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CLIENT, TARGET, AND ACTION SYSTEMS
One way to think about Human Services work is to divide
elements of situa-
tions into three parts:
The client system - The person or persons whose needs the
worker is
trying to satisfy.
The target system - Who or what must be changed in order to satisfy
the needs of the client system.
The action system - Who or what must be involved in order to change
the target system.
We use the generic word system here because sometimes
these elements
are people, sometimes they could be rules, sometimes they could be resources, or some other element.
Sometimes there are several different possible clients in
a situation. A
parent and a child, for example, may have very different views of what needs
to happen. It may be hard for one worker to satisfy the needs of both people,
unless a point can be found at which their interests come together.
This type of problem may be solved by introducing a
worker for each
potential client, i.e., enlarging the action system.
It is extremely important to be clear as to who your
client system is.
Otherwise, a worker may become confused, and do something that is not
considered helpful by anyone.
In the examples below, identify the client system:
A school wants a disruptive child evaluated
psychologically, so that the
child may be removed from the school and sent to special education.
A brother of an aged man wants the man placed in a
nursing home.
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