Discuss how judging, trying to convince, threatening, and making glib assessments are likely to occur with "captive clients" who cannot readily or safely decline services

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Many types of ineffective verbal responses inhibit clients from exploring problems and sharing freely with a social worker. The following list identifies common verbal barriers that usually have an immediate negative effect on communications, thereby inhibiting clients from revealing pertinent information and working on problems. These verbal barriers are more likely to occur when the social worker is working with "captive clients," a situation in which there is a power differential and the client cannot readily escape.
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1. Judging, criticizing, or placing blame

2. Trying to convince the client about the right point of view through logical arguments, lecturing, instructing, or arguing

3. Analyzing, diagnosing, or making glib or dogmatic interpretations

4. Threatening, warning, or counterattacking

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An underlying theme of these behaviors can be the social worker and the agency reflecting a sense of superiority over people whose behavior or problem solving has been harmful to themselves or others.

Clients do not feel supported when they perceive a social worker as critical, moralistic, and defensive rather than warm and respectful (Coady & Marziali, 1994; Eaton, Abeles, & Gutfreund, 1993; Safran & Muran, 2000). Responses that evaluate and show disapproval can be detrimental to clients and to the helping process.

Clients sometimes consider courses of action that social workers view as unsafe, illegal, or contrary to the clients' goals. However, attempting to convince clients through lecturing, instructing, and similar behavior often provokes a kind of boomerang effect, that is, clients are not only unconvinced of the merits of the social worker's argument but may also be more inclined to hold onto their beliefs than before.

When used sparingly and timed appropriately, interpretation of the dynamics of behavior can be a potent change-oriented skill. However, even accurate interpretations that focus on purposes or meanings of behavior substantially beyond clients' levels of conscious awareness tend to inspire client opposition and are doomed to failure.

Sometimes, clients consider actions that would endanger themselves or others or are illegal. In such instances, alerting clients to the potential consequences of those actions is an ethical and appropriate intervention.

Conversely, making threats produces a kind of oppositional behavior that exacerbates an already strained situation.