Assertiveness in working with deaf and hard of hearing persons

Abstract

In everyday life, many people easily communicate with others, creating good relationships, but when we talk about communication in professional relationships, it becomes the main tool for achieving professional goals. Its use is particularly significant for employees in those departments which characteristics are to have direct contact with people in different kinds of trouble and suffering (health workers, psychologists, special educators etc.). Communication in professional relationships cannot be seen as something that is taken for granted, because there is a big difference between unconscious communication and communication with a specific purpose that is taught. In this regard, an investigation of the level of assertiveness in the profession of special educators, as well as the connection between the level of assertiveness and sociodemographic and economic structure of the respondents, was conducted. Research Methodology – it involved 70 special educators who work with deaf and hard of hearing people from the territory of the Republic of Serbia. The aim of the study was to examine the extent to which assertiveness is present in this specified group of respondents, and to examine the impact of socio-demographic and economic structure of special educators on the level of assertiveness. The following hypothesis was set: A greater representation of assertive respondents compared to those who are not assertive or assertive below average is expected. We expect the existence of differences in the level of assertiveness, depending on differences in gender, marital status, number of children in the family of respondents, age, and years of employment, housing situation and financial situations of respondents. Research instruments: According to the subject of the research a questionnaire measuring assertiveness – RAS (The Rathus Assertiveness Schedule, Rathus, S. A. 1978) and a special questionnaire prepared for this survey, containing general information about the respondents was used in the study. Conclusion – The findings of this study confirmed the first hypothesis, the greater representation of assertive respondents. This is not only extremely important, having in mind that the training of the deaf and hard of hearing people toward establishing better relations within the family and social milieu is a major challenge for a special educator working with these persons, but also presents a great success for our profession. With regard to gender, marital status, number of children in the family, years of service, financialsituations, the results showed they are not correlated to the level of assertiveness. We can point out that all persons have equal chances to build their communication skills in life, keeping in mind that assertiveness, as interpersonal communication style, is being acquired, learned, improved and changed during the lifetime.