Rehabilitation Professionals and Clients

Kenneth R. Thomas' (1993) response to Dr. Nosek's charge-- that use of the word "client" connotes that individuals served are assumed by professionals to have neither the ability nor the interest to act on their own--is a well-written rebuttal to Nosek's charges (p. 11). Nosek had based her charges on one Webster's definition for client. Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary offers other definitions for client: "(1) one that is under the protection of another; (2) a person who engages the professional advice or services of another; and (3) a person served by, or utilizing the services of, a social agency" (1983, p. 248).

Apparently the different editions of Webster's account for the different wordings of definitions. Webster's 1983 definition in the Ninth New Collegiate version offers a first (most common) definition in which the word "protection" is prominent. Perhaps it is this role of rehabilitation professional as protector that Nosek finds so irritating. Nevertheless, if one assumes that rehabilitation specialists are professionals, and by their own ass

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assistance. Professionals claim to have knowledge that no one outside their profession can fully understand. For this reason, while most occupations deal with "customers" who direct the transaction, professionals deal with "clients" who they assume lack the knowledge to critically evaluate the service being performed. The fact that the typical professional is in a position of a certain amount of power over the client does not diminish the cpacity of the client to seek assistance or advice elsewhere if he or she deems it necessary. In this sense, the person seeking rehabilitative services can "shop around," and become a "consumer." The fact still remains, however, that rehabilitation specialists are professionals, and, at least in terms of prior learning, they will always have more specific theoretical knowledge than those who employ their services. References Brodwin, M. G., Carlos, R., Orange, L. M., & Myers, W. (1993). Marketing and recruiting for rehabilitation education programs: A successful model. Journal of Apllied Rehabilitation Counseling, 25 (4), pp. 42-47. Macionis, J. J. (1989). Sociology. 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall. Thomas, K. R. (1993, April-June). Consumerism vs. clientism:
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1601
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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