ASSIGNMENT TOPIC:

Interviewing Techniques According to Social Casework

Submitted By:

1. Abdul Rehman (MSWF19E 007)

2. Muhammad Irshad (MSWF19E004)
3. Arooma Faiz (MSWF19E016)
4. Mubashir (MSWF19E023)

Submitted To:
Miss. AMMARA
(LECTURER SOCIAL CASEWORK)

Department of Social Work, University of Sargodha

Tentative Outlines:

1. Introduction

2. What Does a Caseworker Do?

3. OBJECTIVE OF INTERVIEW

4. Types of INTERVIEWS
a. Social Study interviews
b. Diagnostic decision making interviews
c. Therapeutic interview
5. Caseworker Interviewing Skills
a. observation skills
b. listening skills,
c. questioning skills,
d. focusing, guiding and interpretation skills
e. Climate setting skills.

6. Caseworker Interviewing Techniques (by Ellie Williams)

1. Establishing Rapport
2. Open-Ended Questions
3. Follow-Up
4. Visual Communication

7. Interviewing Techniques for Caseworkers(By: Luanne Kelchner)

a. Opening
b. Language
c. Pictures and Written Communication
d. Closing

8. Interviewing Techniques
a. Exploration
b. Ventilation
c. Topical Shift
d. Logical Reasoning
e. Encouragement
f. Informing
g. Generalization
h. Explaining
i. Reassurance.

9. CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION:
Social work interviews are purposeful conversations between practitioners and clients
designed to facilitate cooperative working relationships by focusing on needs, wants,
problems, resources, and solutions. They include attention to both verbal and nonverbal
expression (listening, responding, body positioning, facial expressions, and gestures).
Skills utilized are also influenced by setting and purpose. For example, the skills used in
interviewing a child who might have experienced abuse are different from those used
with a person experiencing substance abuse. Level of voluntarism, and hence relative
control over the agenda for the session, is a key factor. Treatment approaches also
have accompanying interview techniques that are influenced by the goals and
philosophies of those approaches. However, it has been suggested that there are
common underlying factors in the interaction of clients and practitioners that may
supersede theoretical differences, including building rapport and engaging the client in
the interview process. Social work, counseling, psychotherapy, and other helping
professions are closely related in regard to the interviewing skills and techniques they
all draw on. ((Vang and Rooney, 2011)1

What Does a Caseworker Do?

(Dowd, 2018)2
Caseworkers are professional helpers who have a degree in social work or a closely
related field. They may also be licensed by the state in which they practice, and may be
certified in case management by the National Association of Social Workers.
Caseworker duties include assessing client needs,

1. listening to concerns,
2. evoking motivation to change,
3. problem-solving,
4. information giving,
5. referrals to community agencies
6. Coordination of care providers.
7. Clients may be children in need of protective services, vulnerable adults,
adolescents in treatment, hospital patients or elderly individuals, for instance.

1
Vang, P. and Rooney, R. (2011). Interviewing - Social Work - Oxford Bibliographies - obo. [online]
Oxfordbibliographies.com. Available at: https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-
9780195389678/obo-9780195389678-0046.xml [Accessed 27 Jan. 2020].
2
Dowd, D. (2018). The Role of Caseworkers. [online] Work.chron.com. Available at:
https://work.chron.com/role-caseworkers-23053.html [Accessed 27 Jan. 2020].
OBJECTIVE OF INTERVIEW in Social Case Work:
Interview in Social Case Work:-

( Guide2socialwork.com, 2020).3

The interview is the most frequently used social work skill by the social case worker. It is
the structured interaction between a worker and client. In the interview process the case
worker and the client have face to face purposeful and professional conversation. The
objective of an interview in social case work may be as informational (to make a social
study), diagnostic (to arrive at an appraisal) and therapeutic (to effect change) (

Types of INTERVIEWS:
1. Social Study interviews
2. Diagnostic decision making interviews
3. Therapeutic interview

Social Study interviews: –

Information regarding life history is collected through the interviews. The information
enables the worker to understand the client in relation to the social situation.

