Social Work with Interpreters

Social workers help very culturally diverse populations. Therefore social workers are likely to work with language interpreters in various settings such as mental health agencies, healthcare settings, communities, and courts. Interpreters are persons whose role is to verbally or through sign language translate between individuals or groups who do not share the same language. A translator is a person who translates the written word from one language to another. Not all interpreters feel competent to translate writing, and not all translators feel competent to translate languages verbally. An interpreter can interpret verbatim or conceptually. There are professionally trained interpreters and informal interpreters. Professional interpreters have been trained and are hired to perform interpreted services in a variety of settings. Informal interpreters might be staff members who are bilingual, friends of the clients, or family members of clients including their children. There are clinical and ethical considerations that social workers must consider when working with interpreters, be they professionally trained or informal.