or she did.
For example, the boy runs away from school and does not return home because he is jealous of his
younger sibling, or the child’s aggressive behaviour was because of his early rejection by his
mother. Here we are looking at the interplay between the client and other people and the
interactions within them in order to understand how change in one part may affect another part. In
other words we are looking at the causes of a specific situation.
We do not seek to know the past because we feel that the past is structured in the present. Failures
in adaptation in the past are usually carried over and may be seen in the client’s functioning in the
present situation even in the interview itself.

The worker is constantly making a review of the strengths and limitations of the client and
assessing how the client is coping with the situation. Assessment therefore refers to the analysis
of strengths, capacities, limitations, motivation and opportunities of the client. Eventually the net
result of assessment guides the worker in planning out the intervention.

Role of the Worker

The role of the worker is essentially that of a knowledgeable person. The worker in a helping role
applies his or her knowledge of life situations and understanding of human behaviour. A thorough
knowledge of Freud’s personality theory may be essential. The functioning of the many aspects of
the interacting forces such as id, ego and superego, including how the individual’s defences operate
is considered of primary importance in assessing the client’s capacity to deal with the problem and
the extent to which he/ she is contributing to his/her own problem. Any body of knowledge that
focuses on understanding human behaviour, whether in terms of personality or society becomes
essential. This is the reason why we study the subjects in our courses --- dynamics of human
behaviour and individual and society.
We also need to understand the nature and dynamics of role expectations as they influence the
individual’s shaping of his/her own behaviour, his/her expectations of how others will act, his/her
interpretations of their actions and consequently his/her response to their actions and their response
to his/her.
An assessment does not result in categorization of individuals or in labeling of problems. It further
facilitates the worker to use psychosocial classifications say for example, according to socio-
economic class, which is often represented by education plus occupation and income or physical
disease for which the classification is arrived at by the doctor or breakdowns or inadequacies in
social functioning which may be classified into, for instance, parent-child adjustment problem or
learning problem. Classifications may be kept flexible keeping in view the dynamic and changing
life situation. Questions, comments and in many non-verbal ways, the worker communicates to
the client to further elaborate the problem as may be required for intervention. A mutual agreement
is maintained between the worker and the client. Goals are set according to the client’s needs and
the availability of services.
Intervention
Technical definitions of “intervene” as given in Webster’s Dictionary include “to come in or
between by way of modification” and “to come between in action”. Intervention knowledge would
include that knowledge which helps caseworkers bring about change in those situations with which
they are concerned. This knowledge focuses on the questions, What can be done to modify this
situation, and will it be effective?
 Intervention begins with the set of goals as decided together by the client and the worker. Goals,
as mentioned earlier are determined by the client’s needs and the availability of external resources
if the services within the agency are not available. The ultimate objective of the worker is to reduce
the client’s distress and decrease the malfunctioning in the client’s situation or to put it positively
as Hollis says it is to enhance the client’s comfort, satisfaction and self- realization. Here we must
look at client motivation and client strengths and at how the situation can be modified or changed.
According to Skidmore and Thackeray, Intervention is guided by a set of principles, which are as
follows:
1) The client’s right to decide his or her own course of action. Worker considers the limits of
the client’s capacity to make sound choices. This is encouraged and respected by the
worker, knowing that one small achievement can be a stepping-stone for further
development.
2) Acceptance of the client’s capacity to change and that he/she can and will utilize his /her
resources to improve.
3) Social work relates to strengths rather than sickness or disorder. Limitations are handled
and recognized realistically.
4) Knowledge about the client’s family and the various situations related to it are used
responsibly for the welfare of the family. The worker shares this information appropriately
with the knowledge and consent of the client.
5) Worker is responsible not only to the client but to him or herself, the agency, the community
and the profession.
Categories of Intervention
Intervention can be of three types: a) Direct, b) Environmental modification, and (c)
Administration of a practical service
a) By direct methods of intervention is meant a series of interviews carried out with a purpose of
helping the client make constructive decisions, maintain an emotional balance and reinforce
attitudes favorable to growth and change. They are called direct as they involve face-to-face
interaction. These include counselling, supportive techniques like acceptance, assurance, and
facilitation of expression of feelings, accrediting and building of selfconfidence, and being
with the client. Counselling techniques are inclusive of the supportive techniques as in the
beginning phase of the client worker communication, use of supportive techniques is
necessary for a professional relationship. However, as Grace Mathew says they need to be
considered as two sets of techniques as supportive techniques and not always followed by
counselling techniques even though counselling techniques are always preceded by one or
more supportive techniques.

