SOCIAL WORK

Social Work Theories and Observation

Social Work Theories and Observation

Patch 1Importance of good communication skills in social work

Communication is the sharing of ideas information and emotions (Button, & Rossera, 1990). Barriers to communication.. The social workers should have excellent communication skills as the social worker has to interact with the users and the carers. The social worker should politely and in an effective manner with the users and the carers. The social workers should also use their body language and facial expressions in attracting and helping the users and carers. As communication is a two way process so the social workers should also listen effectively to other people. They must have the capability to clearly understand the problems and queries of other people.

Similarly, they must have such communication skills which should enable them in convincing others. The behaviour of social workers is also very important in their communication, if they do not speak politely and in a sober manner they will not be able to satisfy and influence the users, carers, and other social workers (Payne, 1990). The social workers must have excellent verbal and non-verbal skills. They must use their facial expressions effectively while communicating with others. Furthermore, the social workers should also have effective written skills as well. Moreover, the social workers should be properly trained in all the major aspects of communication.

Different types of communication

Communication is not only the name of conversation between two people but it has many types. It is very important to understand different types of communication, as without the proper understanding of different types of communication one cannot communicate effectively (Burns, 1991). Communication can be broadly divided into two types based on the channels used for communication. These two types are verbal communication and non-verbal communication. Verbal communication involves oral and written communication (Burns,1991). On the other hand, non verbal communication involves facial expressions, body language, pictures and visual diagrams(Burns,1991).

Verbal communication

Verbal communication is divided further into the oral and written communication. The oral communication refers to the spoken words that are used in the communication process. Oral communication can either be conversation over the phone, chat over the internet or face to face communication (Burns, 1991). On the other hand, the written communication can be either through letter, mail and email. The efficiency of the written communication is dependent on many factors such as grammar, vocabulary used and precision and clarity of language (Burns, 1991).

Non verbal communication

The non verbal communication involves the overall body language of the speaker which includes the body posture, gestures of hand, and the overall movements of the body (Burns, 1991). The facial expressions are very important during the conversation as it reflect the mood of a person. Similarly, the gestures of hand like hand shake can independently convey the emotions (Burns, 1991).

Barriers to communication that might exist between social workers and service users

There can be many barriers to communication that might arise between the social workers and the service ...