Messages and Media
| Author | Peter R. Day |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455057502200207 |
| Date | 01 June 1975 |
| Published date | 01 June 1975 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
52
Messages
and
Media
PETER
R.
DAY
Social
Services,
Lincolnshire
IN
a
challenging
discussion
of
some
implications
of
the
rapid
expansion
of
probation
and
after
care
training
Colin
Fishwick’
noted
a
greater
readiness
to
recruit
working
class
members
to
the
social
work
profes-
sion.
He
suggested
that
this
has
a
major
effect
in
the
skills
area
of
training;
the
working
class
entrant
is
frequently
chosen
because
of
sharpened
capacities
of
perception
and
non-verbal
communication.
In
training
he
needs
to
develop
skill
in
formal
modes
of
communication,
report
writing,
speaking
in
court
and
talking
with
his
seniors.
This
may
or
may
not
be
so
but
it
would
certainly
seem
well
worth
further
exploration.
We
have
hardly
begun
to
look
at
this
question
of
the
identification
and
development
of
communication
skills
in
social
work
training
yet;
references
to
it
in
course
syllabuses
are
quite
rare.
On
the
other
hand,
for
all
social
workers,
there
seems
to
be
agreement
that
the
learning
of
communication
skills
is
basic
in
initial
training
and
also
later
on
in
staff
development.
I
propose
to
look
briefly
at
the
kinds
of
resources
that
may
be
used
in
developing
these
skills,
referring
to
recent
studies
relevant
to
social
work
practice
and
teaching.
First
of
all
perhaps
one
should
consider
the
trainer.
The
trainer
acts
as
a
model
and
Carkhuff2
says
that
the
requirements
of
the
model
are
high.
He
must
be
genuine
and
sensitive
and
communicate
deep
respect
for
constructive
attitudes
and
forces
in
other
people.
Without
someone
with
these
aspirations
to
personal
integrity,
who
can
provide
an
integrated
learning
experience,
discussion
of
communication
training
is
meaningless.
,
In
the
early
stages
it
is
suggested
that
the
trainee
focusses
on
empathy
which
is
regarded
as
the
most
critical
of
all
the
variables
involved
and
the
one
basic
to
the
helping
process.
The
ability
to
establish
rapport
may
be
partly
an
ability
to
respond
rapidly
to
the
social
techniques
of
others
intuitively,
and
partly
a
result
of
learning.
For
it
to
occur
there
must
be
a
clear
channel
of
communication
between
the
people
con-
cerned,
there
must
be
some
degree
of
trust
and
acceptance
of
each
other,
and
the
pattern
of
interaction
must
be
fairly
smooth.
Quite
a
lot
of
time
may
be
invested
in
the
early
stages
simply
in
trying
to
strengthen
these
aspects
of
a
helping
relationship.3
No
single
theory
explains
imitation
but
if
people
copy
each
others’
thoughts,
feelings
and
actions
they
keep
in
step
with
one
another;
imitation
facilitates
co-operation.
An
important
point
about
this
is
that
it
is
a
way
of
speeding
up
learn-
ing
and
it
probably
happens
when
students
acquire
professional
attitudes.
These
processes
can
be
developed
by
the
arts
in
general
and
imagina-
tive
literature
in
particular.
Sharing
experience
and
the
widening
of
understanding
of
peoples’
feelings
involve
imaginativeness
but
we
need
to
recognise
that
reactions
to
pieces
of
art
vary;
one
person
may
be
able
to
respond
to
certain
symbols
while
another
may
not,
but
literature,
for
example,
can
provide
opportunities
for
a
person
to
explore
kinds
of
life
which he
cannot
participate
in immediately.
This
sharing
of
other
peoples’
feelings
and
the
creative
presentation
of
these
and
similar
feel-
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