Communication in social work

This is why communication in social work is central to effective practice.. In corroboration, Nelson 1980 asserted that social work was one of the first professions to recognize the impo

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Obi-keguna, C., Agbawodikeizu, U & Uche, I (2017) Communication in Social Work In Okoye, U., Chukwu, N &

Agwu, P (Eds.) Social work in Nigeria: Book of readings (pp 60–69) Nsukka: University of Nigeria Press Ltd

Communication in Social Work

Obi-keguna Christy, Agbawodikeizu Uju & Uche

Ijeoma

ocial work deals with both simple and complex problems troubling the welfare and wellbeing of people Understanding these problems takes a great deal of communication This is why communication in social work

is central to effective practice Such communication measures include, oral, non-verbal or paralanguage, and virtual (ICT-based) communication (Trevithick, 2005) All of these measures apply to social work intervention

Communication is as old as man In traditional Nigerian society, people

communicated using various measures such as wooden drums (Ikoro), slit drum (Ekwe), metallic gongs (Ogene or Agogo), wooden flutes (oja), smokes, and

more generally, the town criers Each of these measures had messages being passed, with the people having full understanding of them (Okoro, 2010; Ushie, 2015) This goes to show that in human interaction, communication is central, and without it, humans can’t co-exist In that case, if any profession is aimed at studying humans and their interactive processes, then such a profession must pay attention to the fundamentals of communication This must have inspired Engelbrecht, (1999) to argue that the driving engine of social work profession is communication In corroboration, Nelson (1980) asserted that social work was one of the first professions to recognize the importance of communications skills and the link of same to effective practice Therefore, it

is expected that every social worker should have the dexterity in utilizing communication to the tasks of problem identification, assessment, intervention planning, evaluation and termination, taking into consideration the uniqueness and peculiarities of groups and individuals (Bodie, 2010)

Communication is defined as the process by which thoughts or feelings are conveyed, either verbally, non-verbally, or virtually, across different persons, groups or systems (The Terminology Committee for social work, 1995) According to Ellis and McClintock (1990) communication is described as a linear, one-way process in which a sender intentionally transmits a message to

a receiver, which should be guided by the intent to ensure comprehension Trevithick (2005) added that communication could be tied to all ways through which knowledge is transmitted and received In explaining the context specific attributes of communication, Koprowska (2010) averred that communication is

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contextual and should align with the gender, cultural, social, knowledge base, occupational, and age peculiarities of people

Summarily, communication is the process of sharing information, thoughts and feelings between people through speaking, writing or paralanguage In the context of social work, effective communication follows through facilitating a common understanding, changing behaviors and acquiring information Good communication as a social worker requires the expertise to be both sensitive and understanding of clients’ situation in order to build rapport with the client, with the purpose of charting treatment pathways, and eventually fostering desired change (Trevethick, 2008) Communication in social work is vital to engaging clients (individuals, groups and communities), himself/herself (intrapersonal communication), colleagues, and other professionals, in the context of interventions and helping relationships (Shaw, 2005)

Types of communication in social work

Basically, communication in social work is typified into verbal communication, non-verbal communication or paralanguage, and written communication A fourth which should be considered is the virtual communication that occurs across the internet and wireless space

Verbal communication

Verbal communication also considered as oral communication comes from word of mouth Words are used in expressions They are used in telling stories and cases, investigations, interviewing, counselling, conducting talking therapies, informing clients, conducting case assessment with colleagues and other professionals, reporting cases, among others (Trevithick, 2005) In this context, verbal communication happens directly and physically with a client (Media & Williams, 2014) It is therefore important that social workers pay close attention to the words used by the client when communicating So as to have an exact understanding of whatsoever clients are saying in the exact way and manner they are meant by clients Therefore, listening skill is central to verbal communication This is because, it takes so much attentive and coordinated listening ability to comprehensively grasp words used and meant

by clients In turn, the social worker should be careful of his or her own used words, paying attention to the client’s emotional state, culture, age, educational level, and gender, among other peculiarities (Trevithick, Richards, Ruch, & Moss, 2005)

