Social Skills TrainingThe ability to interact effectively with others in a social community or environment and is ascribed by society as a critical factor of peer acceptance.A teaching process aimed at achieving social competence.

*Social Competence- ability to gained desired effects or responses through communication and interaction.*Social Skills- set of goal-directed interrelated social behavior which can be learned and which are under the control of the individual.*Social Inadequacy

The person is unable to produce the desired effect on the behavior and feelings of other people that he wants and which society accepts.They appear isolated, cold, inept, unassertive, bad-tempered, and unrewarding. They have difficulty in communicating with others and in forming and maintaining meaningful relationship.

Causes:Deprived or adequate models of social behaviors in his significant figures of influence.Genetic influences that the innate predispositions of the child actively influence his social experiences.

Theoretical Basisa. Humanistic

i. Carl Rogers- Non-directive/client centered therapy- Every person has a good human core and contains within him the potentialities for healthy

and creative growth.- Man has both the ability and motivation to change.ii. Abraham Maslow- Hierarchy of needs- Most of the needs are fulfilled with other people especially belongingness and love.- He assumed that ‘people have an inborn nature that is essentially good. Some of the instincts

are bad or antisocial and must be tamed by training and socialization.

b. Behaviorali. Learning of social skills can be broken down into identifiable units of behaviorii. 2 Important Features1. The skill or behavioral learning goal may be broken down into smaller more manageable

parts2. They can be learned separately and then put back together into more complex skill needed

c. Social Learningi. Albert Bandura- Focused on patterns of behavior which are learned by the child and in turn help him cope

with his environment.- Emphasizes the importance of reciprocal interaction between person’s behavior and his

environment and the need of having adequate models.- Treatment techniques includes imitation, modeling, reinforcement

Nature of Social Skills5 Main Components

1. Socially Skilled Behaviors (SSB) which is goal directed.2. Socially Skilled Behaviors (SSB) should be interrelated.3. Social Skills (SS) are defined in terms of identifiable units of behavior.4. SS are comprised of behaviors which can be learned.5. SS should be under the control of the individual.

i. Socially Skilled- learn and can use behavior appropriately.ii. Socially Inadequate- have learned units of behavior but can’t use/integrate.

Social Skills ModelIndicates ways in which social performances can fail and how training procedures may effectively improve.Emphasis is on man pursuing social and other goals, acting according to rules and monitoring his performance through feedback from the environment.

Motivation/Goal- General vs. Specific- Long Term vs. Short TermPerception- Gaining information from the environment through senses.- 2 most important in social interaction: sight and hearing.Translation- Process by which the individual translate perception he gets into plan of action.Motor Responses- Plan of action is converted to observable behavior, whether verbal or non-verbal.Feedback.- Changes in the environment through non-verbal, verbal and visual cues.- Allows individual to assess the effect of his behavior.

Division of Social Skillsa. Non-Verbal Communication

Purpose/s:i. to replace, compliment, reinforce, emphasize, regulate the flow of verbal communicationii. to initiate or sustain verbal communicationiii. to influence other people’s behavior or define acceptable patterns of behavior

Forms:

Motivation/Goal

Perception

Translation

Motor Responses

Feedback

1. Bodily Contact2. Proximity3. Orientation4. Posture5. Gestures and Body Movement6. Facial Expression7. Eye Contact8. Appearance9. Paralanguage

b. Verbal Communication

Forms:1. Instructions and directions2. Questions3. Comments, Suggestions and Information4. Informal chat or gossip5. Performative Utterance6. Social Routines7. Expressing Emotions and Attitudes8. Latent Messages

Misconception about Social Competence1. A person who is socially competent is so in every situation.2. A social skill is always used for social purposes.

