Consider this scenario. You are head of a planning team that has been asked to create a new drug treatment program. You ask your team to write a goal statement for the program. The following goal statements have been proposed:
The goal of this drug treatment program is to serve clients’ needs and to educate clients about the harm that drugs cause.
The goal of this drug treatment program is to assist our clients in reducing drug dependency and eventually ending it toward living drug-free lives.
Which goal statement do you think is more appropriate? Explain why you think the statement is suitable. Also provide an explanation as to why the other statement is not suitable.
Do the four components mentioned in the book—a time frame, the targeted population, the anticipated result, and a criterion—suffice to create an objective statement? Why?
Consider the following objective statement for checking recidivism to crime:
“The program will prevent inmates from committing crime, as measured by arrest or revocation of parole, for at least three years after they have been released back into the community.”