Social work is defined in considerable scientific and professional literature and in many study texts as a theoretical and applied scientific discipline that provides its knowledge and research approaches to the prevention and solving of social problems of individuals, groups, and communities.

It is regarded as an area of scientific knowledge and as practical professional activity, to which, according to A. Tokárová (2003, p. 52), the attribute of being multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary can be assigned. The above-mentioned author argues that “transdisciplinarity is an attribute of sciences that are open to accepting knowledge from other sciences, capable of processing, transferring and passing on innovative knowledge to other sciences, and not only those from which they originally drew impulses and knowledge.”
We only add that the transdisciplinary approach is applied not only in scientific knowledge, but also in the practical professional work of social workers.

Social workers

Social workers carry out their professional activity (profession) in accordance with the functions of social work. That is, within specific social assistance activities for clients—individuals, groups, and communities in solving their social circumstances. (A. Mátel- M. Schavel et al., 2014.)

One of the tasks of social workers is, through a professional approach and within their own professional competencies, to implement various activities of professional social assistance. Social assistance means, besides emergency help, professional guidance of people toward active cooperation and eventually toward socially self-sufficient action. The real source of individual social change is hidden in the potential of every social client. Social assistance deals with overcoming people’s social helplessness and supporting their social competence. Clients are professionally guided toward self-help action in socially and psychologically stressful situations (M. Machalová 2013 b).

From clients it is expected, in line with personal capacities and life circumstances, that they show a constructive attitude, make decisions, and invest effort in self-helpful handling of social problems.

Social workers possess a range of economic, social, and administrative tools and a portfolio of counseling and educational activities within social assistance, which are defined by the applicable laws in social policy and social work. Social assistance is thus provided both as material benefits and contributions, as well as in the form of various social services and social counseling. Social services also include social educational activity, that is, educational and counseling work aimed at primary, secondary, and tertiary social prevention in social work.

Social problems need to be solved as comprehensively as possible. Therefore, education, training, and counseling have an irreplaceable place in social prevention and also in the social therapy of clients. The influence of education, training, and counseling within social assistance cannot be ignored. In the final analysis, solving social problems is always linked to some intervention in people’s psychological adaptation and in their social adaptation in given life conditions. Education can be a means of correcting clients’ personal approach to their own problem. Social clients are encouraged and accompanied toward changes in attitudes and in the evaluation of their life situation, and likewise toward a necessary change in their own approach to a specific social event and situation.

The effectiveness of educational social assistance depends on competently prepared educational programs and on professionally appropriate educational, training, and counseling activities and events for specific individual, group, or community clients of social work (M. Machalová, 2013 b).

To carry out their work activities, social workers are required, in addition to professional education, to have adequate social and psychological competence. The level of social and psychological competence is reflected in the professionalism of social communication and in the level of workers’ social relationships within job activity (professionalism in communication and relations at the workplace, professionalism in communication and relations with clients). Social workers apply communication skills in providing social assistance daily in routine work and in professional counseling activities, for example also within preventive educational social work, which we consider to be effective social assistance in: (M. Machalová,2013b.)

  • Primary social prevention, i.e., socialization prevention.
  • Secondary social prevention, i.e., resocialization prevention.
  • Tertiary social prevention, i.e., rehabilitation prevention.

Within prevention, social assistance can be provided through educational social counseling. We defined this counseling (M. Machalová, 2013b) on the basis of the social function of educating social clients. It is based on the fact that people’s social problems can be predicted and prevented through the implementation of “tailor-made” educational, training, and counseling activities. It presumes social educational counseling influence, that is, the influence of education and training within social counseling. However, for the demanding performance of educational social counseling services, it is desirable that social workers are professionally competent and professionally developed both psychologically and communicatively.

Preparation in communication

The preparation of social workers in social and interpersonal communication is carried out through personal and group dynamics based on communication relationships and interpersonal processes.

Participants in communication preparation learn in the following way (M. Machalová, 2011):

  1. “Vicarious learning”—that is, through example, through the behavior, through the presentation of other people in the educational group.
  2. “Mirroring”—that is, self-awareness through feedback, response from other people in the educational group.
  3. “Holistic seeing”—that is, insight (understanding, awareness) into the communication style and nature of the educational group, hierarchy in the given group, the behavior of the group and of its individual members separately. Active involvement and gaining experience from interpersonal and group communication in that group.

