Crisis communication techniques
choose which crisis communication techniques you would use at different points of time in two different scenarios.
Scenario One
You are working as a Department of Children and Families (DCF) counselor, and you are meeting with a young, single mother at the DCF office. The mother is present with a close female friend, and you, as the DCF caseworker, must deliver a custody order from the family court. The mother has been deemed temporarily unfit to care for her daughter, who is two years old. As the meeting begins, the mother is seated in a chair, holding her daughter. The mother thought the meeting was a regular monthly meeting and does not know that she is about to lose custody of her daughter. You tell the mother about the custody order stating, “I am sorry about this, but this is the best for your daughter, and you, right now.” The mother begins to cry loudly and is refusing to let go of her daughter.
At this point, what crisis communication technique would you use to immediately handle the situation, and why?
An hour has passed; the mother still will not comply.
You now need to change your choice of crisis communication technique to handle the situation. What crisis communication technique would you use now, and why?
Scenario Two
A security officer (SO) at a local power plant responds to a report of a small group of protestors at the main gate to the property. The SO observes five demonstrators with signs demanding cleaner plant emissions, and they want to deliver a letter to the president of the power company. When asked, they state they will not leave until they deliver the letter. The ages of the demonstrators range from 65 to 80 years old. The SO advises the group, “You are trespassing on private property. I have called the police, and you will be subject to arrest if you do not leave.” The group responds loudly, “Hell no, we won’t go!” When the police arrive, the group is again told to leave. In response, they begin to blow bubbles at the officers.
Acting in the role of the police officer, what crisis communication technique would you use in this situation, and why?
Identify a crisis communication technique to immediately handle the situation in Scenario One.
Provide a rationale for the identified technique to immediately handle the situation in Scenario One.
Identify a new crisis communication technique for Scenario One.
Provide a rationale for the new crisis communication technique for Scenario One.
Identify a crisis communication technique for Scenario Two.
Provide a rationale for the identified technique in Scenario Two.
Sample Solution
In this situation, I would use the crisis communication technique of active listening. The act of active listening involves showing empathy for the person in distress and demonstrating that you are genuinely concerned about their feelings. This technique is important to use in order to show respect for the mother’s feelings while also calming her down and diffusing any potentially dangerous or volatile emotions. By actively listening and displaying empathy, it can help de-escalate a difficult situation by providing an outlet for someone to express their emotions without being judged.
Active listening can also be used to gain information on how best to handle the situation at hand, as well as uncovering potential underlying causes of what is going on with the individual (Kassing et al., 2020). For example, by actively probing further into why she might be feeling overwhelmed or scared could lead me towards discovering if there were other underlying issues that need attention such as poverty or lack of access to resources which may have contributed towards her becoming deemed temporarily unfit as a parent.
Additionally, active listening can serve another purpose; building trust between myself and the mother struggling with losing custody of her daughter (Reyes et al., 2018). Trust will be essential in order for us to develop a partnership going forward so that we can find ways to help give her back full custody permanently should she ever wish that outcome. Listening attentively and not interrupting will demonstrate my respect for her feelings even though I must administer an unfavorable ruling from family court.