On the overall, words used in social work communication are expected to convey genuine warmth, respect and non-judgemental attitude towards service users, except in very rare occasions (Diggins, 2004) Finally, words are not enough in communication, as they could be framed This has led to typifying problems handled in social work into ‘real’ and ‘presenting’ problems Often, words are used to convey what the client wants the social worker to hear and

Communication in Social Work

not what the problem is For instance, a child who looks hungry and disorganized, but responds “I am hungry”, when asked how he or she is, has only pointed the obvious (presenting problem) The factors inspiring the hunger are left in the dark by such response Those factors form the real problem They could be child neglect by parents/guardians, marital disputes at home, etc Therefore, social workers in the context of engaging clients, must always look beyond what words convey

Non-verbal communication or paralanguage

The scientific study of non-verbal communication was conducted by Charles Darwin in his 1892 book, “The expression of man and animal” He argues that all animals show emotion while non- verbal communication is based on set of arbitrary symbols with peculiar cultural understanding Ekman and Friesen (1986) noted that facial expressions could determine expressions of anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness and surprise, and for the most, these expressions are universal Non–verbal communication also referred to as paralanguage denotes the process of conveying messages using gesticulations, facial cues, emotional cues, voice tones and pitch, clinched fist, among other communicative expressions not tied to words

Most often, paralanguage expressions are uttered subconsciously and could exceed the control of the communicator This is corroborated by Okoye (2013) who argued that there is a consensus among social workers that 65% of communication during face-to-face interactions are non-verbal The implication

is that more messages are conveyed using gesticulations, facial cues, emotional cues, voice tones and pitch, among other communicative expressions outside words, than words themselves Trevithick (2005) added that non-verbal expressions also include body posture, eye contacts, proximity, and personal appearance Therefore, social workers are expected to pay attention to these types of communication when engaging clients This they do through critical observation and client-focused interaction Social workers practicing in Nigeria should try to understand paralanguage expressions that are common among Nigerians, and across the numerous cultures of Nigeria For instance, Nigerians are fond of hissing when in distress, sizing up people with their eyes moving to and fro the heads to feet of people, holding their waists when tired and worried, standing bent and smiling narrowly when tired over a conversation, etc More generally, eye contacts could reveal what a person feels inside of him or her Also, proximity which implies the distance between you and a client passes a message The way and manner one is welcomed with a handshake, a pat on the back, a hug, a peck, passes a message Likewise, one’s body posture, including movement of the hands, and tapping of fingers send across various meanings Therefore, social workers should be careful of messages they express non-verbally as professionals, while they pay rapt attention to those expressed by clients Thus, it is recommended that social work professionals gain mastery over their non-verbal cues, so as not to send the wrong messages to clients

Written communication

Social workers are bound to receive communications in writing Clients might decide to notify the social worker in writing for reasons surrounding not being disposed, or the client feeling that it is the best medium of communication he

or she is comfortable with, or perhaps for official reasons Often, when such messages are received in that form, the social worker might be expected to reply

in writing as well For instance, social workers could in writing notify an agency

of a problem seeking their intervention The agency accepting to intervene might equally send a correspondence in writing In appreciation of such gesture, the social worker is obliged to equally write to the agency Therefore, social workers are expected to be informed on effective writing tips, which covers grammar, letter writing, memo writing, etc Where necessary, they could seek editing services to improve whatsoever they have written Care must be taken

to read written pieces word for word, so as not to lose their meanings It is true that some correspondences might be difficult to understand owing to language barriers and poor grammar In such cases, care must be taken to follow through implied meanings In extreme circumstances, the social worker could seek the services of a linguist