Role of OT in SST1. Help patient achieve fullest potential possible in social skills

Fundamental Social Skills are hampered by:1. Psychotic symptoms2. Reinforcement of a sick role3. Disuse4. Concrete Cognition5. Rapid pace of setting6. Few opportunities to practice social skills

Selection of Patients for SST1. Depressive states2. Anxiety states3. Phobic states4. Obsessive-Compulsive states5. Alcoholism and drug addiction6. Behavioral Problems and Personality Disorder7. Epilepsy8. Schizophrenia

Assessment

Find out social behavior of the person.Evaluation is performed to determine those skills required by the patient in order to make satisfactory return to the community.Ask patient’s family, past relationships, other members of the staff who are in frequent contact with the patient.Use of Non-verbal Checklist, Behavioral Charting, the IE Scale and Social Skills Checklist

Treatment Planning and ImplementationStep 1: Assessment review Follow upStep 2: Establish intrinsic motivationStep 3: Exploration with patient of social skills problemsStep 4: Review psychological/cognitive statusStep 5: Review occupational behavior

i. Intrinsic Motivation- stems from gratification of performing or completing an activityii. Competency Motive- an attempt to contact and master, manipulate and exert control

over environment.iii. Achievement Motive- based on experienced in problem solving tasks and involves

meeting performance standards for task completion.iv. Problem Solving- process by which a patient discovers the correct sequence of

alternatives leading to a goal.v.Decision Making- involves formulating a plan of action and following through with it.

Step 6: Develop and Prioritize Goalsi. 1st priority is to learn sufficient social skillsii. Less complex skills

Step 7: Obtain staff and patient cooperationStep 8: Review goals and progressStep 9: Modify goals and methods

SST Training TechniquesSmall group with 6-8 personsWeekly meeting; 75 minutes/sessionAn outline/handout is given a week before each sessionDuring the session, relaxation techniques are given then practice takes placeGoals are set at the end of each sessionOperant home programSST Model of Argyle encourages transfer of learning to real-life situations and provides opportunity to learn and improve skills

SST PrinciplesI. Title and Introduction

Examines the purpose of the group and the topic of discussion and should include the following points:i. much of the information collected will be commonsenseii. each patient has SS ability but could benefit from improving that skill leveliii. communication is a skill and like other skills, improves with practiceiv. a comparison is drawn to specific patient’s recreational skills and skill improvement through

practiceAs part of the intro, the following learning points are used:

i. a definition of passive/non-assertive, assertive and aggressive behavior and of what such behaviors communicate to another person.- Assertiveness. Behaviors which enables the person to act in his/her own best interests, to

stand up for himself/herself, without due anxiety, to express honest feelings comfortably, or to exercise personal rights without denying the rights of others.

- Non-assertion. Failing to stand up for oneself, or allowing one’s rights to be easily violated.

- Aggression. Standing up for oneself by violating the rights of another person; frequently involves putting down the other person.

ii. a clear description of how non-assertive behavior results in depressed feelings, hopelessness/helplessness and reduces self-image

iii. assertive behavior is not appropriate for all situations.

II. Role PlayingGoal is to provide a realistic rehearsal of a SS that can be used in real life.The following points should be considered:i. In the discussion-activity phase, the OT should be listening for individual problems within

SS in order to determine who will be included in the role playing.ii. The group leader should decide who will be role-playing with those patients needed to

practice SS.iii. The group leader will ask the patient chosen to role-play situations concerning the

difficulties in using the skills.iv. The stage is set by creating an atmosphere akin to real life setting.v. The patient is given concrete step-by-step directions to follow in practicing the skills. The

patient is instructed to see the role-play through its completion and not to step out of the role to make comments or ask questions.

vi. The remaining patients are asked to listen for specific events in the role play. On conclusion, patients are asked to give positive and negative feedback.

vii. If a patient has a major difficulty completing the role-play, the group leader can stop the role-play and reiterate the direction

III. Anger ManagementInvolves the use of an anger scale questionnaire which is used to cover learning points to topics of expressing and responding to anger.Patients are instructed to estimate the degree of anger in which they feel for each situation and then to check their anger rating.Anger Scale

0= Very little anger1= Somewhat irritated2= Moderately upset3= Quite angry4= Very angry

IV. Wrap-UpDuring the summary, the OT should:i. Summarize points of discussion and reiterate the relevance of improving SS.ii. Ask if there are any questions about the topic

iii. Gives patients who role-play homework assignments and ask if there are any questions about what is expected

iv. End the group by telling the patients when they will next meet

References:Peck, C. and Hong, C.S. Living Skills for Mentally Handicapped People.