Assume you are a professional social worker who is acting as a counsellor for recovering substance abuse
addicts. You are visiting a de-addiction and rehabilitation center to counsel Ross, a 37-year-old inmate. He appears
to be recovering slowly. He is cooperative but moody and unpredictable at times. He is fervently religious and
quotes extensively from the holy book of his faith. Identify the most challenging aspects of dealing with Ross.
Describe your initial approach and the language you would use during your first session with Ross.
What will be an ideal response?
ANS: Students' answers will vary. Effective communication requires skills in both talking and listening.
Here are some of the common errors we sometimes make in talking and listening:
? Interacting in a patronizing or condescending manner.
? Interrogating (rather than interviewing) by asking questions in rapid, staccato-like fashion.
? Focusing on ourselves (for example, formulating questions before understanding the other's message,
self-consciously monitoring our internal experiences, evaluating our own performance).
? Attending predominantly to a single dimension of a person's experience (for example, just thoughts or
just feelings; only the personal or only the situational; just the negative or just the positive).
? Interrupting frequently with a comment or question.
? Failing to listen or remember.
? Selectively listening with an "agenda" or "theory" so that we interpret others' messages to match our
own beliefs and opinions, and confirm our own biases.
? Neglecting to use a person's name, mispronouncing or changing it (for example, referring to
"Catherine" as "Cathy" or "Josef " as "Joe"), or assuming a degree of formality or informality that does not
match that of the client's (for example, "Mr. Jones" when he would prefer "Bill," or "Jane" when she
prefers "Mrs. Smith").
? Neglecting to consider the cultural meaning of the interview for a particular person or family.
? Failing to demonstrate understanding through active listening.
? Using terms that stereotype people or groups.
? Offering suggestions or proposing solutions too early in the process (on the basis of incomplete or
inaccurate understanding of the person-issue-situation).
? Making statements in absolutist terms (through, for example, words such as "always," "never," "all," or
"none").
? Prematurely disclosing personal feelings, opinions, or life experiences.
? Confronting or challenging a person before establishing a solid relationship and a genuine base of
accurate understanding.
? Speculating about causes of issues before adequately exploring the problem and situation, or before
learning about the person.
? Prematurely pushing for action or progress from a person who has not indicated a readiness for action.
? Using clichés and jargon, or using a single phrase over and over so that it seems insincere.
? Making critical or judgmental comments, including pejorative remarks about other people or groups (for
example, other professionals, agencies, and organizations).
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Which of the following is an example of a community link formed by asset mapping?
A. A school provides meeting rooms for parent-teacher conferences. B. A church invites its parishioners to a special day of prayer. C. A university fundraises to build a new sports arena. D. A police department delivers turkeys to a local food pantry for seniors.
The capitalist theory assumes that:
a) All people have equal opportunity to go into business for themselves. b) If you accumulate enough money you can do or have anything. c) All consumers have equal information, access, and ability to purchase goods. d) All consumers can purchase all goods they require if they only work.
In a social problems approach, a drug is defined as any habit-forming substance that directly affects the brain and the nervous system
Indicate whether the statement is true or false
Social workers terminating with clients attempt to do three things:
a) review the progress and outcomes of the intervention; review the helping relationship itself; and transfer the client to a new helping professional b) review the progress and outcomes of the intervention; perform a single-system design; and present their results to their colleagues c) assess the validity of the helping relationship; document the reliability of the helping relationship and plan for the client's future d) review the progress and outcomes of the intervention; review the helping relationship itself; and plan for the client's future