Social Worker Interview Analysis

Having strong interview skills is important for a social worker. When in an interview if a few words or non-verbal communication comes across as offensive it can affect the practitioner and client relationship. This is why it is a vital part of the social workers skills to have good interviewing skills. This essay will identify Jenny’s interview. It will include ten communication and interviewing skills used in the interview, what Jenny did well, what she did not do well as well as how my knowledge of self will affect the interview.

Communication skills is important to build rapport as well as receive information that will help the client. In the interview there were different situations in which Jenny was polite, the following are examples.

It is hard for me to understand how Mrs Callum’s daughters can be so disconnected from their mother. Watching the interview, there were examples from the interview that I thought pinpointed Mrs Callum’s issue and that was being lonely. “I’ll be lost or lone…lonely” and then when Mrs Callum said lonely, her voice when into a quieter tone. “They need me. I think its best when family look after family” is what Mrs Callum said and I agree with her, but later on she retracts from her statement. She said she doesn’t want to live with her children and their family because she’s be intruding. Mrs Callum’s other option is being put in a rest home where “loneliness has also been linked to increased likelihood of entering rest home care” (Age Concern, no date). Mrs Callum seems to be unsure of her future and scared at the notion of being useless to her children. “If I couldn’t look after the children, I’ll be alone a lot of the time”. If I was the social worker I would pick up on her fear of being lonely, but being of no use to her children, especially after her operation. If she is no longer able to take care of her grandchildren, she will be lonely and have no one to keep her company as well as not being able to be depended on by her daughters. With my collective background, it will have hindered my thinking and would have made me over empathise. I would never let my mother look after my children a few weeks after surgery, I would take time out and look after her. My culture will show through the interview through my facial expression, and that would not necessarily be good because Mrs Callum might feel as if I am judging her and her children. That in itself is not ethical because I would need to separate my personal and professional