ABSTRACT
Social work belongs to the social midfield that mediates between individual and society. Social workers deal with citizens who, for all kinds of reasons, are threatened with losing their grip on their lives. Since autonomy is a core value in western societies, issues in this field may easily be considered delicate. This may refer to questions that have a direct effect on economic or physical independence, but also to questions that have an indirect relation to autonomy, for example the anxiety of becoming isolated because of one’s different nature or background (e.g. homosexuality, ethnic minority, intellectual disability). Having serious problems in one’s life already may be confusing because one cannot continue one’s role performance (Gross and Stone 1964) and needs professional help. Most of the interaction between social workers and their clients refers to this type of problem. That makes social work communication a complex and tense co-construction of shared understanding rather than a means of simply transmitting and receiving messages. Maintenance of independence is such a crucial issue for most people that the very appearance of a social worker, which may be an indication that independence is no longer granted, may already arouse hostile responses. Anticipating such sensitivity, social workers try to wriggle out of confrontation by careful formulations. Consider the following example of a social worker’s (family supervisor – FS) talk to a mother:
