Results
You may have found it quite difficult to decide how to make your choices – in many of the situations outlined there would be no obvious front-runner, and you may have felt that each option could be justifiable. This is exactly so, because the orientations are not automatically right or wrong – they merely each bring a different contribution to the task of practising soundly within the legal framework. If you already have a rounded profile in terms of your orientations, then all well and good. If you found yourself routinely ranking one or other more highly, then it will be worth you considering how to achieve more balance in your practice.
Technical Orientation
Working within this orientation you would:
- pay close attention to technical knowledge of the law and its relevance for the situations in which you work
- ensure you regularly update the detail of your knowledge and understanding ask your employer to ensure you and your managers have access to the latest guidance and influential case law
- underpin and justify your arguments by reference to accurate legal knowledge and sound reasoning
Needs Orientation
Working within this orientation you would:
- Seek to understand the range of needs experienced by people using services.
- Undertake thoughtful matching of needs with the resources or services that will best meet those needs.
- Underpin and justify your arguments by reference to the obligations as society owes to its vulnerable members.
Procedural Orientation
Working within this orientation you would:
- seek to understand the range of needs experienced by people using services undertake thoughtful matching of needs with the resources or services that will best meet those needs
- prioritise service user need as the guiding principle of your decision-making underpin and justify your arguments by reference to the obligations a society owes to its vulnerable members
Rights Orientation
Working within this orientation you would:
- ensure you understand how the law confers or limits rights for people who use services seek to promote people’s rights in relation to your own and your agency’s practice and support them to secure their rights in other areas of their lives
- prioritise service user rights as the guiding principle of decision-making underpin and justify your arguments by reference to the rights held by individuals and groups in society