Identifying Empathy Gaps and Communication Strategies: Paul's Case

This assignment analyzes Paul's case study to identify empathy gaps and propose effective communication strategies. The student identifies personal empathy gaps related to Paul's behaviors, such as early sexual activity and drug use. The analysis explores the student's values and beliefs in relation to Paul's actions, highlighting discrepancies in areas like valuing parental love, integrity, and honesty. The assignment then outlines communication strategies to foster empathy, including asking concerned questions, thoughtful reflection, and maintaining eye contact. The student's intention to understand Paul's perspective is emphasized. The provided solution is a detailed examination of the case, offering insights into empathy and communication within the context of the case study, with references to the core concepts of empathy and intention.

PAUL’S CASE STUDY
Identification of empathy gaps
Based on Paul’s case study, the following empathy gaps can be deduced
• First, I cannot understand how a teenager like Paul engages in sex at
that early age.
• Second, I cannot understand how a teenager can have cravings for hard
drugs like weed.

PAUL’S CASE STUDY
Description of the person based on the
values and beliefs that I hold.
Base on the beliefs I hold, I can say that Paul does not value the following;
• The love his parents are showing him by taking him to school.
• Integrity which detects that one should maintain strong moral values in
his life.
• Honesty which requires one to be true to himself and those around him.

COMMUNICATION & DIVERSITY
Communication strategies to be used
When communicating with Paul empathically, I will employ the following
communication strategies;
• I will be asking questions that show how concerned I am about his
situation
• I will be taking time to meditate what I am going to tell Paul to ensure
that it benefits him.
• I will maintain eye contact throughout the communication to show how
concerned I am.

PAUL’S CASE STUDY
References
Schumann, K., Zaki, J. and Dweck, C.S., 2014. Addressing the empathy
deficit: Beliefs about the malleability of empathy predict effortful
responses when empathy is challenging. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 107(3), p.475.