Effect of Communication on Practitioners and Service Users

Effect of Communication on Practiti one(a)rs and Service Users rest unsounded enough to absorb the activated impact of ( help drug abusers) experiences is something that totallyows the movement unsung beneath the frozen acres of psychological hyp early(a)mia to emerge in a toler sufficient demeanor at the right time. (Kohli, 2007, p. 180).This piece of music impart parcel out the relevance of Kohlis landment above to the discussion on the telling talk with accompanied bush league. The paper allow for early define the precondition solo minor league. It go out then provide a translation of converse, then identify and examine its main theoretical perspectives. The paper will unpack the meaning of Kholis quotation by advancing a discussion of the splendour of timing when charming with stranded minor league and the intricacies mixed in navigating the sometimes harrowing and emotional experiences of solo minors. The paper will as well as examine the issue of con cealment and how this conjectures a stir of world frozen in time with alone minors and will oppugn orderologies for delving below these issues, in a timely manner enchantment ensuring that the usefulness feels salutary revealing their often locked away emotions. All these factors will be examined in the context of how discourse idler impact two the practician and the returns user and how managing each factor effectively is essential to unlocking inexplicable feelings, emotions and trauma from which solitary minors whitethorn suffer. The paper will take a shit on contemporary literary stools to empirically ground its arguments.Both the coupled Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations pincerren Fund (UNICEF) defines unaccompanied as chthonian 18 years of age or under a countrys effectual age of majority, atomic number 18 separated from both p arnts, and be non with and being cargond for by a guardian or other adult who by law or cust om is responsible for them. This includes minors who are without both adult headache, minors who are entirely on their own, minors who are with minor siblings but who, as a group, are unsupported by every adult responsible for them, and minors who are with informal protect families. (United Nations 2007)More recently, there have been a plethora of studies examining the psycho mixer and sidereal day to day extremitys after they arrive in Western countries.Communication is tell to be a difficult concept to pin down by way of definition because of its many multifactorialities, forms and application to everything. For the proposes of this paper, the definition provided by Fiske (19902) that chat is well-disposed interaction done meanings, provides a good starting pinnacle to examine the concept in relation to unaccompanied minors. Thompson (2003) contends that the neighborly opinion of chat is vital to consider because several(prenominal)s interact inwardly a amicab le property and the nature of this conversation dictates the nature of a relationship or how that relationship develops or breaks down.Thompson (2003) navigates various theoretical model of discourse by drawing on the proceeding of other scholars. He identifies Shannon and Weavers 1949 definition of communication which locates 3 elements The transmitter (person who starts communication), noise (the actual message communicated, and the receiver (the person who the message is communicated to). This definition has received ample admonition for oversimplifying a difficult concept wherein communication is non ceaselessly genetical by noise but also through silence and embody words.In addressing these omissions, the semiotics model was advanced as an alternative. In this model, communication is described by Cobley (2001) as a form of semiosis which is concerned with the switch of any messages whatsoever from the molecular code and the immunological properties of cells all the wa y through to vocal sentences. This definition introduces other aspects rather than the spoken interchange into the communication discourse and Miller (1973) articulates that communication includes non still the study of spoken communication between people, but also the many kinds of unvoiced communication that go on constantly when people interact. In this respect, communication also encompasses culture, because culture determines shared norms and values, address and ultimately these norms affect how data is communicated or transmitted. Thompson (2003) draws on Pierre Bordieaus concept of cultural cap base on the strength of king bases, to explain how culture and force-out force out interact to determine how in institution is understood and communicated, because it informs the semantics of words and the formation of identity. The identification of language as a prominent variable in any communication discourse is inescapable because as Thompson (2003) states, language do es not only reflect reality, but it also constructs reality. This fact is elucidated when certain quarrel or actions communicate a task, or certain actions communicate joy, damage or uncertainty, as is postulated by the speech act theory. Similarly, identity is sensible by cultural norms and values, and determines how individuals view themselves and how they relate to others.It is this connection between culture, identity, language and power which informs the foundations of the discussion on how practicians can cut through the difficulties of intercultural communication barriers to financial aid usually traumatized unaccompanied minors. Intercultural communication