SWOCOD

Social Work Communication and Documentation

Introduction to Communication

“Good communication skills are essential to any form of social work practice, from therapeutic
interventions through to the most mundane bureaucratic activities”
-Koprowska, J.

Communication skills
1. Communication is by definition interactive and always takes place within a relationship.
2. Communication is context-related

Communication undoubtedly ‘comes naturally’ to human beings, since we are a social species:
we seek out the company of other human beings and rely upon our connections with each other
for both our physical and psychological well-being.

We do not learn language solely by imitation; we absorb and apply the rules which govern the
use of language early in our learning.
-Stephen Pinker (1999)

Communication just is, and is happening all the time when people are together. Every social
situation entails communication and therefore calls up communication skills.
-Watzlawick 1967

Systems theory - view communication as an interactive phenomenon in which participants

continually influence each other.

Types of Communication Skills

First-order skills are those required in direct communication itself, with service users, colleagues
and others.

Second-order skills are those employed in planning our communication strategy, thinking about
what we are doing, observing interactions, paying attention to feedback, reviewing what has
happened, and modifying our next and future communications accordingly.

People are infinitely creative with the sounds they use in conversation.

Arbitrary Sign – the reliable relationship between words and the things they represent
-Ferdinand de Saussure

INTERVIEWING

 Social work interviews are purposeful conversations between practitioners and clients
designed to facilitate cooperative working relationships by focusing on needs, wants,
problems, resources, and solutions.

 They include attention to both verbal and nonverbal expression (listening, responding, body
positioning, facial expressions, and gestures)

 It describes a goal-focused, short-term interviewing method aimed at changing interaction

patterns in the client’s life.
Goal-focused interviewing focuses on collaboration with the client, and on seeking solutions and
strengths rather than deficits in the client’s life.

SOCIAL WORK PRINCIPLES

I. Acceptance of People as they are
 Respecting the client under any circumstances
 An expression of a compound attitudes that are based on scientific assumptions about
human behavior
 Non-judgmental attitude
 Manifest a genuine interest and concern in the client and his situation
 Does not mean approval of deviant attitudes or behavior
 Recognizes that people have strengths and weaknesses, and capacities and limitations
II. Participation of the Client in Problem-solving
 The client participates in planning ways of resolving the problem.
 The client is asked to look into his own resources and which can be applied to problem-
solving
 The client must not rely on the worker to take all the necessary actions that would solve his
problem – this would develop client passivity and dependence upon others
 The worker builds upon and utilizes client’s strengths
III. Client Self-determination
 The main idea in this principle is that the individual who is in economic, personal, or social
need, has the right to determine what his needs are and how they should be met.
 The worker guides the client in looking into his problem objectively, understand what
choices or alternatives are open to him, their implications and consequences and then make
his own decisions.
 Respect the rights of the client to determine their own goals, means and objectives.
IV. Individualization of Client
 Involves the recognition and understanding of each client’s unique qualities and the
differential use of principles and methods
 The worker recognizes that while human beings have many things in common, there are
also important individual differences which must be accepted.
 “Every man is in certain respects (a) like all other men, (b) like some other men, (c) like no
other men” – Kluckhon, Murray, and Schneider
 “No two persons are exactly alike”
V. Confidentiality
 To provide client protection, within limits of the law, from harm that might result from his
divulging information to the worker.
 Prerequisite of this is “privacy”
VI. Worker Self-awareness
 This principle means that the social worker is always conscious that her role is to make use
of her professional relationship with her client in a way that will enhance primarily the
client’s development rather than her own
 Self-discipline is crucial to the principle of worker self-awareness
 “The conscious use of oneself”
VII. Client-worker Relationship
 The means for carrying out the social worker’s function.
 “Social work problem-solving takes place within a meaningful worker-client relationship”
 Involves the elements of being controlled and purposive.
 Moves in a direction of certain goals or objectives which have been identified by mutual
agreement.
 Ambivalence – based on the preposition that the human mind functions in a dualistic way,
that conflict between its opposing tendencies. (Blueler)
 Transference – when the client unconsciously transfers to the social worker attributes or
characteristics of some important or powerful persons in his early life.
 Counter-transference – the worker’s unconscious response to the client’s unconscious
transference.
 Worker-client relationship are not meant to last forever.

In interviewing the Social Worker should:

 Provide a Comfortable Setting
a. A supportive environment lets your clients know that it's OK to open up and let down their
guard. It helps promote a feeling of respect and equality between you and your client.
 Ask Open-ended Questions
a. your questions need to have a purpose and should not be based on your own personal
curiosity about a client
b. An open-ended question is one that cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no" answer
or just a few words.
 Active Listening
a. is not just hearing the client, but is a skill that allows the practitioner to understand the
client’s message free of biases and preconceived notions about client problems (Nugent and
Halvorsen 1995).
b. Included in the text are different types of interviewing questions, nonverbal communication
skills, cross-cultural interviewing, and working with involuntary clients.

Empathy is one component in social work interviewing where the interviewer is able to relate to
the client’s experience.
(Gerdes and Segal 2009)
 Reflect and Interpret
a. Interpretation is an interviewing skill that should only be used when you've gathered
enough information about a client to make an informed, educated analysis of the situation
or problem at hand.
b. It's important not to jump to conclusions or make connections between events that aren't
actually related.
c. During interpretation, you help make connections that might not seem obvious to the client
but may be clear to you as a trained social worker.

CONTEXTS OF COMMUNICATION

INTRAPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
 A form of communication based off of your inner thoughts and communication within
yourself.

 “self” communication
INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
 This form of communication is done everyday regardless of the environment or setting you
are in. It can range from intimate and personal to formal and impersonal
 A communication between a mother and daughter, friends to friends, stranger to stranger.
GROUP COMMUNICATION
 Common in the classroom or groupwork. Involves a small group (3-8 people) of different
people coming together to interact and share with each other ideas and thoughts.
PUBLIC COMMUNICATION
 A form of communication wherein one person is speaking to a group of people.
MASS COMMUNICATION
 Involves sending a single message to a group. It allows us to communicate our message to a
large number of people, but we are limited in our ability to tailor our message to specific
audiences, groups, or individuals.
LEVELS OF COMMUNICATION
 VERBAL
Involves selection of right and proper words to be properly understood
 PHYSICAL
Paying attention to visual cues e.g. eye contact, gestures, movements, stances, breathing,
posture, and facial expressions.
 AUDITORY
sound of our voice, tone, range, volume and speed affects how our messages are received and
interpreted by others.
 EMOTIONAL
the speakers emotions put the recipients in a particular state of mind and influenced how the
listener interprets what is said.
 ENERGETIC
encompasses the vast range of unseen factors including a person’s level of consciousness, the
frequency, or harmonics of the message and other subtle energy.

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION

 VERBAL COMMUNICATION
When we speak, we are communicating much more than just the content of our words. We are
also using pitch and tone.
 WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
Things to consider in writing a communication:
 Structure – use of paragraphs, line breaks – formats.
 Clarity – what your audience needs to know.
 Content – leave out the slang, use proper punctuation and spelling.
 VISUAL COMMUNICATION
e.g. charts, photographs, sketches, videos, graphs, emojis.

But not all communications need visuals.