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Communication in Social Work focuses on the role of communication in social work. This book discusses aspects of communication in the helping process and illustrates where information and advice on their own would not have been helpful to the client. Comprised of seven chapters, this book begins with an overview of the nature of communication and explains why a study of the communication process may help in dealing with serious problems of the environment and human relations. Attention then turns to communication processes in social work, with emphasis on the role of non-verbal behavior in the

ABSTRACTThis paper is based on a study of the experiences of a small number of people with mental handicaps living in a hospital and a local authority hostel. They all expected to leave long stay accommodation. Their experience of the relatively lengthy periods spent in the hospital and the hostel is thought to have implications for the ways in which they may adapt to imminent changes in their lives. Some of their hopes and uncertainties, and those of staff who know them well, are described and discussed.

This paper raises questions about the ways in which social workers try to "explain" or make sense of their practice in interviewing. It is concerned with the ways that they "construct reality" in their day to day work and how they ascribe order or patterns to this reality. The discussion is based on a tape recorded transcript of a social worker — applicant interview and a transcript of a talk between the social worker and the writer about the interview. It seems that "theory" and "practice" are regarded as discrepant as theoretical knowledge is lost sight of in the action setting of the intake team where taken for granted routines take precedence.

This paper discusses the 'caring' and 'controlling' aspects of social workers' roles and some ways in which role conflict and ambiguity are dealt with in client-social worker interaction. The ways in which individuals interpret each other's behaviour and reveal their motives and the meanings of their communications are considered and some studies of client-social worker relationships are reviewed. Practitioners' perspectives on social work are examined with reference to certain aspects of the relationship between probation officers and their clients. A study of the views of one hundred probationers and their officers is reported: it was found that a large number of probationers saw 'care' and 'control' as complementary. For probation officers the dual function was regarded as problematic: their ways of dealing with this role conflict and dissonance are described and discussed. The care and control debate is regarded as continuing and it is argued that attempting to separate these functions of social work is questionable both in principle and in practice because of possible failure of attempts to meet clients' needs and to protect their interests and those of other citizens. Further, in carrying out these functions it is suggested that social workers should continue to adopt and articulate a critical stance so that they can resist pressures to exercise control when this can be shown to be undesirable.