skills in the genial turn discipline, is fraught with difficulties. Husbands (2000) maintains that the various biographical routes and stories of practitioners does interact in the affectionate s thou of service users and can affect how information is communication based on how trust is fostered when communicating to service users that difference will be pass judgment and not judged. Kohli (2006) deftly describes the vulnerable unaccompanied minor who arrives in a new country and who is reticent active(predicate) divulging details to practitioners. He, alongside other scholars (Kohli and Mather 2003 Beek and Schofield 2004) observes that unaccompanied pincerren often remain silent, or emotionally closed about their past. He writes that much(prenominal)(prenominal) children have usually been told over and over by others to remain quiet about themselves in invest to keep safe. Kohli (2001, 2006, 2007) insists that it is despotic that friendly blend in practitioners gain skills that enable them to probe the past of unaccompanied asylum children, in order to truly understand their inevitably. Kohli discovers that demands to meet targets go about by modern day practitioners, may interfere with the time they need to grade trust and safely pry open(a) the thoughts of unaccompanied minors. In light of this, the nature of their silence and the impact their experiences may have had on them moldiness be explored, before addressing how tender workers should time their intervention to open communication and supple life histories from unaccompanied minors.The silence displayed by unaccompanied minors should not be immediately adjudged to be because they are secrecy harmful secrets. In fact, scholars such as Finkenauer et al (2001), argues that the keeping of secrets are normal adolescence developmental characteristics. However, the literature on silences among refugee children often points to explanations of fear and the silencing pretend of war on children. Psychological studies (Melzak 1992) contend that children often bury fundamental hurt, pain or vent in order to hold, some to the design that they can forget some thus farts or the sequence of events as a defense mechanism. The risk of acting out inhumed emotions in a harmful way, compels many pract itioners and scholars to argue for methodologies to unlock these stories which according to Kohlers quotation, presented at the gravelning of this paper, may be in a frozen state of psychological hypothermia, wherein they are unable to communicate their inscrutable pain. Papadoupolos (2002) posits that this frozen state could be purposely imposed to swear out in healing and may be necessary to allow affected children the spot to reflect, make sentiency of and accept before being able to move on successfully. Kohli (2006) thence views this silence as both burdensome and protective, and it requires a undecomposed practitioner to know when to encourage unaccompanied minors to open up.Krause (1997) and Rashid (1996) both warn against social workers rush to conclusions about unaccompanied minors based on their cultural backgrounds and what is known about their country of origin. Focusing on organizational targets and not the knobs needs first, may result in the practitioner miss ing the cultural contexts of the minors experiences, within specific times and risks simplifying complex information that may be transmitted without adequate reflection on the communication experience overtime. In order to determine when it is appropriate to prompt for hidden information or stories from unaccompanied minors, social workers must recognize that such children may be trying to be accepted within a new culture date suffering a loss from their own (Kohli and Mather 2003). Therefore, social workers must be observant and reflective (Schn 1987, 1983) to determine when a child is assimilated enough and trusting of the practitioner service user relationship to reveal any hidden stories of their past lives. Richman (1989) also reminds that many unaccompanied children are very resilient because of their experiences and they may be busy trying to figure out their next move, or how to survive within a new environment and culture, or thinking about their asylum status, than they a re interested in reliving past experiences which do not in their estimation contribute to their present survival.Consequently, practitioners are back up to engage in therapeutic witnessing (Kohli and Mather 2003) rather than feeling the need to pinch past experiences from unaccompanied minors. In drawing on B needwell and Melzak (2000), Kohli and Mather (2003 206) statesIn essence, workers are asked not to find action orientated helpers in the face of bollix and bullets, but stay still enough to bear the pain of audience to stories of great loss as they emerge at a pace manageable for the refugee. maculation Kohli acknowledges that it is difficult for a practitioner to remain still and allow a discovery by drip treat to circularize with the refugee, he maintains that it allows refugees to exorcise their demons and ghosts in the process of self-recovery (Kholi and Mathers 2003). This does not diminish the train of practical support that workers should offer to refugees, in f act it is through assisting to order their lives, that they will also make sense of their past and be more(prenominal) than willing or open to sharing information about themselves. However, if and when refugees begin to share their experiences, practitioners must be versed on skills to encourage such interaction and should also be cognizant of their own reactions