Counselling is intended to help a person in a rational way to sort out the issues in his/her
situation, to clarify his/her problems and conflicts, to discuss the various options and help
make choices. Counselling, to some extent is an educational process and is used only for
individual counselling that calls for professional training, education and experience. Some of
 the important counselling techniques are reflective discussion, giving advice, motivation,
clarification, correcting perception, modeling, anticipatory guidance, role playing, reality
orientation, partialisation, interpretation, universalisation and confrontation. (For more details
of these counselling techniques read the book, “An Introduction to Social Casework” by Grace
Mathew.)

Supportive techniques: Acceptance, which is a basic technique of helping, is conveyed

through words and the overall behaviour is visible to the client. Further, it is characterized by
the way the worker demonstrates warmth and genuineness to the client. The way the client is
received and listened to, is important in creating a feeling of being accepted. One way to accept
the client is to empathize rather than sympathize. Sympathy is the feeling of concern,
compassion or sorrow, while empathy refers to the ability of entering into another person’s
‘shoes’ or mental state and to feel the latter’s feelings. Worker has to guard himself or herself
from sympathizing with a client.

Assurance is a technique used by the worker to help the client understand that his/her feelings
are not judged and that the worker is not shocked at hearing the client expresses feelings of
hatred, jealousy, resentment and anger. The worker can make statements that are assuring like
“I can understand how you feel” or “it is natural to have such feelings in such circumstances”.

Facilitation of expression of feelings is a technique of helping the client to vent his/her

feelings. Strong feelings that are bottled up can create blocks in thinking. In such cases it is
essential for the worker to help the client to express and the worker acts as a prodder and
prompter.

Accrediting and building of self-confidence refers to the worker pointing out to the client
his/her strengths and giving him/her due credit for the tasks performed. This helps the client
build up his/ her confidence.

Being with the client is a technique that is essential when the client loses confidence or is
weighed down with anxiety and is unable to make decision or carry out his/her tasks. In such
instances the presence of the worker will serve as a support.

b) According to Hamilton environmental modification refers to all attempts to correct or

improve the situation in order to reduce strain and pressure. The emphasis here is on modifying
the situation. This method is often referred to as an indirect method of intervention as the focus
is on the change of physical environment, or an alteration of any of the social systems, which
may be essential for the client for better functioning. For example, the client may be
encouraged to join a recreational or other group, so that he/she may be able to function better,
or arranging programmes to reduce strain for the slow learners for whom competitive
situations are to be avoided.
c) Administration of a practical service as Hamilton says is one of the oldest and best known of
the casework methods of intervention. In this method the worker helps the client to choose
and to use a social resource or service provided by the agency. Many times the client knows
what he/she wants, but does not know where or how to get it. The client is served in one’s own
agency or sent to another agency where he/she is best served. Providing material help, legal
aid, medical care and arranging for camps are examples of practical services. The worker
needs to have a thorough knowledge of community resources, use them selectively and
economically.

Termination
Termination as used in social work means the ending of a process that began when the agency
agreed to enter into the interventive process. The processes of study, assessment and intervention
do not continue forever. The worker and the client together understand and plan out termination.
Termination is also the stage when the client can look back with satisfaction on what has been
accomplished. Worker takes the initiative, outlines realistic goals, confirms the importance of what
the client can do and is expected to do in resolving the problem. Termination in other words is the
signal that the worker uses to confirm that the worker has confidence in the client’s ability to learn
to cope with situations and to grow. The role of the worker is of an enabler and also as a resource
for the client in the present situation.
Termination planning removes certain wrong notions that arise in the client about shifting the
responsibility to the agency or to the worker, thus avoiding the feeling of dependency and false
hope by some clients. As the relationship gradually comes to a close, the worker reviews the total
number of gains made in the interventive process. This review, based on worker’s observations
and client’s contributions will also include a self-assessment by the client. This phase is basically
highlighted by the reassurance of the client in his / her readiness and willingness to function more
effectively.
Evaluation
Evaluation is the process of attaching a value to the social work practice. It is a method of knowing
what the outcomes are. Evaluation is done for three important purposes, which are:
1) To let the agency and the worker know if their efforts have brought fruitful results in the service
provided.
2) For public relations.
3) To build a case for promoting funds. Casework practices need to be evaluated from time to time.
This subject needs to be tested and researched and most importantly needs ongoing validation.
They need to be proved to the public that they are effective and beneficial to the clients. Casework
practice should be subjected to critical review. Workers need to be held accountable for what they
do and for their social work competence. Workers need to win approval from the public for their
programmes. They may sometimes have to be told that their services are overlapping and
ineffective. Workers have to enhance their own image and also of the agency to develop public
relations. The clients need to give feedback on the effectiveness of the services.
Recording
Recording is important as it publicizes to the public about the efficiency of the services. Facts have
to be gathered, organized and recorded for measurement of results.
2.3 Case worker - Client relationship, Role of Case worker

