Communication Skills In Social Work And Human Service

The assumptions made about Mr. Creswell by first meeting with him and the basis for the assumptions

Discuss about the Communication Skills in Social Work and Human Service.

This report highlights the importance of social work. The bridge of communication states the relationship that provides acts to be the vital link of human connection in two worlds – service user world and the world related to the social worker and some other person as well (Devito, 2016). Negative experiences and events in life, such as, adversity, hardship and when let down by others can sometimes bring unhappiness in the life of the people, can cause confusion, mistrust, depression, etc. Everybody wants to feel better and positive about themselves and about others, in fact about the whole world around them (Nunnally & Moy, 1989).  But the main issue is that they do not have the knowledge to bring such change. It becomes important to take guidance from an expert. This is the concept of communication skills in human service and social work.

It is a fact that positive experiences in life can bring better feelings in the life of the people such as, being confident, energized, optimistic, fulfilled, empowered and determined (Parton & O'byrne, 2001). It will contribute by raising a sense of possibility and hope for oneself, for others and also for the entire world. This type of feeling will, therefore, bring more openness and confidence leading to other experiences that are highly positive. The following report will highlight the situation faced by Mr. Creswell and the ways to bring improvement in his life.

From the given case study it can be assumed that Mr. Creswell is a polite and articulate man. He is a disciplined man. Earlier it was assumed that he is a person having bad character and intentions. He was a person having no values for human services and social work. But after the first meeting, views about him took a sudden change. He is a focused man, due to his sins he is now living his life with depression and still keeps hope of re-establishing his relations with his family. He wants to re-connect and start a new life.

The basis for these assumptions is that Mr. Creswell was found guilty of sexual molestation. So earlier he was assumed to be a person who has no value for social and human services. But the interview changed some views towards him.

From the given case study, it is clearly understood that Mr. Creswell is living under depression because he was imprisoned for sexually molesting his wife’s sister. Now after the release he has realised the importance of human relationships. He is hoping to live a better life in future with his family again. We can say that he did not have any bad intentions of getting involved in such crime and it just happened due to a certain situation. As while making a conversation with him he was very polite and seemed to be much disciplined. He is a man who knows what is right and what is wrong but due to wrong deeds he has still not been able to overcome his mistakes. He should start to make a fresh start by doing things that make him engaged and brings positivity. He should follow all the basic value ethics and human services to bring change in his life.

Some reactions and emotions from Mr. Creswell’s story

Basic conformity and honesty to law: Every person is bound, to tell the truth, to respect another person, to keep promises and to abide by the rules made by law. This level will relate to the basic adherence to the codes of morality that is expected from the society and all the persons (Willbern, 1984). To bring collective good in the society, there is some basis of behaviour that is generally expected. It is important for every person to follow these basic laws and moral codes. Ethical behavior requires that everyone uses a moral compass, that is, the indication to decide what is right and what is wrong in their actions and thinking.  Ability will be developed to build trust in others.

The ethic of social integration and compromise: This type of ethic may not be that important for a particular area as it may be for another. It relates with the necessity that is needed for making compromises in society. We all know that society has many irreconcilable issues (Donaldson & Dunfee, 1999).  Therefore, it becomes a responsibility of every individual to take care of such things and contribute towards solving theses issues. Legislators often establish positions in the political system and may not get what they desire from a particular legislation, but will bring settlement for some issues that they want (Russell, 2004).

The importance of human relationships: Everybody in the society should know how important it is to maintain human relationships. Loneliness may bring negative thoughts and intentions in the mind of a person. Pain may bring difficulties in relying on future companions (Reece, 2012). All these things are a part of life. If there is difficulties in life there are some processes to heal such pain. It can be done by building human relationships. The connections between people will try to bring options to overcome pain and difficulties that may not be available to that person who lacks human relationships (Reece & Brandt, 2008).  This will develop a healthy feeling and generation of new ideas, relationships, and interactions.

Respect for rights and dignity for other people: There should be respect, worth, and dignity for all the people. An individual should have rights to privacy, self-determination, and confidentiality (Barsky, 2009). Special safeguards should be necessary to provide protection for the welfare and rights of persons and communities.

Integrity and Competence: Social worker seeks to promote honesty, accuracy, and truthfulness and this will be very helpful for Mr. Creswell. Integrity and competence will show the negative impacts caused due to cheating, dealing in a fraud manner and results of intentional crime (Hardcastle, 2011).  This principle will help Creswell to make justifications ethically to minimize harm and maximize benefits. It is a serious obligation for a social worker to bring positive changes in the life of Creswell. The work of a social worker is to aspire and to promote wholeness in their clients, in them and in groups in which they work.

