DESCRIBE, DEMONSTRATE AND ANALYSE HOW LISTENING Essays

DESCRIBE, DEMONSTRATE AND ANALYSE HOW LISTENING Essays DESCRIBE, DEMONSTRATE AND ANALYSE HOW LISTENING Essay DESCRIBE, DEMONSTRATE AND ANALYSE HOW LISTENING Essay DESCRIBE, DEMONSTRATE AND ANALYSE HOW LISTENING SKILLS ARE CENTRAL TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IN SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE. Listening accomplishments are of critical importance for effectual communicating in societal work pattern. Without these accomplishments, a societal worker would happen it about impossible to run into the demands of their clients. As with any accomplishment, listening accomplishments need to be honed and improved by societal workers over clip and while larning about listening provides valuable penetrations about the procedures implicit in communicating, it is merely in an synergistic environment that a societal worker is genuinely able to prove and better their hearing accomplishments. It is of import that a clear differentiation is made between the listening accomplishments employed in mundane state of affairss and those employed by a trained societal worker. In order to understand the type of listening accomplishments that societal workers are required to use, it is appropriate to look briefly at listening accomplishments, or deficiency thereof, in the context of mundane communicating. Most people communicate in their mundane lives without of all time taking the clip to see the procedures behind that communicating. Without understanding the implicit in procedures involved, people partaking in mundane communicating can be prone to misinterpretations. [ 1 ] One of the grounds for this is that in mundane communicating, what is said takes precedency over what is heard and those that shout the loudest are frequently the 1s that get what they want. As such, it is no surprise that listening accomplishments are undervalued and when person else is talking, the enticement is for the individual non talking, non to listen, but instead to fix their ain soliloquy. As Van Slyke notes, we listen with the purpose to react, alternatively of listening with the purpose to understand. [ 2 ] In societal work pattern nevertheless, effectual hearing accomplishments are of cardinal importance. When covering with sensitive issues and vulnerable clients, the misinterpretations that normally pass without incident in mundane communicating could hold lay waste toing effects. As such, it is of import that societal workers are trained to understand the procedures which underlie effectual communicating. Merely in this manner can societal workers obtain a broader apprehension of what holding and utilizing effectual hearing accomplishments entails. The term listening skills within a societal work context refers to a much broader construct than most laic people would normally tie in with the term. In contrast to the misinterpretations which he sees every bit common to mundane communicating, Parkes advocates an active engagement attack to listening which he so proceeds to specify as entailing, listening with our ears to what is being said and to the tone of voice, listening with our heads to understand the message contained in the words, listening with our eyes to what is being conveyed through the client’s position, bearing and gestures, and listening with our Black Marias to the human being we are seeking to understand. [ 3 ] While this attack provides an easy debut to the construct of active hearing, it fails to supply a societal worker with much in the manner of counsel or aid in seeking to understand the procedures underlying their communicating with a client or with helping them to review their ain public presentation against a checklist of criterions with a position to bettering those accomplishments. In this manner, Parkes attack is small different to a ballad individual being asked to explicate what active hearing agencies to them. Other than supplying a general overview of a holistic attack to listening accomplishments, it does nil to help a societal worker in a practical manner to hone their hearing accomplishments. A much more practical attack to listening accomplishments is provided by Gambrill. She believes that it is of import that societal workers are able to self-assess their hearing accomplishments. [ 4 ] Without being able to self-assess harmonizing to mensurable standards, it becomes excessively easy to believe that effectual hearing accomplishments are merely a trait that some societal workers possess as opposed to a accomplishment that can be developed and improved over clip. Gambrill suggests three standards that allow a societal worker to judge the quality of their hearing accomplishments ; that ( 1 ) clients portion relevant stuff and take part in researching factors related to ailments ; ( 2 ) clients seem comfy ; [ 5 ] and ( 3 ) through the rating of client Sessionss against a suggested checklist: Checklist for Reviewing Listening Skills: Arrange a distraction-free environment. Avoid breaks and speaking for clients ( eg completing their sentences ) . Avoid deflecting idiosyncrasies. Use facial looks that reflect involvement and concern. Use postures that reflect involvement and concern ( relaxed but attentive, oriented towards others ) . Use appropriate oculus contact. Make sure that verbal and non-verbal behaviors agree. Ask inquiries that reflect attending and concern. Use easing siting agreements. Take appropriate stairss to avoid or take obstructions to communicating. Time your paraphrasiss and contemplations good, and pass on an apprehension of what has been said. Use an effectual assortment of responses. Use minimum encourages efficaciously. Indexs of success: Clients offer more relevant stuff. Clients explore new positions of concern and related events. [ 6 ] By supplying the above checklist, Gambrill provides a clear method for societal workers to measure their hearing accomplishments. However, while much of the success of a societal worker’s efforts at effectual communicating will be down to their ain hearing accomplishments, it is of import to retrieve that listening accomplishments are non the lone factor. As noted in the above checklist, environmental factors besides play a big portion. It