Assessing and assessment

6 Assessing and assessment
• Assessing and assessment as part of social communication
skills and how that differs from the application of those skills in
professional counselling social work.
• Assessment as an ancillary skill incorporated in all the core skills
of talking, listening and thinking and the challenge of employing
the core skills for the specifc purpose of assessment.
• Consideration will be given to assessment which over-relies
on talking/questioning and the implications associated with
assessment as a judgement.
• Challenging ideas that assessment is not a therapeutic
intervention.
Introduction
One of the themes in this book is seeking out the connection
between social life communication skills and the development
of those skills to a level required for professional communication
or social work counselling. We have established that social communication skills do indeed form the base for further skills development. While the capacity to employ these skills for therapeutic
purposes clearly requires a different level of competence in the
delivery of the skills, it is perhaps more important to acknowledge
the part that the thinking process plays in the application of such
skills. We have explored this process and considered the place of
social work knowledge, skills and value base as core components
that underpin thinking in this context. Here we will consider frstly
the place of assessment in what we might call everyday life and
then look at assessment and the skill of assessing in the context
of social work.
Loughran, H. (2018). Counselling skills for social workers. Taylor & Francis Group.
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124 Counselling skills for social work
Assessment in social communication
When looking at the concept of assessment in everyday life, it
is fair to say that we are often the subject of such assessments.
Let’s look at one possible context for assessment. For many of
us, the most familiar context for assessment is what we experience through the education system, although you may have been
the subject of assessment of one form or another in other situations, work-related for example or possibly some form of psychological or health-based assessment. Whatever the context,
there is something about assessment that raises concerns about
being judged, often accompanied by feelings of having little or no
power to influence the judgement process. Obviously most of us
attempt to deal with this by working to meet the standards required
of those in charge of the assessment. Sometimes the assessment
may be seeking to place us in some rank order based on psychological profle or set of criteria, for example IQ assessment. In that
context there may be little we can do to impact outcomes. If we
are lucky these standards will be clearly laid out, achievable, and
governed by a process that provides suffcient checks and moderating so that outcomes, even if we are not totally happy with them,
do appear to have been reached in a transparent and fair manner.
Formative assessment
Assessment, particularly in the education context, is now more
likely to have a formative dimension. Ideally this formative aspect
facilitates learning from the assessment process so that we can
improve outcomes over time if we are given access to the appropriate resources. In a formative context, then, assessment is something that can be used to suggest attainment of a standard but only
with a view to helping the individual to improve their performance.
In that type of setting access to resources to respond to and build
from the assessment are critical to support the formative nature
of that assessment. That involves support and help in preparing
for assessment. Whatever the context, assessment does still have
Loughran, H. (2018). Counselling skills for social workers. Taylor & Francis Group.
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Copyright © 2018. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.
Assessing and assessment 125
a connotation of somehow being a judgement and you are either
found to be successful in meeting standards or not.
Less-formal assessing
There may be other ways in which we have less-formal assessmenttype experiences. Sometimes in making a decision about a change
in our lives we may say ‘I need to assess the situation’, or ‘I need
to review my options’ or simply ‘I need to evaluate what this means
for me’. In these more personal self-assessment situations we are
not engaged so much in being judged by others but rather are
attempting to judge ourselves.
Other aspects of assessment can relate to assessment that
acts as a gatekeeper to resources or opportunities. For example,
achieving a certain grade in an exam or standard in an interview
can be the decisive factor in what opportunities are opened up
for you. Assessment can also involve monitoring or providing
verifcation of our achievements. When this is the case and our
achievements are recognised and even rewarded there is often a
sense of achievement or a reinforcement of our self-esteem and
belief in our ability. Used in this way, assessment transforms into a
positive experience with the capacity to support success and promote the development of further goals.
