Social Casework: Promoting Human Dignity Through Democratic Values
Finally, casework should be non-controversial, because the judge is not helping. It is a democratic process in the sense that the process of understanding and developing a client with a programme of participation is, in essence, a democratic process. It means respecting the policy, thus the socio-cultural environment.
Knowledge of concepts or general framework alone is not enough, their significance in social relationships and their impact on the social world in which the client lives must be properly understood. Adequate knowledge of relevant industrial and labour law in Indian conditions will help him significantly in the casework process because most casework relationships in Indian industry are statutorily oriented.
Caseworkers must also acquire social skills and learn techniques for their proper use in handling cases. Thus, he must have three things: the skill of discovering the social relationships by which a given personality is shaped, the ability to reach the central core of the difficulty in these relationships and the use of negotiation in their adjustment.
This is power. In the words of Mary Richmond, he must learn “the art of discovering a person’s leading interests and of reconnecting them by reconnecting a broken connection or supplying one previously lacking”, and this will enable him to give the client such guidance that will release his potential for appropriate judgment and actions.
Above all, he must have an innate reverence for personality and a warm human interest in people as individuals. He will speak not only the language of democracy but also a spiritual conviction in the infinite value of common humanity.