The content of the information encoded into
words, signs, or symbols.
SOCIAL WORK COMMUNICATION AND
DOCUMENTATION (SWP 5)
TOPIC NO. 1: ELEMENTS OF
COMMUNICATION
Name of Reporters:
1. Alabad, Nelda B.
2. Cuevas, Elijah L.
3. Donaire, Ayessa Nicole T.
Name of Instructor:
Ms. Delos Santos, Jelly I.
 Communication
Communication is a term derived from the Latin
word communis which means to make common,
and the word communicare, which means to share
or to impart.
Communication is a two-way process by which a
source purposively shares messages with a
receiver directly or via a channel and both learn
from each other.
 Communication Implies to Social Work
Effective communication skills are one of the
most crucial components of a social worker’s job.
Every day, social workers must communicate with
clients to gain information, convey critical
information and make important decisions.
Without effective communication skills, a social
worker may not be able to obtain or convey that
information, thereby causing detrimental effects to
clients.
 Sender
The one who sends the communication message.
 Encoding
The process of encoding the communication
message into words, symbols, and gestures that
can convey meaning.
 Message
 Channel
The medium, known as communication channels,
is where the communication message can be
distributed.
 Receiver
The one who receives the communication
message.
 Decoding
Decoding the communication message into its
intended meaning by the receiver.
 Noise
Anything that may interfere with the
communication process between the sender and
the receiver.
 Feedback
occurs when the sender and receiver check with
each other to ensure the communication message
has conveyed its intended meaning.
8 Major communication Model
Linear models of communication
1. Aristotle’s communication model
2. Lasswell’s communication model
3. The Shannon-Weaver communication
model, and
4. Berlo’s S-M-C-R communication model.
Interactive models of communication
1. The Osgood-Schramm communication
model, and
2. The Westley and Maclean communication
model.
Transactional models of communication
1. Barnlund’s transactional communication
model, and
2. Dance’s Helical communication model.

 Aristotle
He was an Ancient Greek philosopher and
scientist who is regarded as one of the most
influential thinkers in politics, psychology, and
ethics. When Aristotle reached the age of 17, he
enrolled in Plato's Academy. He began tutoring
Alexander the Great in 338.
 Aristotle’s model of communication
This model primarily focuses on the sender
(public speaker, professor, etc.) who passes on
their message to the receiver (the audience).
The sender is also the only active member in this
model, whereas the audience is passive. This
makes Aristotle’s communication model a
foolproof way to excel in public speaking,
seminars, and lectures.
 Lasswell’s communication model
This model views communication as the
transmission of a message with the effect as the
result.
The effect in this case is the measurable and
obvious change in the receiver of the message that
is caused by the elements of communication.
Lasswell composed five Components of the
Model:
 Who
 Says What
 In Which Channel
 To Whom
 With What Effect
 The Shannon-Weaver communication
model
Claude Elwood Shannon (April 30, 1916 – February
24, 2001) was an American mathematician, electrical
engineer, computer scientist and cryptographer
known as the “Father of Information theory”
Warren Weaver (July 17, 1894 – November 24, 1978)
was an American scientist, mathematician, and
science administrator. He is widely recognized as one
of the pioneers of machine translation and as an
important figure in creating support for science in the
United States.
This model is one of the most popular models of
communication in the modern world, known as
Mother of all models. The Shannon-Weaver
model was originally designed as a linear model
with information moving from a sender to a
receiver. However, Norbert Wiener added
feedback to the model and turned it from linear to
cyclical.
 Berlo’s S.M.C.R communication model
David Kenneth Berlo (1929 - February, 23 1996)
was an American communicatins theorist. In
1960, Berlo expanded the linear transmission
model with the sender-message-channel-receiver
S.M.C.R Model of communication.
Berlo’s model of communication is a little more
detailed than some of the other linear frameworks
we’ve looked at so far. This approach breaks
communication down into four steps, with core
components included in each of them: Source,
Message, Channel, Receiver.
 Osgood-Schramm's communication
model
Wilbur Lang Schramm (August 5, 1907 –
December 27, 1987) was a scholar and "authority
on mass communications”
known as a circular model because it indicates that
messages can go in two directions. Hence, once a
person decodes a message, then they can encode it
and send a message back to the sender.
 The Westley and Maclean
communication model
In 1957 Westley and MacLean’s model of
communication is proposed by Bruce Westley
(1915-1990) and Malcolm S. MacLean Jr (1913-
2001). Being one of the creators of journalism
studies, Westley served as a teacher at the
University of Wisconsin, Madison, between 1946
and 1968.
suggests that the communication process does not
start with the source/sender, but rather with
environmental factors. This model also takes into
account the object of the orientation (background,
culture, and beliefs) of the sender and the receiver
of messages.
 Barnlund's communication model
Dean C. Barnlund was born in Sharan,
Wisconsin - USA in 1920. Based on years of
experience in communications in 1970, he created
transactional model of communication.
Based on a set of fundamental assumptions:
communication is dynamic, continuous, circular,
irreversible, complex, and unrepeatable.
Communication is dynamic in the sense that it is
not a static entity but an everchanging process.
 Dance's Helical communication model
Frank E. X. Dance (born November 9, 1929,
Brooklyn) is an American communication
professor. In 1994–1995, he was John Evans
Professor at University of Denver.
views communication as a circular process that
gets more and more complex as communication
progresses.

REFERENCES
GeeksforGeeks. (2023, April 10). Elements of
communication process.
Panovski, A. (2023, November 3). Aristotle’s
Model of Communication: 3 Key Elements of
Persuasion. TheCollector.
Skortcheva, R. (2023, August 29). 8
Communication models and how they work -
BROSIX.
Drew, C. (February 17, 2023). All 8 Models of
Communication, Explained!. Helpful Professor.