Working with involuntary clients : a guide to practice

225 Pages·2006·9.745 MB·English

by  Chris Trotter

Working with Involuntary Clients

Working with Involuntary Clients
A guide to practice
2nd edition
Chris Trotter

®SAGE
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© Chris Trotter 2006
First published in 2006 by
Allen & Unwin Pty Ltd.
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Crows Nest NSW 2065
Australia
Reprinted 2007, 2008, 2009
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-4129-1880-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-4129-1881-7 (pbk)
Library of Congress Control Number 2005931206
Typeset in 10.5/13.5 Caslon 540 Roman by Bookhouse, Sydney
Printed and bound by Athenaeum Press Ltd., Gateshead, Tyne & Wear
Acknowledgments viii
1 Introduction 1
Who are involuntary clients? 2
The dual role of workers with involuntary clients 3
Direct practice 5
Sources of knowledge in work with involuntary clients 6
Evidence-based practice 8
The purpose of this book 15

The structure of the book 16
2 What works and what doesn't? 18
Approaches that work 21
Approaches that sometimes work 31
Approaches that don't work 53
An evidence-based practice model 54
Research evidence, theory and other practice models 55
Summary 63
Working with Involuntary Clients
Role clarification 65
Dual role: Social control and helping 67
What is negotiable and what is not? 69
Confidentiality 71
Case manager, case planner or problem-solver? 73
The client's expectations 74
Helping the client to understand the nature of
the professional relationship 76
Organisational expectations 78
Theoretical approach to the work 79
Case examples 79
Summary 85
Promoting pro-social outcomes 87
Identifying pro-social comments and actions 89
Providing rewards 91
Modelling pro-social behaviours 93
Challenging undesirable behaviours 95
Advantages of the pro-social approach 98
Criticisms of the pro-social approach 98
Summary 108
Problem-solving 109
Steps in the problem-solving process 110
Problem-solving, risk assessment and case planning 124
Criticisms of a problem-solving approach 130

Summary 140
The relationship 142
Empathy 143
Optimism 147
Humour 149
Self-disclosure 152
Client violence 154
Summary 157
Contents
7 Working with families 158
When is it appropriate to work with family groups? 159
Collaborative family counselling 161
A home-based model 162
The collaborative family counselling process 163
Pro-social modelling 173
The worker-client relationship 174
Summary 180
8 Evaluation 181
Single case study evaluation 183
Case analysis 187
Conclusion 189
Appendix: Principles of effective practice 191
References 193
Index 207
T
his second edition of Working with Involuntary Clients continues to
be inspired by William Reid's work on task-centred casework and
by Don Andrews and his colleagues' work on pro-social modelling.
While they come from different perspectives, their publications have
provided the background for a great deal of my own research and for
much of the material contained in this book.
In writing the second edition I remain indebted to those people

who assisted me with the first edition, in particular Michael Clanchy,
Jan Mumford, Lloyd Owen, Colin Roberts and Rosemary Sheehan, as
well as the many other colleagues, students and welfare professionals
who provided me with case examples and who helped me develop the
ideas and practices which are outlined in the book. Thanks also to
Elizabeth Weiss from Allen & Unwin, who saw the potential of the
book at the outset and has continued, with Alex Nahlous, to assist with
this edition.
Finally, thank you Joan, David and Rebecca and Moo for believing
in me and for your ongoing support.
Acknowledgments
Note: For seminars or videos on working with involuntary clients,
Associate Professor Chris Trotter can be contacted on email
[e-mail]