A woman tells a worker about a long and difficult marriage she has endured. She mentions abuse, both verbal and physical, and talks about her own failing health in recent months. The worker asks, “Why can’t you just bring yourself to divorce him?”

Read the questions that above follow and decide what makes them bad questions. In writing your criticism, look for questions that assume there is only one answer, inflict values on the individual, make the person defensive, make assumptions, cut off discussion, or change the subject.