So it could be argued that assessment carries with it connotations
of being judged, evaluated and measured. If previous experiences
of ‘assessment’ have found us defcient, inadequate or not meeting
‘the’ standard in some way, then it can be uncomfortable and even
intimidating. It could certainly have a negative impact on selfesteem, self-effcacy and overall confdence. Not to mention that
it may leave us with a residual dislike, fear or mistrust in future
assessment situations. On the other hand, assessment that results
in opportunities and success can support self-effcacy and provide
positive reinforcement and encouragement.
While in social work we are particularly with more formal types
of assessment, it is useful to also consider for a moment the skill
of assessing itself. With formal assessments it usually implies that
Loughran, H. (2018). Counselling skills for social workers. Taylor & Francis Group.
Created from flinders on 2022-03-04 08:11:59.
Copyright © 2018. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.
126 Counselling skills for social work
there is some agreed format or set of criteria to be measured against.
However, the skill of assessing involves employing communication
skills both to gather the necessary information and then to apply
the appropriate criteria for judging the extent to which the person
or situation meets/fts with those criteria. So listening, talking and
thinking are all necessary aspects of the skill of assessing.
In a social context it is unlikely that we will be conscious of the
elements that make up our assessing skills. However, you might be
aware of asking a friend whose judgement you value to help you
make decisions about certain situations, or of valuing a discussion
with someone who seems to be able to cut through information and
identify the salient facts. All of these are part of assessing skills.
When you become more aware of these skills you will see that you
are using them all the time, even if it is in small ways. Thinking about
situations, decisions or issues in a way that draws on your ability to
make a judgement about what is best or necessary in a certain set
of circumstances is part of assessing skills in everyday life.
Perhaps it is easier to recognise diffculties in trusting someone’s
ability to make a good assessment of a situation. Think of comments
like ‘I don’t trust you to make a good call on this because they are
too involved’ or ‘you are too invested in the result here’ or ‘you are
getting too emotional about this to think clearly’. Another phrase
I hear is ‘your judgment is clouded’. This usually refers to someone’s
past experiences obviously influencing their assessment. Another
example is ‘you are being led by your heart not your head’, which
suggests that feelings and emotions are getting in the way of sound
judgement. We are all making assessments on an ongoing basis but
are less aware of them until they happen in formal situations and
where the outcome of the assessment is deemed to have potentially
serious consequences. When we are very invested in outcomes the
assessing process may become fraught with anxiety and tension.
Assessment as a counselling social work skill
So where does that leave assessment as part of a set of counselling skills in the context of social work? While acknowledging that
Loughran, H. (2018). Counselling skills for social workers. Taylor & Francis Group.
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Copyright © 2018. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.
Assessing and assessment 127
in social life we employ levels of assessing skills, in the professional
context of social work we are more concerned with the formal role
of assessing. This means that we need to look at assessing skills
associated with professional judgement as it informs decisionmaking. Interestingly, there are different aspects to assessments in
social work that we need to consider.
First, we will look at some defnitions of assessment in counselling and social work, and then we will explore how employing
a competent level of counselling skills such as questioning,
reflecting, listening and thinking can shape how we manage
conducting assessments. We will also look at some factors that
may make assessment in social work more challenging. These
factors include service users’ other experiences of assessment. As
we have just identifed, the service users’ perception and previous
experiences of assessment may create barriers. Barriers may be
even more problematic in the context of professional assessment
depending on the specifc reasons for conducting a social work
assessment. Regardless of the content or focus of assessment,
it is clear that many of us may associate negative connotations
to the process of being assessed. It is reasonable to expect that
such negative views would be exacerbated in situations where
you feel disempowered, fearful and in particular, when the outcome may carry serious and perhaps negative consequences
for you and/or your family. Most importantly we will look at what,
if anything, can be done to de-escalate the intimidation and
threatening connotations of being the subject of assessment. We
will also consider if it is possible to employ assessment in a way
that builds on some of the identifed positive reinforcing aspects
of assessment which give access to resources and support selfeffcacy and a sense of achievement. Assessment happens in all
aspects of social work and indeed in most aspects of professional
helping. When a service user speaks to a professional, one of
the frst tasks is to assess their situation to determine what intervention is necessary and helpful. Such initial assessment simply
provides some shared understanding or a map for the interaction.
