Impossible Clients

Abstract

This paper is concerned with a group of clients, whom I have identified in terms of their capacity to evoke strong dislike amongst Social Workers. These clients approach us in a manner which suggests a lack of the most basic social skills. I shall try to describe some of their characteristic attitudes, and the ways these are demonstrated in their contact with the workers they meet, with particular reference to the hostility that typifies their dealings with us, and can paralyse us into an ineffective response. There follow some guidelines I have evolved from my own attempts to work with some of these clients.