The document discusses the social casework interview, which refers to the face-to-face meeting between a social worker and client. The interview is a professional activity aimed at obtaining or imparting information to study and assess the client's situation. Interviews are the primary tool used by social workers and can serve informational, diagnostic, or therapeutic purposes. Effective interviewing requires skills like observation, listening, questioning, focusing/guiding, and setting a positive climate to facilitate the process. Qualities like empathy, respect, and self-understanding are also important for the interviewer.

1. DR SHAILA PARVEEN
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
DEPT OF SOCIAL WORK
M.G.KASHI VIDYAPITH
VARANASI
drshaila@mgkvp.ac.in

2. What is a Social Casework Interview? The casework
interview refers to the meeting of the social worker and the
client in a face-to-face conversation. It is not a casual
conversation but a professional activity on the part of the
social worker, because the conversation is geared to a
specific or general purposes which may be obtaining or
imparting information, giving help or studying and assessing
the client’s situation 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).

3. Purpose of Social Casework Interview Interviewing is
the base on which the theory and the practice of social
casework has been built over the years. It is the main
medium of help without which the social casework
process will never be possible. Interviewing is one of
the important casework technique which functions as a
conveyor for the transmission of Interviewing In Social
help to the client. The purposes it serves may be one
or more of the following:
1) Obtaining and imparting information
2)Study and assessment of the client’s situation/
problems

4. PHASES OF INTERVIEW
Initial/Introductory phase
Developmental phase Organising Descriptive Information, Analyzing
Synthesis Reflecting a Problem, Developing an Approach ,Attending
Behaviours and Minimal Encouragement,s Summarizing or Recapitulation
,Making Transitions , interprating paraphrasing advise confronting
Final/Concluding phase
Reviewing the process, evaluation
sharing the feeling and saying good bye
Preparatory Reviewing ,Preparatory Arranging
Preliminary Planning Introducing Yourself
Seeking Introduction
Clarifying Purpose,Probng questions

5. 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.
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.

7. .
Skills to be used by the case worker during
interview –
Five groups of skills that should be used during an
interview: observation skills, listening skills,
questioning skills, focusing, guiding and
interpretation skills and climate setting skills.
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.

8. Listening 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. Essential/Requisite Qualities of the Casework
Interviewer
1) Empathy
2) Respect
3) Authenticity
4) Self-understanding
5) Self-control
6) Understanding of social work values and
ethics
7) Professional social work knowledge
8) Responsible assertiveness