Clients do not always perceive social worker questions about concerns as helpful. Should a social worker adjust his or her verbal following skills according to age, setting, and language? If yes, how could he or she do so?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Clients do not always perceive social worker questions about concerns as helpful. While noting the differences within Asian and Pacific Islander groups, including those with immigrant and resident status, Fong (2007 ) notes that some Asian clients (as well as members of other groups) may express emotional conflicts in a physical form. In such cases, the social worker must be respectful of the client's experience with the physical concern as well as explain the rationale for asking questions about factors such as family background that are not directly related to the physical complaint (Cormier & Nurius, 2003).
Clients who are members of historically oppressed groups may perceive questions as interrogations not designed to help them with their own concerns but rather as ways to explore whether they have broken the law or endangered their children. That is, they may not readily assume that the social worker is acting as their agent or advocate but rather as an agent of the state or majority community and hence a potential danger to their family (Sue, 2006).