Verbal Strategies that Succeed when Job Performance Fails or How to Eschew Social Work through Convincing Conversation (A Pocket Guide for the Weary)

Authors

Michelle Waters, Georgia State University
Paula Dressel, Georgia State University

Abstract

The seemingly endless parade of literature on burnout among social service workers is the source of inspiration for this pocket guide. With the creative tailoring of some of the following vignettes to local situations, it will be almost impossible for you, the service worker, to achieve burn-out. Daily interactions with your clients and your co-workers can be accomplished with the greatest of ease, and services delivered with no muss or fuss. If the situation demands it, perhaps you can avoid clients altogether. With current retrenchment in social services, you have been asked repeatedly to do more for your clients and your agency with less and less resources. Here, instead, is a way you can do more for yourself without even having to secure outside funding.

The first part of the pocket guide outlines six handy ways that you can maneuver work situations to your advantage and relief, simply by opening your mouth. Part II describes some difficult situations encountered by social workers and shows you how to prevail simply by employing the verbal strategies outlined in Part I.

Recommended Citation

Waters, Michelle and Dressel, Paula (1985) "Verbal Strategies that Succeed when Job Performance Fails or How to Eschew Social Work through Convincing Conversation (A Pocket Guide for the Weary)," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 12: Iss. 2, Article 10.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15453/0191-5096.1708
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol12/iss2/10