The paper investigates the problem of the rehabilitation of involuntary clients and the role of the family in this process. Involuntary clients are people who are forced to apply for the aid due to the court decision. However, in this situation, the choice is limited to the decision whether to begin the rehabilitation process. An important role in the rehabilitation process of such people is played by their families. Due to their support, it is possible to make the socialization process easier than in the case of the involvement of governmental institutions. At the same time, for this aid to be efficient, it is necessary to establish trustful relations among family members. If there are misunderstanding and the lack of trust in a certain family, an individual may refuse to receive the assistance.
An involuntary client is a person who is forced to apply for medical or social assistance. Very often, people have to apply for aid due to the court decision. The acceptance of the medical or social assistance, in this case, may commute the sentence. However, in this situation, a person no longer has an ability of self-determination except the choice whether to agree to the assistance. The main aim of the interaction of a social worker and a client is the optimization of mechanisms of social functioning of an individual or a social group. The ultimate goal of the social worker involves achieving such a result when the client no longer needs the assistance. In this process, family plays one of the most important roles. The paper investigates the influence of family in the rehabilitation process and possible difficulties that may appear in the course of social integration.
Relationship between a Probation Officer and an Involuntary Client
All forms and methods of interaction that may be used by a social worker can be divided into two groups, namely the work with a client and the work with other institutions and organizations on the problems of the client (Collins, Jordan, & Coleman, 2010). Within these groups, there also takes place a division of types of social interaction. Important components of the interaction are the professional skills of a social worker and, in particular, the knowledge of support techniques, social care, as well as correction and rehabilitation methods.
The interaction between a social worker and a client is a part of the process directed toward the practical impact of governmental institutions, public organizations, and associations, including religious ones, on the specific forms of social relations and social activities of an individual. This impact is called the social therapy. Unlike psychotherapy, this activity organizes the customers support environment, helping the individual to cope with social conflicts and problems. Social therapy is carried out with the help of a set of measures of social, economic, organizational, and educational methods aimed at making the norms of the client correspond to the norms of the society. In the process of the interaction between a social worker and a client, the verbal and non-verbal communication of the client is of the primary importance.
In modern psychology, nonverbal communication is considered more significant than the verbal one as it is carried out spontaneously and unconsciously. The means of nonverbal communication contribute to the process of the transmission of information between the social worker and the client. On the one hand, to be understood and be able to provide a psychological impact on clients that can change their behavior, social workers should use these means of communication. By using it, they are able to encode and transmit their intentions in gestures, facial expression, pose, and intonation. On the other hand, due to the observation of the client's verbal and nonverbal behavior, a social worker is informed about how the assistance is perceived and how to build relationships with clients and their families.
Importance of the Role of the Family in the Rehabilitation Process
The family is the most typical object of the social work. The role of the family in the process of rehabilitation cannot be compared with any other social institutions because a person's personality is formed in. Moreover, in the family, there takes place the perception of the social roles that are necessary for the unification of an individual with the society. Due to this fact, the family is an important medium for the formation and functioning of an individual and the main institution of education that is responsible for not only the social reproduction of the population but also the creation of a certain way of the social life (Trotter, 2015). Consequently, the importance of the family in the process of resolution of social problems of an individual cannot be overestimated.
Being the smallest social unit, the family is a basic part of the society. It is an independent part of the social life; however, at the same time, it is closely linked to a particular social environment and to a certain extent is dependent on it. The family reflects the main achievements, difficulties, and contradictions of the social life. At the same time, it influences the society; it plays a crucial role in the reproduction process of people’s individuality, the human race. Its major responsibility is the physical and spiritual development of an individual (Berns, 2004).
Being a leading institution for the socialization of a personality, the family creates the fundamentals of the process of the formation and development of a person’s world, which plays an outstanding role in the social rehabilitation (Berns, 2004). The worldview of a person is majorly determined by the nature of the interpersonal interaction among the family members, the style of family education, and the requirements of the process of socialization.
During the early period of life, the rehabilitation of a person is majorly subject to the impact of parents who are able to provide the direct social impact on children. Among the major factors of family influence on the rehabilitation of person, Berns (2004) outlines family composition, the person’s position in the family, the style of relationships in the family, and their moral and creative potential.
Apart from the family, social institutions, such as religious groups, and friends contribute to the rehabilitation process. In these environmental relationships, the individual receives the representation of civilian life, perceives the understanding of the discipline and the formal social requirements, and learns how to interact and communicate with the surrounding people.
Problems Involving the Family in the Process
Among the main problems that may take place in the process of the rehabilitation is the lack of the understanding and trust between the family members. Sometimes, for an individual, it is difficult to establish the relations and the communication process with one’s family, which may have a negative impact on the further process of rehabilitation. In this case, a person will not consider the activity of the family helpful in the course of socialization. Such clients may resist the actions that are performed because they do not perceive the current situation to be problematic (Collins et al., 2010). In this case, it is necessary to understand that this type of influence may limit the freedom of a person to choose the surrounding people for the communication. In this situation, it is recommended to apply other rehabilitation methods that do not involve the assistance of the family members.
The primary role of the rehabilitation process is to overcome the existing problems of clients so that they will not need a further assistance. In the course of the rehabilitation, the family is the educational institution that has the major influence on the behavior of a person. It is the most important factor of socialization because it creates the basis for morality and forms the social norms of behavior. It promotes social, creative human activity and plays a crucial, fundamental role in the reproduction of society. However, in certain cases, when there is a misunderstanding in the family, an individual may not perceive the necessary assistance. In such situations, it is recommended to use the rehabilitation methods in which the family involvement is not required.
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