Participants in communication preparation are guided to learn to understand verbal and non-verbal communication in the group:- “Attentiveness”—focused on their own communication and on the communication of others in the group. Participants learn to be attentive when observing others’ ways of speaking, arguing, and behaving, and likewise learn to be attentive to their own expressions in interpersonal communication.

In communication preparation of social workers we proceed from these facts (M. Machalová,2011):

  • The educational (pedagogical and educational) process is built on participants’ communication skills and experiences.
  • Participants are partners in education; they receive support and encouragement in the educational process with the aim of shaping and cultivating their interpersonal communication and communication in the group.
  • All participants—educators and participants in education (social workers)—are jointly responsible for the flow, effectiveness, and results of the educational event. The results ultimately show at least partially at the level of interpersonal communication in that educational group and are then reflected in the level of social workers’ communication competence (participants in the educational event).
  • Interpersonal communication is mutual sharing by all participants and is visible in motivation and activity within the educational event.
  • The educator and participants (social workers) have the opportunity to share their feelings, emotions, sentiments, thoughts, values, motivations, behavior, and actions in that educational group.

Competencies of social workers

The work activity of social workers requires a certain level of professional competence (M. Machalová, 2013a).
Professional competence we defined as a system that consists of: 1. professional expertise, 2. psychological competence.

Psychological competence is made up of: a) personal competence, b) social competence.

Communication is related to all the above-mentioned competencies of social workers. We only mention that within psychological competence, in the professional preparation of social workers, equal emphasis should be placed on developing their (M. Machalová, 2013a):

  • personal competence
    , which concerns raising the level of psychological maturity and personal development of social workers;- social competence
    , which concerns increasing the level of social communication and social relationships of social workers.

Social workers’ professionalization depends in many ways on their optimal socio-psychological adaptation to specific professional communication and interpersonal communication in the specific professional environment of social work.
Communication preparation of social workers for the performance of their profession aims at fostering the development of professionalism and expertise of social workers for working with people (social clients—individuals, groups, communities).

Professional competence is hardly imaginable apart from the development of social workers’ personality. The personality of a social worker is expressed in their unique personal competence. It is a comprehensive ability to know and understand oneself and also to know and understand another person (the social client).

Social competence is expressed in the ability of social workers to optimally communicate objectively in professional activity while simultaneously cultivating professional and still sensitive human relationships with other people. Social competence means that social workers professionally understand the social situation, social consequences, and the experience, behavior, and actions of social clients (individuals, groups, communities).

Conclusion

The preparation of social workers in social and interpersonal communication is mainly about supporting the targeted professional development of their personality. This is because social workers, through their actions and communication, significantly influence the actions and communication of social clients. They also have a substantial contribution to changing clients’ approach to their own social issue and life situation.

This is a sufficient reason to deliberately motivate and prepare social workers for knowing and developing their own personality, including their own communication competence. Communication competence is indispensable in the profession of social workers. And so social workers should be wished much wisdom, courage, moderation, patience in their professional activity.

Author: Prof. PhDr. Mária Machalová, CSc.
List of references

MACHALOVÁ,Mária. 2011. Komunikácia v sociálnej práci. Prešov: PBF PU. ISBN 978-80-555-0329-8.
MACHALOVÁ,Mária. 2013a. Cesta k interpersonálnej komunikácii. Prešov: PBF PU. ISBN 978-80-555-0841-2.
MACHALOVÁ,Mária. 2013b. Preventívna sociálna práca. Edukačná paradigma v sociálnej práci. Prešov: Prešovská univerzita. ISBN 978-80-555-0932-7.
MÁTEL,Andrej - SCHAVEL,Milan a kol.2014.: Teória a metódy sociálnej práce I. Bratislava: Spoločnosť pre rozvoj sociálnej práce. ISBN 978-80-971445-1-7.
TOKÁROVÁ,Anna a kol.2003.: Sociálna práca. (Kapitoly z dejín, teórie a metodiky sociálnej práce.) Prešov: Akcent Print. ISBN 80-96836758.