Caseworkers also need to develop an understanding of the meaning of the clients' feelings in relationship to the clients' needs. Caseworkers' responses must reflect their understanding of the client and be delivered in a sensitive manner. This principle focuses on the humanity of each individual. Caseworkers must show respect for the client's basic self-worth as a human being. CPS staff must accept clients as they are, with all of their strengths and needs.
Caseworkers can demonstrate acceptance more nonverbally than verbally.
In helping clients, it is important to understand their circumstances and needs. It is not the responsibility of the caseworker to judge the clients' behavior or to assign guilt or innocence. A nonjudgmental attitude is influenced by an understanding of, and an appreciation for, the clients' history and conditions that have brought them to their current circumstances. A nonjudgmental attitude recognizes that all behavior is purposeful and looks beyond the symptoms to understand and evaluate the behavior. As with acceptance, a nonjudgmental attitude is demonstrated more nonverbally than verbally.