and judgement which can also be communicated to the node nonverbally and affect the drip method of divulging information. It is to these issues which this paper now turns.Relationship based interaction between service users and practitioners remain central to the core value of social work and reflect its best institutionalize. Holloway (2003) concurs with this view by asserting that conversations between practitioner and client dictate how the trust relationship is formed and how the worker is emboldened to assist the client. In this context, a discussion on emotional intelligence (EI) and its importance to the communic ation process is relevant. Morrison (2007) quotes Golemans 1996 definition of EI as Being able to motivate oneself and persist in the face of frustrations to control impulse and decelerate gratification to regulate ones moods and keep distress from swamping the cogency to think to empathize and to hope. This delayed gratification is applicable to the need for social workers to allow unaccompanied minors the space to understand themselves and their new realities while making sense of their past. It requires great empathy and being able to perceive and identifying feelings in the self and others. Morrison (2007) links emotional intelligence and successful social work as being able to be conscious of the self while establishing good communication channels with the refugee. Morrison advises that social workers must be in tuned with their own prejudices and assumptions because many vulnerable clients such as unaccompanied minors are utilize to reading body language and silent communic ation signs to determine whether they should trust individuals. Therefore practitioners must assure that their methods of praxis honor good communication values rather than downplay them.One of the first methodologies used by the social work practitioner is that of assessment. Assessment frameworks in the UK give little space for the exploration of histories (Morrison 2007). Consequently, the emotions which compel youth behavior is often not deeply understood from unaccompanied minors, especially since they may be silent and signly provide minimal normative sketches of their past. completed observation during assessment will take note of feelings which may cloud deeper emotions and record the moments when these windows into the past were glimpsed or sensed. Much can also be gain by the observation that expression is void of emotion, as this may also be an indicator that the unaccompanied minor realize that communication certain emotions in their language may give the practiti oner space to questions their past and they may be skilled at hiding such feelings in their language and tone. If information from the refugee is sparse and void of emotion, the practitioner should make extra effort to be reflective in figure to ensure that their own perceptions or impressions are not being transmitted to the client. Goleman et al (2002) articulates that there is a situation of dissonance when one party feels akin the other is out of touch with their feelings. The Audit Commissions 2006 story (p.66) into the treatment of unaccompanied children, demonstrates how practitioner bias can affect the direct of treatment given to refugee childrenMany unaccompanied children have multiple needs because of their experiences of separation, loss and social dislocation . . . Yet in many show windows they do not receive the same standard of care routinely afforded to autochthonic children in need, even though their legal rights are identical.Practitioners must consequently guard against treating unaccompanied minors as another client, because the literature identifies them as being ill-temperedly in tune to all forms of communication within the interaction process, and they use this as a guide on who, when and how to trust.A vital part of the assessment is the consultationing of the unaccompanied minor. Wilson and Powell (2001 1) maintain that a childs thinking is dependent on a number of factors including memory, conceptual development, emotional development and language formation. They further assert that there are ternary aspects to remembering information knowledge, sequencing and prioritizing. They contend that practitioners must seek to gain all three trough safe methods when oppugning and practice patience. It is important to note their advocate that a memory may not always be told in the right sequence, and be prioritized according to the present needs of the child or in the case of this paper the unaccompanied minor. Furthermore, they r emind us that a childs memory may not be accurate, this could be deliberately so (as already explored by Kohli 2006), and they argue that it is up to the interviewer to use a method of questioning when appropriate to maximize the accuracy of responses.The Achieving beat out Evidence in shepherds crook Proceedings (2007) document which provided information on interviewing children stated that interviewers must approach the interview with an open mind and that enquiries should not increase the distress of a child by allowing them to reluctantly live bad experiences. Similarly, the 1998 Cleveland Inquiry reputation suggests that All interviews should be conducted by a professional with child interview training Interview questions should be open-ended There should be one and no more than two interviews for the purpose of assessment and it should not be too long the interview should be paced by the child not the adult among others and it is recommended that the both the police and th e social worker (if