This must be updated as the situation develops over time. The
issues, behaviour and goals may change, or in some cases may
Loughran, H. (2018). Counselling skills for social workers. Taylor & Francis Group.
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128 Counselling skills for social work
not change, and this needs to be factored into the social work
agenda between the social worker and service user.
Defning assessment
Following on from our discussion about thinking and processing
it is logical to take the view that assessment is less one type of
counselling skill and more an inherent activity involving the strategic
use of many aspects of counselling skills. Assessment can be mistaken for an exercise in asking questions and recording answers.
Viewing assessment as just an information-gathering task is very
limiting in that it ignores the opportunity to develop a meaningful
understanding of the service user’s experiences. In fact, assessment
should more accurately be defned as an information exchange,
facilitated by respectful and concerned acknowledgement of the
service user’s perspective and informed by social work knowledge
and values. It is conducted as part of an ongoing helping process
which takes account of cultural and power differences as well as
potential risks associated with social inequalities, disadvantage,
isolation and oppression. Good assessment involves professionally
competent employment of core communication, identifed here as
counselling social work skills: listening, thinking and talking. It does
involve asking questions, but perhaps even more so it relies on the
range of listening skills we have discussed as well as the full range
of ‘thinking’ skills. These include weighing up information in the light
of knowledge, values and social context. Assessment in this sense
is a routine and ongoing activity that should be part of every social
work and counselling encounter. As Davis and Jones (2016, p. 83)
state, ‘assessment can therefore be seen as a set of joint activities
that begin the process of change. All elements of change, including
strengths and capacities as well as problems and diffculties, are
negotiated through dialogue and interaction’. However, assessment
in the context of social work has other more specifc connotations
because of its standing in terms of statutory responsibilities. We will
consider some of the factors that may add to assessment in that
context being viewed as a different but related activity.
Loughran, H. (2018). Counselling skills for social workers. Taylor & Francis Group.
Created from flinders on 2022-03-04 08:11:59.
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Assessing and assessment 129
Assessment as an ongoing activity
As an activity, assessment draws on all aspects of counselling, talking, thinking and listening. It is a prerequisite for making
decisions about interventions and methods and as such is best
employed as part of the process of building the collaborative
alliance with service users. Easy to say, of course, and given the
potential identifed earlier that a service user may already have
had some unhelpful experiences of assessment, it isn’t without
its challenges. Establishing assessment as a part of building
your understanding of the service users’ situation rather than
emphasising assessment as a tool that will provide an objective
measure of the service users’ risky behaviours is probably a good
place to start. Coulshed and Orme (2006, p. 21) defne assessment
not as a single event but as ‘an ongoing process in which the client
or service user participates, the purpose of which is to assist the
social worker to understand people in relation to their environment.
Assessment is also the basis for planning what needs to be done
to maintain, improve or bring about change in the person, in the
environment or both’.
Therefore, assessment is not about a one-off interpretation of
the information which gives an accurate measure of the problem(s)
and directs the social worker to a plan of action. Assessment
is ongoing, as the social worker and service user explore possibilities about useful ways of understanding the problems or
concerns that have brought the service user into contact with
the social worker. The assessment process, which is fundamentally a counselling thinking activity, should provide ongoing
opportunities to develop shared understandings of concerns.
This does not mean that there is agreement about problems
or concerns. Shared understanding is not the same as agreed
understanding. In fact, the assessment process can serve to illuminate differences of opinion about the identifed concerns. It
can also assist in highlighting different priorities for change and
indeed draw attention to strengths and resilience which might
serve to appease the social worker’s concerns.
Loughran, H. (2018). Counselling skills for social workers. Taylor & Francis Group.
Created from flinders on 2022-03-04 08:11:59.
Copyright © 2018. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.