RELATIONSHIP IN CASE WORK

Relationship is termed as the basis of social casework. The relationship between the caseworker
and the client is of utmost importance. It is the principal of life which vivifies the process of study,
diagnosis and treatment and makes casework a living, warmly human experience. Social work
thrives in its belief in the basic worth and dignity of individuals and enhancing their capacities to
reach their human potential to the fullest. Relationship between the caseworker and the client is
the medium through which the knowledge of human nature and of the individual is used;
knowledge alone, without skill in relationship is inadequate. Relationship is also the channel of
the entire casework process; through it, flow the mobilization of the capacities of the individual
and mobilization of the community resources; through it flow the skills in interviewing, study,
diagnosis and treatment (Biestek: 1957)
UNIQUENESS OF CASE WORK CLIENT RELATIONSHIP
Casework client relationship is different from other relationships that exist in society at large like
the parent-child relationship, teacher-pupil, friend-friend and colleague-colleague. The casework
relationship differs from other relationships on a number of points. One needs to analyze and
compare other relationships with casework relationship keeping in mind the levels of equality,
mutual benefits being derived, presence and the level of emotional involvement in the relationship.
Firstly, it may be borne in mind that casework relationship is temporary in nature. It begins with
the referral of the client to the caseworker with a problem and terminates after the completion of
the casework process and treatment. Parent- child relationship or relationships between siblings
are lifelong relationships as they are tied by blood and kinship. Secondly, the emotional component
in the casework relationship is not very deep and penetrating. This is unlike the relationships that
exist between the spouses, parent- child or siblings. Though casework process is an emotionally
charged one, it is operationalized in such a way that the expression of emotions is controlled and
purposeful, focusing towards achieving clear cut goals of client’s wellbeing and treatment. Such
an approach is missing in the relationships cited above. The third difference between casework
relationship and others, is based on the levels of equality and mutuality. For example, friend friend
relationship is characterized by its equality, mutual help and sharing. The caseworker and the client
are fundamentally equal as human beings. In a casework relationship however, caseworker takes
on the role of a professional helper while client is the person who needs help. Thus, the grounds
of equality are not uniform since in this relationship, caseworker is the person having knowledge,
skills and is assigned to help the client through a professional relationship. Client on the hand is a
person having some maladjustment and in need of professional help. Thus, this type of relationship
is not based on mutual help and equality. One can also compare the casework relationship with
that of a teacher-pupil relationship, which is more on an intellectual level. The teacher or the Guru,
in the Indian context is highly respected as it is the Guru who guides the shishya about the values,
inspires, transmits knowledge and information. However, in this relationship, there is hardly any
intentional use of emotional involvement. If at all emotions do crop up in the teacher-student
relationship, they are accidental and more on the part of the pupils rather than the teachers.
Casework relationships, as mentioned earlier are throughout highly charged with emotions in a
purposeful manner.
Caseworker client relationship also differs from other professional relationships such as doctor-
patient and psychiatrist-client. From an Indian perspective, health has become a serious area of
concern. The medical services available are insufficient and lack adequate infrastructure, quality
and maintenance. Doctor is considered only next to God. It is not a custom to question the doctor
about the nature of one’s illness, leave aside enquiring about the line of treatment. Patients in most
cases are the passive recipients of medical treatment being administered by the doctor. This is in
contrast to the casework client relationship where client is an equal partner in the treatment process
and is encouraged to open up and express inner thoughts and feelings.
The only relationship that casework is close to, yet distinct in its finer aspects is with the
Psychiatrist-Client relationship. In this relationship, client is encouraged to talk about his/her
problems. However, the psychiatrist focusses on the unconscious mind of the client in contrast to
the caseworker who pays attention on the environmental manipulation and working on the
personality maladjustment at the conscious level of the client’s mind.
ATTRIBUTES OF CASEWORK RELATIONSHIP
Casework relationship goes much beyond merely a friendly relationship between the caseworker
and the client. Clients bring into the casework relationship their feelings, attitudes and behaviour
which they have experienced with others. The client therefore tends to react to the casework
situation in a manner derived from his/her personal experiences. Casework focusses on
understanding the client, his/ her psychosocial needs and making a ‘contact’ to build the
relationship. If this contact is to be of any value at all, the client must have confidence in the
worker’s good faith and the worker must have respect for the client as an individual. It is the
responsibility of the caseworker to establish this relationship. This professional relationship is
formed with the purpose of developing in the client a personally satisfying and socially useful life.
It is the individualized purpose which is unique to every relationship and is set to be achieved in
each case. The conscious purposive and deliberate efforts to develop a helping relationship
comprises of the following attributes:
1) Warmth: Warmth connotes some positive, lively, outgoing interest in another person (or object