necessary) interview the child at the same time. These guidelines ensure that the interview adopts a child-centered approach. Another method that is advised with unaccompanied children is the phased interview approach.The phased interview approach is structured in three parts the asylum and initial rapport establishment, the free narrative section and questioning section where the child is given space to communicate, alongside being questioned, and the closure of the interview. It is important to trail children for the interview, through pre-interview contact to lessen any stress which may trick out from being fearful of the process. shaverren should get ample time to consider whether they entreat to share their stories or keep them locked away. Furthermore, the skill to actively listen is prevalent to a social work practitioner as it not only assists with accurately observing, but it assures the child that what they are swearing is being comprehend (Wils on and Powell 2001). To assist in accuracy, the interviewer should reflect back the childs responses to them for evidence of clarification paying particular attention to maintaining neutral body language and tone while doing so (Thompson 2002). However, Wilson and Powell (2001) maintain that if a term is not familiar to the interviewer or seems like slang, the interviewer should make every effort to finish up its meaning with the child in order to maximize accuracy and assist in avoiding possibilities of intercultural communication. Bradford (1994) further posits that the interviewer has the responsibility to ensure the validity of the communication process by pursuing the statement validity analysis (SVA). The SVA checks that the testimony contains no contradictions or logical inconsistencies, the abundance of details, the accuracy of contextual evidence which may be verifiable, the ability to reproduce conversations and interactions and the presence of complicated obstacles. How ever, Davies (2006) warns that while this appliance may be useful, it is not a accurate fix, particularly in the case of silent children who may choose to withhold traumatic information (Kohli 2006).Wilhelmy and Bull (1999) argues that the use of drawings within interviews with child by practitioners should be advance where appropriate because it also provides assurance to the child that the interviewer is child centered. If this method is used, the interviewer must be very observant that this method does not make the child uneasy. While drawing may presents many opportunities to further question the child, the practitioner must as Kholis quotation suggests be extremely enduring to unlock information and allow the interview to be paced by the child, thereby giving them space to trust the interviewing process. A childs comfort with drawing, ay actually provide an opening to more difficult or galled areas and care should be taken to note and protect the childs wellbeing and level of distress when sore information is disclosed. The use of role play and storytelling also offers unique methodologies to social workers to assist children in disclosing painful information.Outside of the interview process, Chamberlain (2007) recounts the use of storytelling by the Medical Foundation for the aid of Victims of Torture to assist refugee children from war torn countries to unlock their deeply buried painful memories when they are ready. He quotes Sheila Melzack the centers consultant child and adolescent clinical psychologist as sayingMany are in a state of suspended animation because they do not know whether they will be forced to return home. We are trying to give them coping strategies to mass with all these issues. But instead of saying directly what they saw or did we deal with it through displacement. They can be extracted through stories which create safe arenas to talk about these issues.Therefore, Chamberlain (2007) and Davis (1990) asserts that stories c an be utilized as a therapeutic intervention method to assist unaccompanied children to recall incidents, not necessarily airing them, but development coping strategies that assist in building resilience in a new environment.There are however, instances where unaccompanied children come from countries whose language differ from that of the receiving country. Gregory and Holloway (2005) maintain that language is used both to grant and restrict access to a society or organization. Chand (2005) identifies the lack of adequate translation and translation go within the UK social work sector. Chands research located many instance where the services of interpreters and translators were needed but they did not show, usually because of lack of resources, so they rate which cases they believe are more important such as more formal case conferences. Humphreys et al (1999) found that many interpreters left case conferences and assessment early, or that interviews or conferences may be rushe d because of lack of resources. In light of the previous discussion on the need for social workers to be patient and allow unaccompanied minors to work through past recollections until they are in a space to share, this practice of rushing sessions to facilitate interpreters, is detrimental to the communication process between practitioner and the unaccompanied child and could discourage disclosure and engender trust issues.As was discussed antecedent in the theoretical section of this paper, language is closely related to power and can be used to control and regulate discourses and effect social control, based on its ability to include or exclude. The client-practitioner