Writing In The Human Service Profession

Writing in Human Services can be divided into a professional and an academic division. Professionals in this field utilize writing as a tool of service designed to ensure quality of care for clients served, while academic writing focuses on education and further research within the field. Both professional writing and academic writing have their own set of values and styling that will be analysis in this paper.

Beginning with the professional side of writing in this field, one must take into account the many different branches of service that are included in the Human Service Profession. Those different branches and even the different agencies within those branches of service do show variance in their writing, yet they all write with a common

Firstly, providing services for a client often involves more than one service professional that may or may not be within the same agency. Communication between those professionals is key to the quality of care that client will receive. Secondly, many agencies also include more than one service program, and inter-agency communication between service providers, program directors, and executive management is vital to sustainability. Lastly, there is also the fact that many services are fund either by a government assistance program, or through insurance, and those agencies require good communication. Due to the diversity of audience, writing in this field is made very clear and often straight to the point. Writers refrain from using slang words or words with multiple meanings. They often use shorter sentences and are not as concerned with a repetition of word usage. Details are included by priority in this type of writing, which is also part of being concise. In the following example, one can see the clear conciseness that is used in the professional world of Human

This is a form of respect that helps to create common ground between service provider and those who receive services. Professionals are taught to use this model of thinking and use of language in the field.

Academic writing in the field of Human Services has some similarities to professional writing, but it also has a few differences of its own such as audience and purpose. As in professional writing, the audience defines this style of writing, however, academic writing targets a different audience than professional writing. The audience is not as diverse so this type of writing can take on a more formal style using specific terminology, more details, and longer explanations.

The purpose of academic writing is also different from that of professional writing. Academic writing in Human Services can take on the form of research papers, peer reviewed journal articles, and educational materials. The purpose of academic writing in this field is often to present new ideas, re-evaluate past ideas, or to