or activity), a spontaneous reaching out to take in another with pleasure or compassion (Perlman:
1979). By exhibiting an open, ‘warm’ attitude, caseworker is able to convey to the client his/her
openness and concern to understand the client’s problem, client’s attitudes and sharing of
experiences. Warmth is demonstrated by the worker when he/she attends to the client with
attention, listens patiently, gives confidence and conveys an understanding of the client’s problem.
By this he gains trust of his client.
2) Empathy: Empathy means feeling with and into another person, being able to get into the other
person’s shoes ((Perlman: 1979). It may occur spontaneously or may be a carefully learnt ‘listening
with the third ear’ and responding in tune to the other person. Empathy involves looking at a
situation/ case from another person’s perspective. Through empathy, the caseworker is able to
convey to the client his/her understanding of client’s problem with accuracy and ‘oneness’.
Empathy is different from sympathy which gives a bond of feeling of being helped by another
person. The caseworker conveys sympathy by saying statements such as ‘I understand how you
feel’, “I can feel that you are feeling sad and upset’. Empathy is leading oneself to another to feel
into and take in the moment’s essence of the other. By feeling caseworker’s empathy, the client
feels understood and important. It may be noted here that empathy does not mean the loss of
objectivity. Caseworker in a professional relationship with the client, remains objective by being
aware of his/her own emotional and reactive responses to persons and situations.
3) Genuineness: To be genuine and congruent, the caseworker relies on his/her own moment to
moment felt experiences in the relationship with the client. To be genuine is too free of pretension.
It is to have a sense of wholeness of being put together, of knowing who and what one is, what
one’s guiding values are, and as a result of being on fairly good terms with oneself. Genuineness
is the product of life experiences that make it possible to be self-observant, self-aware and self-
accepting of strengths and limitations (Perlman: 1979). A genuine and congruent relationship
consists of a consistent and honest openness and behaviour matching with the verbalized intentions
and values of social work. For example, a school social worker is asked about contacts of an
adoption agency regarding which she/he may not be aware of. It would be honest and genuine on
the part of the worker to be frank and admit to the client about his/her lack of information. If
possible, the worker may however, assure the client of making an effort to seek information about
the agency and getting back to the client within a stipulated time. The worker must also then get
back to the client or give a source of contact that may provide the requisite information.
4) Authority: Authority is an essential element of caseworker client relationship. Authority has
been referred to by Perlman (1979) as ‘ableness’ to be used for the client and not over or against
the client. Authority in a casework relationship does not mean domination or willful imposition.
Client has the right to accept, reject or modify advice given by the worker. Authority rather conveys
the meaning of carrying those rights and powers that are inherent in special knowledge and are
vested in special functions (Perlman: 1957). Having authority does not make the worker superior
to the client. It rather implies that the caseworker possesses the expertise in understanding,
assessing and dealing with the problem faced by the client. Authority is that of knowledge and
expertise. The Client goes to a worker in need of help who has the authority of knowledge and
skills, someone who knows more than him/her.
Hand in gloves with authority comes the responsibility to be borne by the caseworker. The
responsibility is to make judgements on the basis of theoretical knowledge and practical
experience. For example, let us take up a case of a man who fears that his wife is trying to kill him.
He cites several incidents to the worker to prove that his wife was conspiring to end his life. On
meeting the client’s wife, the worker finds her to be a fairly reasonable and objective person who
might not plot her husband’s murder. Thus, on the basis of assessment of the client’s expression of
feelings, behaviour and gaining facts of his environment, the worker gains a wholistic
understanding of the client’s life situation. The worker draws up the conclusion that the client is
suffering form delusions and needs psychiatrist’s help. Here, the worker has every authority to
refer the client to a psychiatrist and it is also his/her moral responsibility as a professional not to
continue with the case if she/he feels that the client’s problems would be best handled by another
expert. Thus, authority and responsibility go hand in hand.
5)Transference and Counter Transference: The most frequently encountered necessity to ‘work’
a relationship occurs with the phenomenon called transference or transference reactions. To any
emotionally charged relationship, each of us bring conscious and unconscious feelings and
attitudes that originally arose in or still belong to the earlier important relationships (Perlman:
1957). For example, in casework with an adolescent girl to help her regarding her career options,
the worker listens to the girl’s aspirations and dilemmas. The worker helps her to draw a choice of
careers helping her to keep in mind her aptitude as well as preferences and also arranges for her
visit to a nearby vocational training centre. In such a case, what may happen is that the girl may
begin to feel toward the worker as she felt towards her mother/grandmother when she was young.
The degree of emotional satisfaction which the client gets from such a relationship is far beyond
the realistic limits of the caseworker-client relationship. It may be remembered that the client who
approaches the agency often feels helpless and inadequate for not being able to tackle his/her own
