Expanding the Conceptual Basis of Outcomes and Their Use in the Human Services

Abstract

Despite the broad-based endorsement of outcomes as appropriate yardsticks by which to measure the merit and worth of human services in a variety of fields of social welfare, the selection, specification, and use of outcomes involve complex social and organizational forces. This paper seeks to expand the conceptual basis of outcomes and their use in human services by first considering these forces, and then discussing how outcomes evolve out of the expectations of the powerful, reflect the aspirations of the dispossessed and their advocates, and embody moral perspectives.