130 Counselling skills for social work
Challenges for ongoing assessment
While the idea that assessment is not a one-off event seems reasonable and constructive, Milner and O’Byrne (2009) voice concerns
that in reality there may be less attention paid to building up a picture of what’s happening and evaluating plans than the concept
of an ongoing assessment would suggest. In their work, Milner
and O’Byrne raise a number of issues around good practice in
assessment. One of the issues relates to the notion of the ongoing
assessment. They cite (Milner & O’Byrne 2009, pp. 51–54), a number
of research fndings (Kelly & Milner 1996; Scott 1998) which indicate that rather than adding to assessment to build a more comprehensive and accurate picture of a case, subsequent assessment
interviews are more likely to simply confrm the initial assessment.
This seeking verifcation of initial thoughts and interpretations of the
situation undermines any attempt to create a more collaborative
relationship with the service user. If the initial assessment is just that,
a preliminary view of what’s happening and what needs to happen,
then as the social worker and service user grow to know and understand one another better there should be the opportunity for both
to see a clearer picture of the situation. This clarity is masked if the
social worker is simply trying to confrm their initial ideas.
The ongoing aspect of assessment supports the possibility that
the social worker, as they become more familiar with the service
user and their circumstances, may have to question their own
bias or preconceived ideas. ‘No matter how busy they are social
workers have to make time to think carefully about what they do,
how they are doing it and why they are choosing to do it in a particular way (Davis & Jones 2016, p. 86). So the assessment process
is not only ongoing, as the social worker continues to revaluate their
ideas about what needs to change through their contact with the
service user, but the process also requires that the social worker be
reflective and question themselves and their own preferred interpretation of what’s going on. This might be a form of self-assessment.
At its best, assessment then becomes an ongoing, reflective
activity that the social worker and service user engage in to build
their shared understanding about what’s going on and what needs
Loughran, H. (2018). Counselling skills for social workers. Taylor & Francis Group.
Created from flinders on 2022-03-04 08:11:59.
Copyright © 2018. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.
Assessing and assessment 131
to happen. It is an activity which can contribute to building a
working relationship between social worker and service user. In
the absence of some level of respect and trust, assessment may
deteriorate into a process focused on two competing agendas.
Department of Education Publication on CAF (2009, p. 23) stated
that ‘time and care must be taken to ensure the assessment is
based on good communication and undertaken with respect for all
parties. A “good” assessment is both a good quality process and
a good quality product’.
Ideally, assessment should form part of the therapeutic intervention, which is of value in itself. However, in order to achieve
this mutuality, the issues of judgement and power have to be
acknowledged and addressed. This is not to say that the social
worker can relinquish their responsibilities in terms of conducting
assessments, but that they can use their counselling skills to optimise opportunities for the service user to contribute their ideas and
their feedback on the process.
Inskipp (1996) emphasises the role of honesty in assessment.
While she was referring to educational assessment, there is merit
in the ideas she espouses for conducting assessment in an honest
way, even when there is a power and responsibility imbalance.
Given that we are all familiar with what it feels like to be assessed
in that educational context, we should be able to appreciate the
sentiments she expresses that ‘Honesty is about accepting our
power and responsibility, being open … talking with them [trainees]
how this power and responsibility can be shared with them and
how much remains with us, how much trust we place in them,
how they respond to this trust. The honesty is also about giving
clear, specifc, positive and negative feedback … and checking
that it is heard and understood’ (1996, p. 69). ‘Those conducting
assessment must use all their facilitation skills to help trainees give
their best on assessment’ (1996, p. 79).
The application of counselling skills to the task of assessment
provides a rationale for the importance of taking time to complete
the assessment. Through taking time to build a relationship by
listening and processing the information you gather, it is more likely
that you will facilitate the service user to develop at least some
Loughran, H. (2018). Counselling skills for social workers. Taylor & Francis Group.
Created from flinders on 2022-03-04 08:11:59.
Copyright © 2018. Taylor & Francis Group. All rights reserved.

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