Professionality of social workers in an aspect of communicative perspective

Social work in Lithuania is a new profession which is orientated to complex problematic areas. Social worker and his client professionally interact in complicated systems and in intensively changing environmental conditions. These dynamic circumstances raise tensions and conflicts. In the direct social worker's contact with clients it is extremely important his communicative competence. It is a complex physiological, psychological and social process that allows social workers to interact and exchange information. The article questions the social worker's professionality, emphasizing on the decision making, professional relationship and conflicts. The object of research was social workers' communicative competence. Purpose of the article is to present the main results of the research to reveal the social worker's professional communication aspect. The researchers sought to answer the following questions: how social workers practician shall act in a professional relationship with a client? What is a professional relationship between social worker and his client? How social workers treat the emerging practice of conflict situations in a professional relationship with clients? The second-year master degree students of Social Work Department in Vytautas Magnus University made a quantitative research in September-November, 2010. The article presents the results from the survey's questionnaire's part "Professional social worker's and client's relations" to identify the most important research results. The study included 60 social workers from the public sector non-governmental organizations providing social services. A factor analysis and secondary factor analysis (ANOVA test) were made. Based on decision-making, relationship and conflict aspects, eight statistically for respondents significant factors has been identified: cooperation, avoidance of change, maintaining contact, unconditional pursuit of the outcome of a dominant position, informal relations, ignoring the opinion and conflict avoidance