Analysing Social Work Communication

With communication and relationships at the core of social work, this book reveals the way it is foremost a practice that becomes reality in dialogue, illuminating some of the profession’s key dilemmas. Applied discourse studies illustrate the importance of talk and interaction in the construction of everyday and institutional life. This book provides a detailed review and illustration of the contribution of discourse approaches and studies on professional interaction to social work. Concentrating on how social workers carry out their work in everyday organisational encounters with service users and colleagues, each chapter uses case studies analysing real-life social work interactions to explore a concept that has relevance both in discursive studies and in social work. The book thus demonstrates what detailed discursive studies on interaction can add to professional social work theories and discussions. Chapters on categorization, accountability, boundary work, narrative, advice-giving, resistance, delicacy and reported speech, review the literature and discuss how the concept has been developed and how it can be applied to social work. The book encourages professional reflection and the development of rigorous research methods, making it particularly appropriate for postgraduate and post-qualifying study in social work where participants are encouraged to examine their own professional practice. It is also essential reading for social work academics and researchers interested in language, communication and relationship-based work and in the study of professional practices more generally.

With communication and relationships at the core of social work, this book reveals the way it is foremost a practice that becomes reality in dialogue, illuminating some of the profession’s key dilemmas. Applied discourse studies illustrate the importance of talk and interaction in the construction of everyday and institutional life. This book provides a detailed review and illustration of the contribution of discourse approaches and studies on professional interaction to social work. Concentrating on how social workers carry out their work in everyday organisational encounters with service users and colleagues, each chapter uses case studies analysing real-life social work interactions to explore a concept that has relevance both in discursive studies and in social work. The book thus demonstrates what detailed discursive studies on interaction can add to professional social work theories and discussions. Chapters on categorization, accountability, boundary work, narrative, advice-giving, resistance, delicacy and reported speech, review the literature and discuss how the concept has been developed and how it can be applied to social work. The book encourages professional reflection and the development of rigorous research methods, making it particularly appropriate for postgraduate and post-qualifying study in social work where participants are encouraged to examine their own professional practice. It is also essential reading for social work academics and researchers interested in language, communication and relationship-based work and in the study of professional practices more generally.

This edited book showcases original research in the study of healthcare and health communication, while also providing a detailed overview of contemporary methods of discourse analysis. Discourse approaches remain under-represented in the field of health communication, despite their potential for affording detailed understanding of health-related text and talk across an array of contexts, for example in face-to-face and digital healthcare encounters, health promotion, and patients’ accounts of illness experiences. This book aims to address this gap in the literature by offering the first book-length treatment of different approaches to discourse analysis in health(care) and illness contexts, and it will appeal both to linguists and to researchers in nursing and health sciences, sociology and anthropology.

Communication and Interpersonal Skills in Social Work are at the heart of effective social work practice. This book offers students a solid grounding in the core knowledge and skills of communication needed for effective practice. The book takes the key theories in communication and explains them in a systematic and practice-related way, essential for both undergraduate and postgraduate students to develop a critical understanding of the subject. This crucial fifth edition supports students with core communication skills by providing in-depth coverage closely interwoven with learning features that engage, stimulate and challenge. Working with children, adults and those with learning difficulties are all fundamental aspects of the book making it useful to students of all disciplines.

Using knowledge of communication skills from different sources (studies of chat perception, social psychology, evaulation research and practice theory), this volume introduces and examines the non-verbal, symbolic, verbal, and written communication skills required for social work practice in all settings.

Dr David Wilkins is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Bedfordshire, UK. Dr Godfred Boahen is a Policy and Research Officer at the British Association of Social Workers (BASW), UK. How can social workers develop their critical analysis skills? What role does critical analysis play in the day-to-day activities of a social worker? And can we critically analyse in isolation? The ability to analyse contexts, scenarios and service users through a critical lens is vital to effective social work practice. Despite this, many social workers attempt to analyse situations alone, missing marks of significance. This book, written by two senior academics and practitioners who, at the time, were in the midst of their PhDs, offers a basis step-by-step model that busy social workers can use to develop a more critical and analytical mindset. It shows how analysis can be woven throughout the whole process of social work engagement, resulting in more effective decision-making, more efficient ways of working and, ultimately, better outcomes for social work service users. This is achieved by ways of handy tools, case studies and dilemmas, research summaries, and exercises and reflections points to tackle alone or with a colleague. Topics covered include: What analysis is, and why it is such an important skill in social work practice. The skills that underpin critical analysis, such as time management, planning, critical understanding, logical thinking, research-mindedness, creativity, communication, reflection and hypothesising. The role of emotion and intuition in critical analysis. The importance of supervision and team or supervised analysis. *** This book forms part of the Social Work Skills in Practice series. The series focuses on key social work skills required for working with children and adult service users, families and carers. The books offer both theoretical and evidence-informed knowledge, alongside the application of skills relevant for day-to-day social work practice. They are an invaluable resource for pre-qualifying students, newly-qualified social workers, academics teaching and researching in the field, as well as social work practitioners, including practice educators, pursuing continuous professional development. *** 'A timely and appropriate post-Munro book for social workers at all levels of experience. The chapter on emotion, intuition and critical analysis is a particularly welcome addition to the subject. A really useful book.' Dr Jane Reeves, Director of Studies, M.A. Child Protection, Co-Director Centre for Child Protection, University of Kent, UK

Based on ethnographic observations of encounters between social workers and people with whom they do not have a shared language, this book analyzes the impact of language discordance on the quality of professional service provision. Exploring how street-level bureaucrats navigate the landscape of these discretionary assessments of language discordance, language proficiency, and the need for interpreting, the book focuses on four main themes: the complexity of social work talk the issue of participation in language discordant meetings communicative interaction the issue of how clarification is requested when needed, and whether professionals and service users are able to reach clarity when something is unclear Based on the findings presented on these different aspects of language discordant talk, the consequences of language discordance for social work are presented and discussed, focusing primarily on issues at the intersection of language, communication, power, dominance and subordination, representation, linguicism, and ultimately, human rights and human dignity. It will be of interest to all social work students, academics and professionals as well as those working in public services and allied health more broadly.

What do the stories youth in state care tell about life in their family of origin? What stories do they tell us about coming into care, living in care, and relationships with foster-parents and social workers? This book presents the stories of youth in care, though not in splendid isolation, but as interactively produced, turn by turn in interviews, and in conversations with other youth. By using tools from conversation analysis (CA), the author examines interviews with youth in care and social workers, to unfold the essential and incorrigible reflexivity of story production. CA allows us to grasp the ways that a youth’s story emerges turn by turn, and is an artefact of a social relation between a youth and an interviewer. This text provides social work readers with a sense of art, artistry, and ambiguity at the heart of social interaction. It will be required reading for all social work students and academics looking for a deeper, more philosophical understanding of the profession.