Research On The Application Of The Principle Of Client Self-determination In Youth Casework Services

The self-determination is generally regarded as a basic right of the clients and one of the important ethical principles of the social work profession.The self-determination is highly valued by the social work community for it is related to the establishment and maintenance of professional relationships and the respect for the dignity and value of the clients,and the clients' own responsibility.Under the author's guidance,the client C(pseudonym)in this study achieved self-determination while joining in the social work talent support plan of the three districts.Observation and interview were applied to collect data,and the scale was used to diagnose the client's problem.The surface problems found are:(1)The client has insufficient self-confidence and poor academic performance;(2)Poor communication between the client and his parents;(3)hesitative attitude for taking the art or the general college entrance examination.Through in-depth communication with the client and his family the client's hidden problems were found as follows:(1)inadequate learning strategies;(2)Father's long absence in his growth;(3)Dissatisfied with his mother's authoritarian education,the client wants to break free of his mother's shackles and make decisions for his own.The client's needs were discovered through analysis of his surface and hidden problems.They are:(1)exploring adequate learning methods to improve his academic performance;(2)making the future plan to achieve self-determined needs.The results indicate that they have to deal with professional relationship,client's problems,and their roles and obligations while applying the principles of self-determination at the early stage of the service;they need to confirm service goals,service plans,and applying the service plans for self-determination at the middle stage;the application of the client's self-determination during evaluation and termination was completed at the final stage.The principles of the client's self-determination in the general process of social work were summarized as:communicating with each other in the early stage,providing multiple choices in the middle stage,and active participation in the final stage.