Outcome objectives in social work practice: person and environment

This article describes a national study designed to investigate the extent to which the outcome focus of worker intervention is to change either aspects of the client or aspects of the environment. This study also investigates whether the conceptual framework used in the research reflects the focus of social work practice regarding outcomes of intervention. The research instrument included four case vignettes with 60 possible outcome objectives from which to select. The instrument was sent to a nationwide random sample of 1,000 direct practice master's degree-level social workers from a variety of practice settings. The findings indicate that social workers' choice of personal and environmental outcomes can be quantified and categorized and that the framework is useful in understanding these phenomena.