ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the principles involved in establishing specific short-term goals. It discusses the steps that need to be followed to establish such specific and immediate goals. Maximum clarity is achieved when goals are expressed in terms of observable and specific actions rather than in terms of unobservable inner states or abstract generalizations. Precise goals are ones that refer to a specific action or actions which can be observed and agreed upon. Goals will sometimes be defined in terms of an absence or reduction in behaviour. Translating statements of needs into specific goals will identify objectives that are relatively long-term. Such long-term goals are important because they give overall purpose to the day-today activities of service provision. The process of breaking down behaviour considered to be problematic into longer-term change goals is not quite the same as the task analysis of skill-teaching goals.
