ABSTRACT
In the previous chapter I indicated that the aims of casework might well be considered in terms of an effort to help a person to become a member of a community. That is to say, to help the person to find his self-realization and the fulfilment of his deepest needs in a community which is appropriate for this. As it stands, however, this seems perhaps to be too self-consciously moral an end, and in this context it is interesting to look at the concept of mental health to see if this can provide a more scientific conception of the casework aim. As it is conventionally understood, mental health seems to be concerned with the problem of individual self-realization in a particular environment. First of all a survey of definitions of mental health will be given, followed by a similar survey of casework aims, and the relationship which is thought to hold between self-realization and environment will be discussed.
