CHAPTER IV - Diagnosis

Abstract

This chapter explains the concept of diagnosis in social work. Diagnosis has been defined by Perlman as “an organizing of the facts of person, problem and place (agency) in a casework situation and coming to some judgment of their meaning for what is to be done and how best to do it.” Diagnosis is no more than making conscious and formalizing a process that inevitably takes place at the intuitive level anyway; making it a structured process enables thoughtful consideration to be given to the evidence and also enables any bias on the part of the worker to be identified. With this greater accuracy, more effective work can take place. A diagnosis gives boundary (focus), relevance (purpose), and direction (suggests immediate and ultimate goals and methods to achieve them) to social work; in other words, tells what is needed, what is possible, and how is it best to tackle it. Diagnosis not only makes material (objective and subjective) more useful but also makes it communicable (in whole or in part) to clients and other team members as necessary.