TITLE: LEARNING TO COMMUNICATE: CHALLENGES EXPERIENCED BY A SOCIAL WORKER.
ABSRACT:
In our kind of field where communication plays a very important tool communication, language barrier has been a major problem for me. Though I had thousands of words that I wanted to tell yet I ended up saying only a few. Coming from another state where the culture, celebration of festivals, language differs from here. At times it proves a major challenge in interacting with the clients and the staff as well in trying to execute the plans and actions that I had in mind. I would also like to identify concerns related with the images that the children carry with them in relation with the staff as belonging to the institution with that of the trainees coming …show more content…
COMMUNICATION ACROSS CULTURAL AND SOCIAL DIFFERENCES:
Our culture, identity and personal belief shape every aspect of our communication. When people from different cultural backgrounds communicate, their assumptions about the nature of the nature of their communication; its context and even its purpose maybe different (Thompson, 2003). This makes intercultural communication an intriguing and potentially enriching experience.
Social work is fundamentally dependent on good communication. It is essential for the making of an effective and compassionate professional relationship, thereby incorporating social work’s humanity. Social workers need to effectively communicate with the clients, other social workers, and other professionals. Good communication skills are essential to any form of social work practice from a professional stand point to the most basic and mundane activities and interactions with others. A good relationship in everyday life is characterized by love, care and concern for each other, honesty, mutual understanding and the shared joy of achievements, activities and the persistence to get through difficult difficult times and to resolve conflicts. The ability to build rapport, show friendliness and warmth, to have faith in others, to be honest and to show reliability and persistence are similar to the qualities and skills on which friendship is formed. Relationships in social work also have a defined purpose with boundary that limit the degree of …show more content…
We communicate through words but also, and in fact more so, through one’s tone, posture, gesture, behavior, facial gestures, clothes and appearance. Silence and stillness are powerful forms of communication. Developing good communication skills depends on becoming aware of all of these aspects, in ourselves and in those with whom we communicate. Because we have been communicating all our lives, and for the most part without thinking about it, developing such awareness can at first feel awkward and inhibiting, but over time becomes integrated into our practice. Communication is also deeply affected by our emotional state, and social work is an emotionally charged activity. High negative emotional arousal can interfere with our ability to clarify our thoughts, choose the right words, and hear and understand what is being said to us2. This can affect our ability to communicate in social work in various ways. If both service user and social worker are in a highly aroused state, effective and useful communications can become impossible. On the other hand, a situation which seems routine to a social worker may be highly arousing for a service user, who may, therefore, present as more aggressive, anxious, confused or compliant than they normally are, a fact that can distort assessments if it is not recognized. Our emotional state may not always be directly related to the current situation – a social worker may, for instance, have come direct
ABSRACT:
In our kind of field where communication plays a very important tool communication, language barrier has been a major problem for me. Though I had thousands of words that I wanted to tell yet I ended up saying only a few. Coming from another state where the culture, celebration of festivals, language differs from here. At times it proves a major challenge in interacting with the clients and the staff as well in trying to execute the plans and actions that I had in mind. I would also like to identify concerns related with the images that the children carry with them in relation with the staff as belonging to the institution with that of the trainees coming …show more content…
COMMUNICATION ACROSS CULTURAL AND SOCIAL DIFFERENCES:
Our culture, identity and personal belief shape every aspect of our communication. When people from different cultural backgrounds communicate, their assumptions about the nature of the nature of their communication; its context and even its purpose maybe different (Thompson, 2003). This makes intercultural communication an intriguing and potentially enriching experience.
Social work is fundamentally dependent on good communication. It is essential for the making of an effective and compassionate professional relationship, thereby incorporating social work’s humanity. Social workers need to effectively communicate with the clients, other social workers, and other professionals. Good communication skills are essential to any form of social work practice from a professional stand point to the most basic and mundane activities and interactions with others. A good relationship in everyday life is characterized by love, care and concern for each other, honesty, mutual understanding and the shared joy of achievements, activities and the persistence to get through difficult difficult times and to resolve conflicts. The ability to build rapport, show friendliness and warmth, to have faith in others, to be honest and to show reliability and persistence are similar to the qualities and skills on which friendship is formed. Relationships in social work also have a defined purpose with boundary that limit the degree of …show more content…
We communicate through words but also, and in fact more so, through one’s tone, posture, gesture, behavior, facial gestures, clothes and appearance. Silence and stillness are powerful forms of communication. Developing good communication skills depends on becoming aware of all of these aspects, in ourselves and in those with whom we communicate. Because we have been communicating all our lives, and for the most part without thinking about it, developing such awareness can at first feel awkward and inhibiting, but over time becomes integrated into our practice. Communication is also deeply affected by our emotional state, and social work is an emotionally charged activity. High negative emotional arousal can interfere with our ability to clarify our thoughts, choose the right words, and hear and understand what is being said to us2. This can affect our ability to communicate in social work in various ways. If both service user and social worker are in a highly aroused state, effective and useful communications can become impossible. On the other hand, a situation which seems routine to a social worker may be highly arousing for a service user, who may, therefore, present as more aggressive, anxious, confused or compliant than they normally are, a fact that can distort assessments if it is not recognized. Our emotional state may not always be directly related to the current situation – a social worker may, for instance, have come direct