is hence of import that societal workers plan meetings with their clients in progress to guarantee that external and internal distractions are kept to a lower limit. Practical illustrations of this may be, for case in relation to external distractions, to guarantee that meetings take topographic point in the forenoon as opposed to lunchtime when the noise from work co-workers is more likely to be louder and more distracting ; and in relation to internal distractions, to guarantee that other viing precedences have been addressed prior to the meeting. While these external and internal distractions can neer be to the full avoided, a small forward planning can intend that they are minimised. In general footings, retrieving a checklist of points is non practical for a societal worker prosecuting with a client and can really be a cause of internal distraction if focused on excessively to a great extent. Gambrill does nevertheless propose a simple method for finding whether or non person is utilizing effectual hearing accomplishments. She suggests that the hearer, †¦identify prejudices about clients that may acquire in the manner of effectual hearing by observing what [ they ] think a individual will state at specific points. [ 7 ] Effective hearing accomplishments assist a societal worker to detect the underlying issues which are of concern to their clients. A simple illustration could be that of a kid who lashes out at other kids at school. In a meeting with a societal worker, the kid ab initio attempts to warrant his violent behavior and displays a desire to travel to another school, but one time an empathic bond has been created between the societal worker and the kid, it shortly becomes evident that the kid is holding troubles with reading and his actions result from feelings of embarrassment and insufficiency. Had the societal worker non been willing to listen efficaciously, they may hold accepted the child’s desire to travel to another school at face value which would non hold addressed the implicit in issue. It would hold merely been a impermanent solution and it is likely that following the move to the new school, the child’s form of floging out at other students would return. However, by helping the kid in get the better ofing his jobs with reading, the societal worker would hold assisted in work outing the issue at the nucleus of the child’s violent effusions. Different listening accomplishments may besides be needed in different societal work state of affairss ( Dorfman lists some of the functions that societal workers perform which include ; recommend, pedagogue, counselor, go-between, adviser, research worker and judge [ 8 ] ) and when covering with different clients ( eg immature people, people with disablements and people from different cultural and cultural backgrounds ) . Listening accomplishments are possibly most of import to societal workers when they are carry throughing their function as counselors. In this function, societal workers must demo empathy with the client, guarantee that they feel that they are in a safe environment, be non-judgmental and let the client to experience that they can take hazards and do errors within this environment without reverberations. For state of affairss in which a societal worker is holding trouble promoting a client to speak, Gambrill provides the following troubleshooting checklist : Bash you follow the ask-listen-ask regulation? Bash you offer high-quality hearing? Are you interested in what other people say? Bash you concentrate excessively much on yourself and non plenty on what other people do, experience and believe? Bash you miss or misinterpret societal signals that other people want to talk? Bash you bury to wait a few seconds after other people finish speaking before talking? [ 9 ] Through the usage of simple methods such as nodding in understanding, appropriate oculus contact and positive organic structure linguistic communication, the societal worker can promote an unfastened resonance with a client. In some instances, particularly with younger people, it may be the first clip that person has taken the clip to listen to their ideas and feelings on a given topic. By authorising them to in this manner, a societal worker is able to supply them with the tools needed to show themselves. By taking the clip to actively listen, societal workers are besides able to take notice of extra factors which might non come across in the existent words spoken for case ; the client’s organic structure linguistic communication, reactions and general demeanor. It can besides be used as a tool to quiet clients that are upset as demonstrated by Kinney, Haapala A ; Booth. [ 10 ] The illustrations provided by them do it clear that their doctrine of when in uncertainty, listen [ 11 ] can be rather effectual. In state of affairss in which the societal worker is come ining a extremely charged environment with several persons all viing to be heard, Kinney, Haapala A ; Booth suggest reaching persons by phone prior to the meeting, constructing a relationship and therefore cut downing the force per unit area on the societal worker to necessitate to turn to everyone’s viing precedences all at one time at the face to confront meeting. [ 12 ] They provide the undermentioned illustration to assist exemplify their point: Abbey ( 37 ) , the female parent of 15-year-old Tammy ( the PR ) , who was in having attention when we got the referral, was really angry with her girl and the kid public assistance system when I called to do our first assignment. We talked for about an hr and a half. Most of the clip she was inquiring why – why parents have no power, why childs have all the control, why running off is non a offense, why everybody is faulting the parents. She besides told narratives about Tammy’s past misbehavior, failure to react to her ( and her husband’s ) attempts to better the household state of affairs. For about 45 proceedingss I responded about wholly by active listening – reflecting defeat, embarrassment, choler, disheartenment, confusion. After a clip Abbey began to speak more easy and in a lower tone of voice. She was still inquiring inquiries and at that point I on occasion shared with her my apprehension of the purpose of some policies, Torahs, social