Diagnostic decision making interviews: –

This type of interviews geared towards appraisal and determination of the eligibility for
a service. These interviews help in making administrative decisions. For example the
child welfare worker interviews the faster case or adoptive applicant to determine it the
agency should place the child with them.

Therapeutic interview –
The interview aims at bringing change in the client, in social situation or personality or
both. The goal is more effective social functioning on the part of the client as
consequence of the therapeutic changes.

Caseworker Interviewing Skills:

1. observation skills
2. listening skills,
3. questioning skills,
4. focusing, guiding and interpretation skills
5. Climate setting skills.

3
Guide2socialwork.com. (2020). Interview in Social Case Work | Guide to Social Work. [online] Available
at: https://guide2socialwork.com/interview-in-social-case-work/ [Accessed 27 Jan. 2020].
Observation skills:
It includes the workers ability to use understand non verbal behavior of the client. It
includes understanding the body language, opening and closing sentences, shifts in
conversation, recurrent references, inconsistencies or gaps in information shared and
points of stress and conflict indicated by the client.
Listing skills:
It involves understanding what the client is attempting to communicate. Listening
includes an attitude of acceptance, openness and focus on what being said by the
client.

Questioning skills:
This skill refers to knowing and asking the various types of questions. Questioning is an
art and an important skills. Various type of questions such as open ended and close
ended should be asked while interview. Open ended question allows expression of
feeling and give the workers an opportunity to understand the client perception of the
situation.

Focusing, guiding and interpretation skills:

It includes capacity to paraphrase and summarize, confront and to be silent.
Paraphrasing and summarizing clarity what has been said. Confrontation is bringing out
into the open feelings, issues and discontents. It involves looking at these elements and
attempting to find ways to deal with them. Silence may indicate resistance, frustration,
or anger but it also can provide a time for worker and client to be reflective. It is the
workers responsibility to direct the interview but not to control it. The worker by focusing,
guiding and directing enables the process of case work to proceed towards the desired
out come.

Climate setting skills:

This skill refers to enabling or facilitating work. The three characteristics that enable the
case work process are empathy, genuineness and non possessive warmth. Empathy is
the capacity to communicate to the client that the worker accepts and care for the client.
Genuineness is the capacity of the worker to communicate to the client that the worker
is trust worthy and non possessive warmth is the capacity to communicate to the client
both concern and desire for an intimacy.
Caseworker Interviewing Techniques
(Williams, n.d.)4

1. Establishing Rapport
2. Open-Ended Questions
3. Follow-Up
4. Visual Communication

Establishing Rapport
With any conversation, it's helpful to start by putting the other person at ease and
creating a connection. Taking time to create rapport shows the client the interview is not
intended to be a threatening or frightening situation. It also demonstrates the
caseworker cares about getting to know the client as a person. When interviewing a
child, caseworkers may start by asking her about school, her friends or hobbies. When
interviewing adults, they often open by asking the client about his children and family,
his job or how he likes to spend his free time. This helps the client focus on things he
enjoys, rather than worrying about the interview.

Open-Ended Questions
The open-ended question is a mainstay of interviewing, because it requires people to
elaborate on their responses. It's important caseworkers know the reason behind the
answer, so they can use this information to evaluate the client's mental and emotional
state and develop long-term goals or treatment strategies. For example, if a caseworker
asks a teenager if he likes school, he'll probably answer yes or no without explaining
why, especially if he has troubles at school and doesn't want to talk about them. On the
other hand, if she asks him to describe a typical day at school, he may open up about
his academic difficulties or encounters with bullies.

Follow-Up
Sometimes, the best way to delve into a client's feelings, fears or motivations is to ask
him what he means by his answer. It also ensures the caseworker doesn't
misunderstand the client's response. For example, if a young child says he doesn't want
to live with his mother, the caseworker may interpret that to mean the mother is
neglectful or abusive. However, if she asks the child why he doesn't like living with his
mother, he may explain it's because she's always sad, which may point to the need for
counseling or treatment for the parent's emotional or mental health issues.