Virtual communication

Communication has evolved through technology Its dynamisms move with time and space The advancement of technology equally has led to the advancement of communication This has brought about the virtual space, involving social media, emails, avatars, among other internet and frequency driven messaging platforms (Agwu, 2012) These platforms are increasingly gaining recognition in social work (Agwu & Okoye, 2017) Platforms like Facebook, Skype, Myspace, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, and even phone calls and messaging systems, including the radio and television, are central to communication in contemporary times Social media platforms most importantly are becoming very dominant and used by a good number of persons for easy communication Thus, clients and social workers are bound to access themselves via social media on informal and formal occasions This has raised ethical concerns regarding how the social worker should conduct himself/herself professionally on social media platforms Owing to the fact that social media communication could be helpful, and as well implicating The social worker on the virtual space is advised to express courtesy, and at same time be careful with his or her interaction Hence, the need to be firm and emphatic when the need arises

For instance, occasions could rise, where a female client adds up a male social worker on Facebook Not accepting the request could be hurting to her, and accepting it could be conflicting In such context, the male social worker might not entirely be correct with his assumptions It becomes necessary to talk it out with the client, having the helping relationship that is in the process as a

Communication in Social Work

reference point If intents are made clear professionally, then both parties can

go ahead and become friends on Facebook

In fact, maintaining ethical standards on social media has been a contemporary challenge for social workers all over the globe (Boddy & Dominelli, 2016) Dating back to 2005, Association of Social Work Boards [ASWB] saw this coming and documented reactions to it in a document titled “standards for technology and social work practice” (ASWB, 2005) The content of the document covers phone-call etiquettes with clients, messaging etiquettes, among others Finally, social workers are expected to be professional in sending and receiving emails A little Google search on sending and receiving emails professionally would be of help

Forms of communication

According to Engelbrecht, L K (1999), there are different types of communication which a social work practitioner uses, and should gain mastery over They are:

Intrapersonal communication: To communicate with yourself

Interpersonal communication: To communicate with one other (or more)

person

Small group communication: To communicate with people in a group

situation so that everyone has the opportunity to participate

Public communication: To communicate with a group who form an audience

and who are too many to enable participation

Written communication: To communicate in written form with familiar or

unfamiliar people in a formal or informal manner

Electronic communication: To communicate with people by means of the

electronic media, for example, a radio, television, computer or smart device

Communication through the use of mediators: To communicate with people

by means of an interpreter, facilitator or any other representative Adler & Rodman (1994) and Devito (1997)

Characteristics of communication

(Engelbrecht, 1999) outlined the following as characteristics of

communication:

 Communication always has an effect on the people or person involved

in it

 Communication is dynamic, because it is a process that is not stagnant

It evolves

 Communication is transactional and always takes place between people

or within a person

 Communication considers context, such as, a physical context (where), psychological context (how), social context (with whom) and a time context (when)

 Communication involves everything about a person In fact, everything matters in communication

 Communication is a process of adaptation There must be ongoing learning and adaptive tendencies, so as to accommodate and understand messages being passed across

 Communication is continuous, in the sense that it builds up over time

 Communication is inevitable It takes place all the time Even when a person chooses not to communicate, that in itself is communication

 Communication is non-recurrent because reactions are hardly repeated exactly

 Communication seems to be irreversible, because something that has already taken place would be somewhat difficult to change However, attempts to alter the effects of communication can be successful

 Communication is guided by rules and culture

 Communication encompasses content (what the message is) and process (how the message is passed)

Barriers to effective communication

Communication is indeed a complex process There are many reasons why communication may fail In many communications, the message (what is said) may not be received exactly the way the sender intended Sometimes the encoder will send a message to the decoder but he (decoder) will be unable to decode the message This is a big communication barrier It is, therefore, important that the communicator uses feedback mechanisms like further questions (Do you get what I am trying to say? Hope you are okay with my position?), and checking out non-verbal reactions, to check if message is clearly understood (Allen, Hunter & Donohue, 2009)

One of the keys to a successful relationship is good communication However, there are barriers that interfere with good communication (Dailey, 2017) The following are the common barriers to effective communication according to Hargie (2011)

