According to the text, social workers can often find themselves struggling with the difference between doing something for clients to help them resolve their problems, and doing something to clients to fix their problems for them.
A paternalistic action is one that meets the criteria of:
Paternalistic acts always violate the rule of not depriving individuals of their freedom.
Paternalism inherently restricts freedom and self-determination of the client, and the decision of when to act paternalistically is measured, at least in part, as a consideration of doing:
According to the text, there is never a time that a social worker can justify acting paternalistic with a client.