Social Work and Reflective Communication SWP22REC

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Social Work and Reflective Communication SWP22REC

• Lecture 20
• Communication within and with dyads, couples and
  families
• Slides prepared by Dr Trish McNamara

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Dyads
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Characteristics of interpersonal relationships

• Dyads are complete and indivisible
• Partners cant form coalitions
• Impersonal dyadic communication
• Personal dyadic communication qualitatively
  interpersonal communication
• Content messages
• Relational messages
• Adler and Rodman (2006) Ch 6

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Can you help me for a minute?

• Superiority
• Helplessness
• Aloofness
• Sexual desire
• Friendliness
• Irritation
• Adler and Rodman (2006) p.192

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Metacommunication

• Communication about communication
• It sounds like youre angry at me
• I appreciate how honest youve been

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Intimacy in interpersonal relationships

• Dimensions
• Male and female intimacy styles
• Cultural influences on intimacy
• Adler and Rodman (2006) pp.193-197

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Dimensions of intimacy

• Physical
• Intellectual
• Emotion
• Shared activities

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Male and female intimacy styles

• Women are more willing to share their thoughts
  than are men
• Female-female relationships are at the top of the
  disclosure list, followed by male-female and
  lastly male-male
• Male relationships -a friend is someone who does
  things with you and for you
• Males see sex as a way to create intimacy whilst
  women see it as a way to express intimacy already
  established

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Cultural influences on intimacy

• Showing emotion
• Expressing affection in public
• Engaging in sexual activity
• Respecting privacy
• Australians and Americans make little distinction
  between casual and personal relationships
• American are easy to meet but difficult to get to
  know
• Germans are difficult to meet but easy to get to
  know well
• Adler and Rodman (2006)

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Striking a balance between intimacy and distance

• Love one another but make not a bond of love
• Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores
  of your souls
• Fill one anothers cup but drink not from the one
  cup
• Give one another of your bread but eat not of the
  same loaf
• Sing and dance together and be joyous
• But let each one of you be alone
• Even as the strings of the lute are alone though
  they quiver with the same music
• Khalil Gibran
• The Prophet

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The shadow side

• Fear
• Risk
• Pain
• Uncertainty
• Confusion
• Ambivalence

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Relational development and maintenance

• Initiating
• Experimenting
• Intensifying
• Integrating
• Bonding
• Differentiating
• Circumscribing
• Stagnating
• Avoiding
• Terminating
• Knapp (2005) cited in Adler and Rodman (2006)
  p.197

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Family communication
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Family work theories reflect Trevithicks three
psychological forces

• Psychodynamic
• Cognitive behavioural
• Humanist
• Trevithick (2005)

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Ecological systems approach

• Is an overarching umbrella framework
• Has different interpretations eg Kirst-Ashman
  and Hull (3 systems levels), Bronfenbrenner (4
  systems levels plus emphasis upon human
  development Eriksons stages etc.), Maluccio -a
  bio-psycho-social definition
• See Maluccio A (1981) Chapter The ecosystems
  approach. in Promoting competence in clients New
  York Free Press

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Kirst-Ashman and Hull

• Micro
• Meso
• Macro
• Kirst-Ashman and Hull (2002)

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Bronfenbrenner

• Micro
• Meso
• Exo
• Macro
• Illustrated by nesting set of Russian matryoshka
  dolls
• Bronfenbrenner (1979)

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The Family

• Is a microsystem connected to other micro
  systems (school, neighbourhood house, church,
  community health centre etc)
• Impacts upon the individual
• Is impacted upon by higher order systems
  (fathers workplace, mothers place of study) at
  exosystem level
• social and political forces (the Brady Bunch
  phenomenon, patriarchy) at the macrosystems level
  etc)

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Systems perspectives on the family

• Structural (Minuchin)
• Experiential/existential (Satir)
• Intergenerational/Bowenian (Bowen)
• Systemic/strategic (Palo Alto/Milan)

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Virginia SatirCommunications theory

• Communication patterns verbal and nonverbal
• Roles placator/mediator, provocateur, leader,
  follower, jester/clown
• Closeness and distance
• Developmental stages
• Power
• The Family Sculpture
• Virginia Satir (1972) Peoplemaking

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Post-modern approaches to the family

• Underpinned by constructivism, linguistics
• Includes
• Narrative (White, Epston)
• Solution-focus (De Shazer, Berg)
• Strengths-based (Saleeby)

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Structural approach

• Another umbrella framework
• Incorporates radical, anti-oppressive, advocacy,
  empowerment, feminist perspectives
• Trevithick (2006)

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Engaging children in family sessions
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Setting up the room

• Quiet, contained, non-disrupted space
• Play area with drawing materials (no noisy toys)
  Optional
• Toilet facilities nearby
• Health and safety hazards removed

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Engaging families with young children

• Adopt an inclusive stance
• Use language which is accessible for all
• Keep it concrete (scales, comparisons, the
  Miracle Question)
• Keep it economical (45 minutes max)
• Share the airspace democratically
• Give homework to everyone

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The challenge of establishing partnerships
with families in involuntary situations

• Appendix 7.Trevithick(2000)

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Principles

• Dignity
• Respect
• Right to courteous caring and competent service
• Clarity about power
• Clarity about purpose of intervention
• Respect confidentiality
• Address context race, ethnicity, religion, class
• Address practical issues Maslows hierarchy
• Be prepared to acknowledge mistakes
• Get good supervision