Some ethics and professional principles that will be helpful in responding Mr. Creswell

It will improve the professional responsibility by providing all these value ethics and principles to Mr. Creswell, a social worker will be successful in establishing a trust relationship with the client and other people with whom they work. It will improve their way of dealing with the professional responsibilities towards the community and society. These workers will uphold professional standards, will accept appropriate responsibility, and make clarifications for their professional obligations and roles.

Social worker wants to maintain competence in their work to grow professionally as well as aims for the personal development. Such guidance interfaces with disciplines like anthropology, sociology, medicine, arts, and other physical and life sciences (Cree, 2013). They also strive to recognize what can be the limitations for their competence and solve this by making reasonable measures.

Emotions, biasness, and negligence, can bring interference the professionalism in this case of Ms. Creswell.

Emotions: Emotions can influence the professionalism of a social worker in providing his guidance. A professional should strike to keep a balance between emotional engagement and a professional distance (Kline & Shoot, 2012).  It may be difficult to maintain, but it is very vital to do so. Research experts say that many social workers get emotionally attached to their clients, and this should not happen. Moods and emotions are considered to be a part of life. But when it comes to professional case it should be avoided. Do not express emotions at work as it may create a thought in the mind of the client that the social worker is unprofessional (Ying, 2014).

Biases: Biases can cause interference in the professionalism of a social worker and it should be avoided. It is because when it comes to bias, it is very bad, ugly and not good at all (Ala.org, 2016). It is developed due to the personal experiences. A social worker should always ensure that the decision is taken in a very fair and appropriate way.

Negligence: Negligence can also interfere in such situation. A social worker should be totally involved while performing his duty and work. Negligence is not accepted and this will create a bad impression on his clients (Cournoyer, 2016).  If the decision is taken on a basis of negligence Mr. Creswell may not be happy to accept the ethical values and principles discussed in this report.

From this discussion, we can say that Mr. Creswell is guilty of his deeds and wants to overcome this. To come out from depression, he should maintain human relationships and follow the ethical principles discussed above (Esile, 2016). Mr Creswell should start taking things in a realistic way and positively because negative thoughts is the trademark of depression. Such changes can take some time but staying persistence regarding this will surely make a major difference.

As he is willing to improve his conditions in life, we may understand that may be he was not totally wrong for the allegations put over him. May be it was a mistake of another party (wife’s sister). We have developed that Mr. Creswell is highly disciplined and polite so he might have taken the allegations sincerely without fighting back against it.

Conclusion

We can conclude by saying that it is important to abide by the human service and social work rules. Noncompliance will change your life as w can see in the given case of Mr. Creswell. Even if he wants to throw out the negative impacts he is not able to do that because of his misconduct and criminal action. Now that he wants to bring improvements in his life he should understand the value of ethics and start accepting them to gain his family back.

References

Ala,org. (2016). Bias in the Workplace. Retrieved 13^th November 2016 from https://www.ala.org/advocacy/diversity/workplace/bias

Barsky, A. (2009). Ethics and Value in Social Work: An Integrated Approach for a Comprehensive Curriculum. Oxford University Press.

Cournoyer, B. (2016). The Social Work Skills Workbook. Cengage Learning.

Cree, V. (2013). Becoming a Social Worker: Global Narratives. Routledge.

Devito. (2016). Communication Skills in Social Work and Human Services (Custom Edition). Pearson Education Australia.

Donaldson, T., & Dunfee, T. W. (1999). Ties that bind: A social contracts approach to business ethics. Harvard Business Press.

Esile, L. (2016). How to maintain a healthy relationship when you’re depressed. Retrieved 13^th November 2016 from https://tinybuddha.com/blog/how-to-maintain-a-healthy-relationship-when-youre-depressed

Hardcastle, D. (2011). Community Practice: Theories and Skills for Social Workers. Oxford University Press.

Kline, R & Shoot, P. (2012). Professional Accountability in Social Care and Health: Challenging unacceptable practice and its management. Learning Matters.

Nunnally, E & Moy, C. (1989). Communication Basics Human Service Professionals. SAGE Publications.

Parton, N & O'byrne, P. (2001). Constructive social work: Towards a new practice. Macmillan Press.

Reece, B & Brandt, R. (2008). Student Achievement Series: Human Relations. Cengage Learning.

Reece, B. (2012). Human Relations: Principles and Practices. Business & Economics.

Russell, B. (2004). Power: A New Social Analysis. Routledge.

Willbern, Y. (1984). Types and levels of public morality. Public Administration Review, 44(2), pg 102-108.

Ying, L. (2014). Professionalism versus Emotions: Should we make room for emotions at our workplace? Retrieved 13^th November 2016 from https://blog.nus.edu.sg/audreyc/2014/02/26/professionalism-versus-emotions-should-we-make-room-for-emotions-at-workplace-2