workers, etc. , admiting that the system is non perfect, is germinating and sometimes blowbacks. I shared with her that I was her age and that I besides observed generational differences and sometimes found adolescents confounding. By the terminal of our conversation we had made an assignment and in three or four cases Abbey had laughed at something we had said. She apologised for being so angry and stating so many ( harmonizing to her civilization – Asian ) rude things. I assured her that I wanted to hear her existent feelings and that I appreciated her candor and her defeat. We hung up looking frontward to run intoing each other. ( Ellen Douthat ) . [ 13 ] The above illustration raises several interesting points. Even though the conversation took topographic point over the telephone, by actively listening to Abbey, the societal worker was able to promote her to open up and portion more information with her than would hold been the instance had the societal worker merely discussed the issues she was raising with her. Likewise, the societal worker was able to quiet Abbey down and one time that had been achieved, construct a resonance with her which so allowed the societal worker to set a human face to a system which can frequently look dashing and unaccessible. By admiting that the system is non perfect but that it does function an of import intent, the societal worker was able to do Abbey experience that she was non being judged and that she was in a safe environment in which she was able to unburden herself of the defeats that she was experiencing. However, it is of import to observe that listening should, in most instances, be active as opposed to passive. Returning to the illustration set out above, the societal worker in that instance used active hearing to let Abbey to vent her defeats and quiet down. Once she had done so, the societal worker was so able to present other elements into the interaction. The point being that even while listening, the societal worker is actively involved in guaranting that the interaction moves frontward in a structured manner. As Clark et al point out, Listening is non easy. It requires a deep consciousness and at the same clip a suspension of our opinions and above all our biass. It requires openness to change. [ 14 ] One of the chief obstructions to effectual hearing can really be a societal worker’s ain good purposes and opinions. This is peculiarly so in the instance of freshly qualified societal workers who have spent old ages analyzing and are acute to set the theories they have learnt into pattern. In such a instance, a societal worker must seek difficult to avoid seeking to happen a solution at any cost and spend clip finding what the underlying job may be. This can merely be done by actively listening to what the client is stating and accepting that they are a facilitator of alteration as opposed to person who is at that place to enforce alteration from above. Furthermore, the fright of rolling into chartless Waterss may besides deter certain societal workers from using effectual hearing accomplishments. It is frequently much easier to suit a client’s jobs into a standard text book solution than to assist a client unfastened up deeper and less manageable issues. The force per unit areas of limited resources, viing precedences, etc may besides lend to the demand to restrict clip spent with clients. As the usage of listening accomplishments is more clip devouring it is a more expensive usage of resources when it comes to happening short-run solutions. However, when long-run ends and consequences are taken as the step of success, the usage of effectual hearing accomplishments will ever be a more cost effectual usage of resources as it is more likely to turn to the underlying issues which is similarly more likely to so take to an effectual solution. Most clients that come into contact with societal workers have been through traumatic experiences. They may non hold had anyone to turn to and as such may be looking to unburden their experiences onto a impersonal beginning. While there may be some initial blarney and resonance edifice required to do them experience like they are in a safe environment and to assist them open up, one time they feel comfy with the societal worker and look willing to work through their experiences with them, the societal worker should concentrate on utilizing their hearing accomplishments to promote the client. Listening accomplishments remain of critical importance for effectual communicating in societal work pattern. As celebrated above, listening accomplishments, when used efficaciously allow societal workers to accomplish legion aims such as constructing resonance with clients, quieting them if they are experiencing frustrated, promoting them to experience like they are in a safe environment and leting them to show themselves without the fright of embarrassment or reverberations. However, the listening employed by societal workers should be active as opposed to passive and as such, the aims of their interactions with clients should ever steer the societal workers determination of when it is appropriate to listen and when they are required to take the lead. Bibliography Clark, A. , Kjorholt, A. T. A ; Moss, P. ( 2005 ) ,Beyond Listening: Children s Positions on Early Childhood Servicess, The Policy Press Dorfman, R. A. ( 1996 ) , Clinical Social Work: Definition, Practice, and Vision, Brunner/Mazel Inc, New York Galinsky, M. J. ( 2004 ) , Handbook of Social Work With Groups, The Guilford Press, New York Gambrill, E. D. ( 1997 ) , Social Work Practice: A Critical Thinker s Guide, Oxford University Press, New York Edward gibbons, B. J. A ; Hargie, O. ( 2004 ) ,Skilled Interpersonal Communication, 4Thursdayed. , Routledge, East Sussex Kinney, J. , Haapala, D. A ; Booth, C. ( 1991 ) ,Keeping Families Together: The Homebuilders Model, Transaction Pub Maidment, J. A ; Egan, R. ( 2004 ) , Practice Skills in Social Work and Welfare: More Than Merely Common Sense, Allen A ; Unwin, Australia Parkes, C. M. ( 1996 ) , Reding in Terminal Care and Bereavement, BPS Books, Leicester Van Servellen, G. ( 1997 ) , Communication Skills for the Health Care Professional: Concepts and Techniques, Aspen Publishers, Maryland 1