Describe the issues that arise when a social worker uses his or her personal experience as a source of information for assessments.

Answers may vary. A source of information for assessment is the social worker's personal experience based on direct interaction with the client. Clients may not behave with the social worker as they do with other people. Apprehension, involuntariness, and the desire to make a good impression may all skew a person's presentation of himself or herself. Also, initial impressions can be misleading and must be confirmed by other sources of information or additional contact with the person. All human perceptions are subjective and may be influenced by our own interpersonal patterns and perceptions. Your reactions to clients will be affected by your own life experiences. Before drawing even tentative conclusions, scrutinize your reactions to identify possible biases, distortions, or actions on your part that may have contributed to the behavior you are observing. Perhaps the response reveals more about the incident than the client's typical way of relating. Social constructions and personal experience may lead us to identify another's acts and statements as either "stubborn" or "determined," "arrogant" or "confident," "submissive" or "cooperative." Self-awareness is indispensable to drawing valid conclusions from your interactions with others.