Visual Communication
Some clients have too much difficulty explaining their feelings in words, either because
they're too young, or because the subject is too traumatic for them to address directly.

4
Williams, E. Caseworker Interviewing Techniques. Retrieved 27 January 2020, from
https://work.chron.com/caseworker-interviewing-techniques-16510.html
In these instances, caseworkers sometimes turn to visual communication, especially
when working with children. If a caseworker suspects abuse, she may ask the child to
draw a picture of what happened during an alleged incident. She may also ask the child
to draw a picture of how she and the suspected abuser interact and what they do when
they spend time together. Inviting a child to color or draw can also help put a child at
ease at the beginning of the interview.

Interviewing Techniques for Caseworkers

(Kelchner, 2017)5
1. Opening:
2. Language:
3. Pictures and Written Communication
4. Closing

Opening:
The caseworker should spend some time introducing himself to the subject of the
interview. The opening dialogue should be friendly and open to establish a rapport with
the interviewee. When interviewing children, it can be beneficial to discuss an event in
the child’s life such as a recent birthday party to get the discussion going. A caseworker
must ensure children understand the difference between truth and lies. Using scenarios
can help younger children understand the concept of not telling the truth. Before
beginning the interview, the interviewer should discuss the documentation method that
will record the meeting, such as a video camera or recorder.

Language:
Interviewers must consider the language skills of the client to plan questions. Children
will have limited skills, which require the caseworker to use simpler language. The
caseworker should involve an interpreter for clients with limited language skills as well.
During the interview, the caseworker should demonstrate his is listening to the client.
The caseworker can repeat some of the client’s statement to indicate she is listening.

Pictures and Written Communication:

The caseworker may encourage children to communicate through drawings and writing.
Detailing sensitive information, such as accounts of abuse, is difficult for children.
Drawing pictures or writing down the incident can help the child be open to the
caseworker.

Closing:
Closing the interview provides the caseworker with an opportunity to thank the client for
his cooperation. When interviewing a child, thank him for his hard work during the
interview and not for the information. The interviewer should provide the client with an
opportunity to ask questions about the incident or discussion .
5
Kelchner, L. (2017). Interviewing Techniques for Caseworkers. Retrieved 27 January 2020, from
https://bizfluent.com/info-8576677-interviewing-techniques-caseworkers.html
Interviewing Techniques:
("Top 10 Interviewing Techniques used in Social Work Practice", n.d.) 6
1. Exploration
2. Ventilation
3. Topical Shift
4. Logical Reasoning
5. Encouragement
6. Informing
7. Generalization (Universalisation)
8. Partialisation
9. Explaining
10. Reassurance.

1. Exploration:

It starts with questions about age etc. and proceeds to explore the client’s feeling and
experiences with open-ended questions.According to Thomas et al (1960), if the worker
is uncertain as to why the client is emphasizing a particular thing, or taking a question,
or making a request, complaint, accusation, and so forth, it is wise to make further
inquiry as to just what the client has in mind, and why it is important to him.

Exploring through questioning and commenting is also useful when the worker wants
clients to look in more depth at a certain subject. This helps in collecting relevant data
for diagnostic purposes and may lead the client to think various unexplored areas of the
problem, thus helping him to have insight into the problem.

Would you mind explaining…?

Would you tell me more about that…?
What kind of things you think…?
What do you mean by…?
Could you give me an example of…?
Can you tell me how…happened?
I think you mean that…?

2. Ventilation:

It means helping a client to express strong feelings when he may be hesitant to do so

because of his uncertainty regarding the worker’s response, or because he simply does
not have the words to express these feelings. Verbalizing feelings by a client permits

6
Top 10 Interviewing Techniques used in Social Work Practice. Retrieved 27 January 2020, from
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/sociology/top-10-interviewing-techniques-used-in-social-work-
practice/36561
understanding of his emotional state. Once the client is free from the possessing
feelings, he can clearly think through the problems and his perception of the reality gets
sharpened.

Do you want to tell about…?