problem. Due to this, the clients are prone to transfer irrational elements into the relationship and
want to regress, desiring to have parental nurture and parental domination. These however, are
damaging to the client since it can tempt the client to stay in an unrealistic, infantile dependence
instead of moving towards self reliance in the relationship.
These transferred elements could be affection, attraction or repulsion, yearning or defensiveness,
liking or dislike and may occur at any point in the helping relationship. Transference is said to
have taken place, when the client reacts inappropriately, with excessive or distorted feelings
towards the caseworker. As seen in many casework relationships, clients often remark to the
worker, You are like a father/mother/sister to me or may say, let us be friends. Transference may
also manifest itself in the way the client reacts towards the worker by being very obedient, helpless
and approval seeking. The worker has to recognize these non verbal cues. The effort in the
casework relationship is to maintain reality and to keep the client and the worker aware of their
joint objective, their separate and realistic identities and their focus upon working some better
adaptation between the client and his/her current problem. Transference manifestations need to be
recognized, identified and dealt with as they occur. Every effort has to be made to manage the
casework relationship and to give minimum encouragement to transference (Perlman: 1957). The
caseworker may also be expected to unconsciously transfer into the professional relationship,
certain positive or negative reactions that are realistically uncalled for, for example, distrust and
hostility or strong feelings of attachment. This phenomenon is called Counter Transference that
is, transference on the part of the helping person. Any subjective involvement on the part of the
caseworker with the client or client’s problem may be part of a real counter transference or it may
represent only a single instance of loss of professional objectivity. To illustrate, let us take up the
case of a medical social worker who worked at the emergency ward of the hospital and was
handling a man who had brought his wife to the hospital in a critical condition from a road accident.
The man was in a heightened state of emotional trauma while narrating about the love for his wife
and how the accident had taken place. The worker got so moved with the details of the case that
she began to identify with the man and somewhere related his life with her own. Finally, when his
wife died, both the client as well as the worker sobbed. In this case, the worker got involved with
her own personal feelings and lost the objectivity. She was unable to provide professional help that
she ought to.
The caseworker must remain objective throughout the helping relationship and be aware of his/her
own feelings. If at all, they do crop up, they must be handled and controlled.
The Role of Caseworkers
Caseworkers must be prepared for anything in their role of lead investigator, client advocate and
coordinator of recommended social work services. Working in government agencies, nonprofit
organizations, residential centers and health care facilities, caseworker duties include client
outreach, support, referrals and follow up. Although caseworker job descriptions vary according
to the setting, the role and responsibilities of the case worker entails helping people in difficult
situations achieve their goals for a better life.
Broker
The social worker is involved in the process of making referrals to link a family or person to needed
resources. Social work professionals do not simply provide information. They also follow up to be
sure the needed resources are attained. This requires knowing resources, eligibility requirements,
fees, and the location of services.
Advocate
In this role, social workers fight for the rights of others and work to obtain needed resources by
convincing others of the legitimate needs and rights of members of society. Social workers are
particularly concerned for those who are vulnerable or are unable to speak up for themselves.
Advocacy can occur on the local, county, state or national level. Some social workers are involved
in international human rights and advocacy for those in need.
Case Manager
Case managers are involved in locating services and assisting their clients to access those services.
Case management is especially important for complex situations and for those who are homeless
or elderly, have chronic physical or mental health issues, are disabled, victims of domestic or other
violent crimes, or are vulnerable children.
Educator
Social Workers are often involved in teaching people about resources and how to develop
particular skills such as budgeting, the caring discipline of children, effective communication, the
meaning of a medical diagnosis, and the prevention of violence.
Facilitator
In this role, social workers are involved in gathering groups of people together for a variety of
purposes including community development, self-advocacy, political organization, and policy
change. Social workers are involved as group therapists and task group leaders.
Organizer
Social Workers are involved in many levels of community organization and action including
economic development, union organization, and research and policy specialists.
Manager
Social Workers, because of their expertise in a wide variety of applications are well suited to work
as managers and supervisors in almost any setting. As managers, they are better able to influence
policy change and/or development, and to advocate, on a larger scale, for all underprivileged
people.
Caseworkers must be prepared for anything in their role of the lead investigator, client advocate
and coordinator of recommended social work services. Working in government agencies, nonprofit
organizations, residential centers and health care facilities, caseworker duties include client
outreach, support, referrals and follow-up. Although caseworker job descriptions vary according
to the setting, the role and responsibilities of the caseworker entails helping people in difficult
