Barriers to Effective Communication

Communication is a two-way process that takes practice and time to be fully effective and is very important in every aspect our personal and professional lives. We communicate every day of our lives both verbally or nonverbally. The process of verbal communication is the exchanging information by transmitting an idea, send that idea, receive feedback, understand the idea and the feedback and provide feedback to the person who sent the message. The main components of communication are context, encoder, message, medium, decoder, and feedback. The context could be social, chronological, cultural, or physical. The individual sending the message will

According to Schwartz (2001), communication can be said to be the process that involves the sending and receipt of messages of information among individuals. The communication process consists of two things. It involves the sending and receipt of a message. The message sent and received can be classified into two broad categories. These categories include non-verbal and verbal messages.

Informal channels are the unofficial route of communication within an agency. Informal communication has also been labeled as “gossip” and should not be taken seriously until verified. Using informal channels when time is critical actually can save time. Instead of going through the chain

two or more people; this is something that we do all the time. It is

There are many purposes for communication within the very diverse criminal justice departments and agencies. Communication is a means of connecting people or places together and if not conveyed just right could be misunderstood and misinterpreted. The purposes for communication between the sender and receiver are to solicit information, to train, explain, or inform, to educate, mediate and persuade and last but not least to problem solve. Those were only a few modes or purposes of communication, the list goes on and on. Communication can be in the form of verbal, written, electronic, or something as simple as body language. Whatever conveys a message to a receiver is a form of communication. However it is conveyed or interpreted is another story and sometimes miscommunication leads to bad decisions. It is very important for a sender to take time and make sure the receiver understands all the information as well as if the receiver does not understand something questions need to be asked to obtain the correct information. In the criminal justice field it is imperative that all information is received and understood in the manner in which it is meant to be, if not it could actually be the difference in a life and death situation. Communication is often defined as a sharing or exchange of information, via a medium, between a sender and a receiver. (Collins & Stohr, 2014). There are two types of communication and that is formal which is verbal presentation or document intended

However, “...father- child differences in values may be more strongly associated with family and child adjustment than mother-child differences,” (Relations...Parent-Child – pg 14.) Since fathers are typically the head of the house, especially in many Asian immigrant families, they are the ones to enforce the rules and punish the child or children. This leaves no question that a child, especially one trying to find themselves, will rebel against their rule making strict father; creating a strain in the relationship with their father who can't seem to understand the child's rebellion toward him, his rules, and their culture. Along with problems any family could go through, “Language barriers may present concrete obstacles to effective communication, which may increase the likelihood of intense conflict,” (Relations...Parent-Child – pg 3.) When growing up in America, English is the language taught in schools and spoken pretty much everywhere. This serves as a problem for immigrant parents that have children who pick up English faster than their native tongue. This causes a strain in parent-child communication. However this is not the only problem with communication.

Communication is the exchanging of news and information. It plays an integral and major role on criminal justice. Communication is essential because it allows the police forces to run effectively and properly. That doesn’t mean communication just plays an important role in Police Forces, it plays a major role in every career. It doesn’t matter if you’re an engineer, doctor, or professor, communication will be used.

In an organization, expertise flows ahead, backwards and sideways. This knowledge float is known as verbal exchange. Communication channels refer to the way in which this expertise flows inside the group and with different businesses.

When referring to communication, it is fundamental to grasp The Shannon and Weaver Model that was invented in 1947. This is basically an exemplary of a few stages in which the information source called sender, sends the information to its destination, the receiver. Information obviously does not get to the receiver magically; this is why this model was invented. It is a way to illustrate how a person shares beliefs and ideas, and how they reach their destination. For example, at the beginning of the movie Outsourced, the employee called Todd Anderson asks his boss named Dave: “Is this gonna take a while?” when he was called to privately speak inside his office (Jeffcoat, 2006, 1:26). In this case, the sender is Dave who sends the information through a place called channel, which then gets decoded before reaching its destination, Todd. On the other hand, it is also important to underline the fact that

Can you imagine a world without communication? A world where you couldn’t express your thoughts verbally, in writing, or physically. Communication plays a vital role in daily life. It is just as essential as sight, smell, touch, hearing, and taste. Communication is defined as “the transfer and understanding of meaning” (Robbins & Judge, 2009). There are four key variables associated with communication: control, motivation, emotional, and expression. Communication can be given through formal and informal channels. An example of a formal channel is written rules and regulations. An example of an informal channel is gossip, rumors, and behaviors. Effective and efficient communication in a facility is significant to ensure growth, transparency, teamwork, and maximize productivity.

A barrier to effective communication is something that keeps information and thoughts from transmitting from one person to another. A primary reason for lack of effective communication is that, without realizing it, people typically inject communication barriers into their conversation making communication much more difficult that most people seem to realize. There are twelve barriers to effective communication. These barriers can be divided into three categories, judgment, sending solutions, and avoidance of other’s concerns. These twelve ways of responding are viewed by behavioral scientists as high-risk reposes. Whenever you or the other person is experiencing stress, avoid all communication roadblocks. We are most likely to use these high-risk responses when stress is experienced. (Bolton, (1986)

People communicate with each other in a number of ways that depend upon the message and its context in which it is being sent. There are basically 2 categories of communication channel:

Communication mediums varied depending on the situation. In law enforcement, choosing the right medium source for the message can save lives and protect sensitive information. In contrast, an improper medium distribution may cause confusion, implicate unwanted messages, and compromise public safety. Accordingly, when selecting communication mediums, the audience should be identified before a message is crafted and disseminated. Moreover, having someone with a working knowledge of the spectrum of communication methods and proficient at public speaking can be beneficial for a public safety agency (Patrick, 2017). In communication, choosing the correct method and medium will depend on the types of messaging and whether it is directed at the public, for internal information exchange, or to be communicated with other agencies.

Upward communication is the process of flowing information from lower levels to higher levels in an organization. It helps the employees to share their ideas, views, requirements and feelings to the top level management to make decisions .It also alerts the top level management about to changes in the requirements in an organization.

When looking at all methods of communication we can see the usage of newsletters and websites as a way to pass along general information pertaining to a wide audience, while e-mail, notes, and phone calls being used as a more personal and formal way to communicate, especially when sensitive matters are being discussed (Palts & Harro-Loit). Below we will look at four umbrella forms of communication: written, phone, face-to-face and technology.