The use of jargon

These are over-complicated, unfamiliar and/or technical terms There exist some jargons in Nigeria in terms of slangs, for example: Fashi am (forget about it), Peche (chill out), Amebo (Gossip) and Awoof (Free things) among others These types of languages can make a client or the social worker not to understand each other This in turn causes a gap between the social worker and the client(s) Social workers are advised to avoid unnecessary usage of slangs

in professional communication, and should completely abhor foul expressions More so, professional jargons should be barely used when relating with clients Where used, it is important a follow-up explanation is made immediately

Communication in Social Work

Emotional barriers and taboos

Some people may find it difficult to express their emotions and some topics may be completely taboo Taboo or difficult topics may include, but are not limited to, politics, religion, disabilities (mental and physical), sexuality and sex, racism and any opinion that may not augur one with someone given his or her experience, affinity, status or culture For instance, Nigerians are very conservative people and culturally oriented This feature might hamper sexual related communication, inquiries to understanding reasons for one’s disability,

or even the way and manner greeting gestures are received

Physical disabilities and physical barriers

Not being able to see the non-verbal cues, gestures, posture and general body language can make communication less effective This often affects those who have visual problems, hearing defects, and those unable to see themselves Phone calls, text messages and other virtual communication methods could be less effective, as to compare to face-to-face communication Physical barriers could also include noise, poor lighting or harsh temperature These barriers can affect messages being passed Noise (manmade noise and machine instigated noise) could be distracting and disturbing Too hot or too cold temperature could also be worrisome Poor lighted places could impede possibilities of seeing facial cues (Dailey, 2017)

Language differences and the difficulty in understanding unfamiliar accents

This could cause serious gaps in effective communication For example, a

youth corps-member was posted to Afikpo, Ebonyi State of Nigeria On getting

there, people were greeting him “jookwa” which means welcome The copper understood it to be “Okwa” (calabash) in his own language He travelled home

and loaded a bus full of calabash, thinking that they needed calabash desperately, prompting everyone who met him to say so He saw it as a business opportunity but was disappointed because he was unable to make the expected profit he thought

Expectations and prejudices which may lead to false assumptions or stereotyping

People often wait to hear what they expect to hear, rather than what is actually said For such reasons, they are bound to make incorrect conclusions and inferences

Cultural differences

Norms of social interaction vary greatly in different cultures, including the ways emotions are expressed Nigeria is a multi-cultural society with over 250 ethnic groups Some of these cultural practices are embedded in our religion Understanding the different cultures in our society helps the social work practitioner to deliver his services effectively without any problem However,

some of these cultural practices affect communication and social work service delivery in Nigeria For example, a female social worker working or practicing social work in Northern Nigeria, must have to be careful of what she wears because of the dictates of Islamic religion and Sharia laws

Other barriers include: subject irrelevance, differences in perception, age, gender, and lack of interest

Importance of communication to a social worker

As a social worker, effective communication is significant, because it helps to build a relationship between the social worker and the client Social workers communicate with clients as well as other professionals to obtain essential information that is relevant to the client’s needs Various types of communication are pertinent to social work Communication is not only speaking It also involves listening skills, body language/gestures, being in control of emotions, and engaging virtually However, building trust with the client is most important in order to be an effective and successful social worker Effective communication helps to understand others and their situations better, and enables a warm environment that allows resourceful ideas, concern, and problem-solving (Shaw, 2005; National Association of Social Work, 2005)

Given the outlined examples, it is clear that no significant change occurs in a client’s situation without effective communication Thus, the social worker must ensure that his or her communication processes with clients, be it an individual, group or community, must observe communication etiquettes across all kinds of communication platforms The aim is to make and have messages understood the way they are intended, being professional with understanding the what, how, and when of communication, as well as envisaging possible and potential reactions to communication made

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Interdisciplinary Research Conference, Ebonyi State University, Abakiliki

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Communication Education, 38 (1), 54–76

Communication in Social Work

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Communication Education, 59 (1), 72

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