situations achieve their goals for a better life.
Conduct Intakes and Assessments
Caseworkers respond when clients request services or a the report is made that an individual or
family may be struggling. Communication skills are essential in making a connection, establishing
rapport, and building trust. As part of an initial interview, social history is taken to help the
caseworker understand the challenges facing the client and the complexity of the issues identified.
Needs and goals are discussed. Brief motivational interviewing may be used to guide the client
through resolving ambivalent feelings about making lifestyle changes, such as cutting back on
drinking alcohol
Coordinate Care and Services
Based on their assessment of client' needs, resiliency, motivation and strengths, the caseworker
develops a case plan identifying the action steps needed to bring about the desired changes.
Timelines are discussed and written into the plan. Information is provided on community programs
and referrals are made to services that will benefit the client. For instance, the caseworker may
facilitate a referral to a parenting support group, mental house counseling, food shelf, transitional
housing, low income medical clinic or job services. If the caseworker is involved because children
in the home are deemed to be at risk, the caseworker closely monitors progress being made toward
goal completion.
Write Case Notes and Reports
Caseworkers must continually update their case notes to keep track of their heavy caseload.
Records are kept of calls placed and received, referrals offered or refused, and programs completed
by the client. Caseworker duties further entail assessing and revising case management plans as
client needs change. Social work agencies may also require caseworkers to submit periodic reports
documenting clients served and achieved outcomes. In certain situations, caseworkers may need
their notes when testifying in court. For example, a case manager may be asked to state under oath
whether a parent of a child in foster care is complying with substance abuse treatment ordered as
a condition of the reunification of the family.
2.4 Social investigations; Home visit & School visit
Home Visit in Social Case Works -In their interactions with clients, home visitors employ a
variety of approaches to help the client become better prepared to deal with a certain event in his
or her life or to grasp a key aspect of an issue.
Modeling
Modeling is the process of exhibiting a specific behavior to a client. It's a useful method when a
client can't seem to picture themselves doing something or can't think of a way to start doing
anything. It's also useful when a client appears to lack the necessary skills to take action. Modeling
such scenarios could include demonstrating how one might react in certain scenarios. In most
cases, after the visitor has modelled the behavior, the client should be permitted to perform it. This
ensures that the client understands what was modelled and that the client's behavior matches that
of the visitor.
Role-Playing
In role-playing, the home visitor plays one real-life role while the client plays another in order to
help the client learn skills and confidence in dealing with a challenging circumstance. This strategy
is especially useful in instances where one finds it difficult to be forceful due to the novelty of the
scenario.
Use of examples
People use examples all the time in their interactions with others, and it's especially prevalent when
explaining, describing, or teaching something to a second person. Examples that are relevant and
fit with true experiences in the client's life should be used by the home visitor. The usage of
examples makes a customer feel more at ease with anything they haven't figured out or aren't happy
with.
SOCIAL CASE WORK IN EDUCATIONAL SETTING
The social case worker is a qualified professional who possesses the knowledge, skills and
experience needed to work with individuals to solve their problems. These case managements may
be done in different settings such as education, health, industry, etc. In this unit, we shall discuss
the role of a social case worker with specific reference to the educational settings.
The case worker in an educational setting may be employed in schools, colleges, universities and
other learning institutes. In such a setting, the social case worker works with the individual clients
and his/ her parents to solve the problems. If need be, the teachers and the peer group and other
significant people in particular extended family, siblings, etc., may be involved. It may not be the
school policy to work with the parents always to solve the child’s problems encountered in the
school, but the professional knowledge of the importance of parent-child relationship in the
development of the child makes working with parents’ imperative.
In recent times, problems faced by the clients have been addressed more religiously and schools
all over have started to take an initiative to employ school social worker to deal with the clients’
problem. This may be because the issues and problems faced by clients in the new age are more
diverse and may be more complicated which then affects their academic, social and personal
wellbeing. Problems faced by the school going adolescents may include a) psychological b)
academic c) social/ behavioural and d) emotional/personal. Addressing problems at an early stage
helps to build a mentally and emotionally strong individual. The social case worker before working
with the child assesses his/ her strengths in coping with the problems and may devise coping
strategies to help the child. In most cases it may be best to work with the child alone but in certain
case parents’ involvement and active participation may expedite the healing process.
1. Psychological
Adolescence is a time of opportunity and change but also of vulnerabilities. The problems faced
by adolescents during these times are not discussed openly in the society for fear of rejection.
Some common psychological fears among clients are examination related stress, psychiatric