Are you saying you feel that…?
You seem to be uneasy about…

3. Topical Shift:
The worker purposely changes the subject of discussion perhaps because he thinks the
topic under discussion is unproductive, a blind alley, or the client is telling a sensitive
matter at present, etc.

That’s important, but first, could we get back to…

Before we move on to that, it might be helpful to think about…
Perhaps we have covered that enough for now, how about you mentioned…

4. Logical Reasoning:
The worker tries to involve the client in a systematic and rational analysis of a situation
that requires a decision. He should encourage the client to weigh alternative responses
and to predict the possible consequences of each of the responses.
We can think about it together. If you did…
What do you think, would happen?
We can take these one at a time. Why do you think that it happens the way it does?

5. Encouragement:
It is done through expressing confidence in the client’s abilities, recognising his
achievements and expressing pleasure in his successes as we do when someone gets
distinction in the examination or wins a match. It is useful with children and adults
lacking self-confidence or with persons in critical situation.
Like any other technique, encouragement should also be based on facts and not on
false premises. False encouragement is detrimental to the growth of individual.
Examples are congratulating someone when successful in some competition, or when
something has been achieved.

6. Informing:
This involves informing the clients theoretically about various aspects of the situation,
procedures involved in administration of services, giving knowledge about various
developmental phases and behaviour characteristic of certain ages and situation etc.
This removes unnecessary apprehension and instils self-confidence in the client by
allaying his anxiety resulting from lack of information about and resultant misperception
of the situation. For example, one can tell the parents about normal behaviour of
adolescents to relieve them of unnecessary anxieties.
7. Generalization (Universalization):
This technique is used to minimize guilt or anxiety feelings in the client by generalising
the nature of events or reactions; for example, one can say, “every child masturbates
during adolescent period; we all feel the same way in the situation you are passing
through”. In effect it tells the client that his feelings and reactions are universal and
normal to the situation, therefore, he need not feel guilty or anxious about these events
and/or reactions.

8. Partialization:
In the initial phase one may try to focus on only one aspect of the total problem instead
of tackling the whole problem, i.e., focusing on only one part of the problem. In choosing
one part of the problem, one should be careful to see that the part problem chosen is of
immediate importance to him and can be solved with the available resources in the
shortest possible time. Once his immediate worries are tackled, it will strengthen the
relationship between the worker and client and increase the client’s respect for the
worker.

9. Explaining:
This technique is used for helping the client to understand the situation or events in its
various aspects with possible implications for the clients. The worker tries to put all the
aspects of the situation/event in detail and in proper sequence to enable the client to
have better intellectual understanding and appreciation of the situation/event. This helps
him to take proper decision and allays his apprehensions and corrects misperception.
Sometimes one may take the help of theoretical knowledge also.

10. Reassurance:
It is used to allay unrealistic anxiety, guilt’s and apprehensions and create a sense of
security in the client. The strength of reassurance depends upon the confidence the
client has in the worker. The way the worker conducts himself in the situation can itself
be reassuring to the client.

His fantasies/irrational thinking can be discussed to show their baselessness, thus

making the client comfortable and secure. For example, in the interview for jobs, the
worker can explain the whole situation and thus make him believe that he had equal
chance to be selected along-with others and that his apprehensions about the interview
board are baseless.

Reassurance should be given only when the facts justify it. To cite an example, one
may assure an anxious patient to be operated that there is every likelihood of its being
successful. If someone tells him that the operation is bound to be successful, he is
taking risk as one can never be fully sure of the operation’s success. Insecure persons
may seek unconditional reassurance, which should be avoided for obvious reasons.
CONCLUSION:
The importance of interview in social casework can’t be denied. It is a tool and skill
frequently utilized by social caseworker to achieve certain goals. Whatever the purpose
may be, some exceptional and recreational skills are pre-requisite from the practitioner
to assess the scene as well as to decipher complex behavior of the clients in order to
excel and succeed in solving the conundrum underlying. Fortunately, some social
caseworkers have carefully crafted certain interviewing techniques. Therefore, these
techniques must be applied in interviewing maneuvers by practitioners, for they will
assist in social reconstruction of clients and generate the desired outcome: killing two
birds with one stone.