relationship is one in which the practitioner asserts their professionalism and therefore must take great care that such imbalance of power is not misunderstood by the client or imposed on them to hinder effective communication (Gregory and Holloway 2005). entirely children, who have suffered trauma are usually u sed to being put-upon by relationships of power imbalances, and therefore the social worker must always recognize that the relationship with such individuals is aimed at building their resilience and cogency to adjust to all or any part of their new environment.While keeping practice client focused, recent years have seen the introduction of numerous guidelines, new legislation and policy changes which require the adherence and freight of the social work practitioner. Some critics ( puppyish 1999 Malin 2000), debate that social work has become mediatory and managerial under modern day guidelines and stipulations which risk the developing of solid client-practitioner relationships and the development of trust. While Gregory and Holloway (2005) argue that the language of such guidelines can be interpreted as the social control of the social work profession which ultimately seeks to fix the meanings of grounded work with vulnerable clients to suit governmental agendas. friendly wor kers must remain committed to the ethic of the profession and further good social work values by ensuring that such language of control is not transferred from the managerial spheres to what Schn (1983) terms as the trenches of social work, that is, the interpersonal communication with clients. It is this regard that social workers must be aware of the power of language in working with unaccompanied minors, and ensure that the practice language is not dominated by a controlling or power induced thrust, but recognizes the vulnerability of clients and their need to slowly build trust and thaw their emotions (Kohli 2006, 2007).As with language, the relations between social work practitioners and other services, can directly affect relationship with unaccompanied minors and how they trust the professionalism of those who communicate to them that they care. The death of eight year-old Victoria Climbie presents an example of how the lack of effective communication between professional p ractitioners can result in harm, especially to children from foreign cultures. The Laming Report of 2003, an inquiry into Victorias death concluded that the young girls death could have been avoided if individual social workers, police officers, doctors and nurses who came into contact with the girl, had effectively responded to Victorias needs. The National Service simulation for Children and Young People (NSF) and the Common Assessment Framework (CAF), both pass to ensure the effective communication between service providers across sectors. Glenny (2005) states thata lot of inter-agency collaboration is not about collaborative activity as such, but about communicating effectively with regard to individual pieces of work , ensuring patchwork of individual effort in relation to a particular case, made senseEnsuring proper communication between agencies when dealing with unaccompanied minors, is therefore essential to build trust in the client-practitioner relationship (Cross2004) and to excerpt any doubts the minor may have that the capillaries of power that agencies appear to be, will work for their benefit and well being and not contribute to any further victimization they may have suffered.It is therefore conclusive to say that the issue of managing effective communication is absolutely essential to successful social work practice with unaccompanied minors. The paper navigated the theoretical intricacies of the concept of communication to highlight its broad nature and how culture, language, body language and even silence are powerful communication tools tapped into by both practitioner and the unaccompanied minor in establishing boundaries of trust. One of the most evident revelations of this paper, is the need for practitioners to practice patience to allow unaccompanied minors the space to unlock their hidden stories, while providing them with support for their daily needs. Furthermore, the issue of intercultural communication difficulties that lack o f interpreting and translation resources can cause in fostering best practice with accompanied minors was explored and it was identified that despite the lack of resources, unaccompanied minors are better served when they are not rushed for their hidden experiences. Finally, the paper identified the how the language of managerial control within social work can hinder best practice, if control of power imbalance is communicated even non-verbally to unaccompanied minors, who are very attuned to detecting such relations in order to protect themselves.ReferencesBeek, M., Schofield, G. (2004) Providing a Secure Base in semipermanent Foster Care. capital of the United Kingdom, British Association for Adoption and Fostering.Bradford, R. (1994) developing an Objective speak to to Assessing Allegations of Sexual Abuse. Child Abuse Review, Vol. 3 (2), 93-106.Chamberlain, P. (2007) Tell it like it was. Young People Traumatised by Violence are Confronting their Past through Storytelling. conf ederacy Care, 5-11th April.Chand, A. (2005) Do You Speak English? Language Barriers in Child surety Social Work with Minority Ethnic Families. British diary of Social Work, Vol. 35, 807-821.Criminal Justice System (2007) Achieving Best Evidence in Criminal Proceedings. 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