problems which may not be diagnosed initially, over indulgence in technology out of fear of
missing out on information, childhood abuse, taking the life of crimes to meet certain standards
and even thoughts of suicide or attempted suicide due to inability to cope in school. These
problems may take time to manifest in the clients but eventually when the academic performance
gets affected, the cause may surface. Here, the social case worker works with not only the clients
but also the parents to first evaluate the cause of psychological trauma. Once the cause is known
the next step is to prevent further psychological trauma. The main aim of the social case worker is
to improve the mental health of the victim and ensure perceptions of safety. The social case worker
ensures safety by proving timely interventions with the help of the parents and this may be an on-
going process. Here, both the parents and the child work together and respond to the psychological
needs. The case worker along with the parents then evaluates the effectiveness of the crisis
intervention and chalk out future interventions for the overall development of the child.
2. Academic
With the technological development in the society and a vast network of world wide web opened
to clients, the most common difficulty faced by adolescents of school going age is academic in
nature, i.e., retention of what is being taught and concentration, failing in subjects, under
performance in class, etc. As compared to before, there are many things which take away the
concentration of school going children in terms of virtual games, online sites and various other
multimedia options, and books then take a back seat. This then affects the performance of the child
in the class. A studious client may end up failing in most of the subjects due to lack of parental
control at home and may end up being an under performer in school. There are also clients with
special education needs. They may have conditions like dyslexia, autism spectrum disorders,
intellectual disability, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, etc. These clients lack social
adjustment skills, motivation, and self-management skills. In such a situation, the social case
worker is of great relevance in the educational setting and helps the clients by teaching them
effective study habits, effective memorizing skills, effective note taking skills, handling
examination anxiety, time management and relaxation training sessions. Here, the support of the
parents becomes necessary in order to help the client maintain the exercises given by the social
case worker and adhere to it.
3. Social/ Behavioural
Man is a social animal and cannot do without the help and support of another human being. We
have studied that family is the first social unit of a child but what was not informed is that if the
family is dysfunctional and disorganized then the child may grow up to be socially awkward and
end up believing what he/she does or how she/ he behave is normal. Such behavior may lead to
more problems in the school where children from different family background and parenting
practices come together. This may affect the performance of the child academically and she/he
may be an under achiever in the school and outside and affect his/her relation with the peer group.
In worse situations, it may even lead to the self-isolation of the child. The child may then grow up
to be a social embarrassment for the family. Here, the role of the parents is more important than
that of the child but the social case worker may have difficulty in working with the parents if the
parents are not willing to accept that there is a problem in the first place. For the social worker,
working with the parents is of great help as it will help understand the root cause of the problem
and work towards developing coping strategies for the child. In such a situation, the social case
worker may involve the peer group (classmates) of the child and/or the school through some
activities so that a bond is created and helps the child to come out of his/her social awkwardness.
4. Emotional/personal
Every human being has emotions; some are able to express it and some keep it to themselves.
Those who are able to express emotions tend to have a better personal life and those who are unable
to express emotions-good or bad-have problems in adjusting to life situations. Similarly, children
also have emotional problems which may arise due to various factors such as: inability to handle
stress, difficulty in handling negative emotions-anger, fear, rejections, etc, broken family,
relationship issues, inability to handle stress of failure in class and to take decisions regarding
career, subject choice, etc., substance abuse, victim of child abuse and so on. When a child is
confronted with such a problem, his/her academic performance gets affected and gradually his/her
relation with the peer group and eventually with the family gets worse. Some of the minor
problems faced by children may be due to lack of proper coping skills and the social case worker
may resort to teaching them life skills which may act as a preventive measure. For effective
treatment, the social case worker must therefore be clear that his/her responsibility is to help the
child to bring about a change in his/her attitude towards life and situations. The social case worker
may conduct specific prevention program and deal with child abuse victims, children coming from
broken family and substance abuse issues by involving the parents and the child in question. She/he
may use selective/targeted strategies and may include intensive individualized interventions and
refer the child to experts such as clinical psychologist, psychiatrist, etc.
TECHNIQUES AND SKILLS REQUIRED BY SOCIAL CASE WORKER IN
EDUCATIONAL SETTING
Dealing with children requires a certain amount of expertise and hence it is not everyone’s cup of
tea to deal with children in educational settings with their myriad issues-big or small. A social case
worker working in the educational setting should have set techniques and skills. We shall discuss
the some of them here.

