ABSTRACT

A scrutiny of the case material also suggests that tasks were less clearly defined among these twenty cases than in the group which was successfully followed up. In a number of cases (fifteen) it proved difficult to keep any focus and problems were not really grappled with either by reflective discussion aimed at change in behaviour or by practical tasks designed to alter the social situation. Thus it may have proved difficult to arrive at a clear-cut picture of the degree of task achievement. The general conclusion the peoples draw from the exploration of discrepancies in the ratings of the task achievement with the probation officer and problem reduction with the assessor is that basically the evaluation of both the content and the outcome of the task-centred work was remarkably similar in both interviews, despite the differences in ratings which often dealt with different facets of change at a different point in time.