• Purpose and concern for client system-The social case worker should have a concern to find out
problems of clients in the school, must talk to teachers and/or observe client and try an identify
children with problems and help them solve the same. He/she should initiate the process by
establishing a good rapport and aim at individualized action.

• Expectations- Expectation may be at three levels: a) Expectation of the social case worker from
the child with whom he/she does the intervention. This expectation may be in terms of how the
social case worker feels about the child’s ability to cope with the problems and the strategies. b)
Expectations of the child from the social case worker. This expectation may arise out of doubt
from the child as to whether the social case worker will be able to help with the problem or not. c)
Expectation from the educational settings. This expectation may be from both the social case
worker and the child as to how much positive support would they receive from the educational
institution.

• Accuracy of empathy and clear communication- Empathy is the ability to understand other’s
feelings but it should never be confused with sympathy. The social case worker should have the
ability to communicate effectively with the clients and perceive their problems sensitively.

• Genuineness and acceptance-The social case worker must be practical in nature and should not
get overwhelmed with emotions. He/she must show and express genuine concern and have an
honest approach towards the client.

• Authority-Showing empathy and an honest approach do not mean the social case worker should
not be strong mentally. He/she should be in control and be able to handle any problem or difficult
situation. He/she should possess strength and be helpful, and have knowledge and experience to
guide the clients towards holistic cure.

• Active listening- During the initial sessions, most communication between a client and the social
case worker in the educational settings tend to be non-verbal communication and this is the time
when the social case worker has to be an active listener in terms of identifying the emotions that
is being communicated to him/her and even the verbal messages.

• Paraphrasing- Sometimes during a session the clients may not be able to openly discuss or find
a word to describe his/her situation. The social case worker can reword, restate or even summaries
what has been communicated to achieve better clarity.

• Interpretation- The social case worker must reach beyond the stated problem and examine more
deeply the problem situation at hand. This may provide the client with an alternative way of
viewing the present problem and put the focus on the clients’ strength.

• Self-disclosure- A social case workers’ disclosure of personal information to the clients may be
sometimes therapeutic and help improve the client’s emotional or mental state only if used
methodically. But if use incorrectly it may signify incompetence and hamper the healing process.
Confrontation-This enables a social case worker to point out certain discrepancies to the clients
but it should be done co-operatively. Such confrontation can happen only when trust and honest
relationship is established between the case worker and the client.