Cultural Competence As today’s society grows more diverse, the need for cultural competence becomes increasingly necessary within the criminal justice system, a field where civility and the ability to be unbiased is required. As a result, there is a deepening need for understanding the value of diversity and utilizing intercultural communication skills. By developing a cultural competence assessment tool that can improve interactions with people of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, individuals who work in the criminal justice field can successfully achieve cultural competence by thoroughly understanding the tool’s importance and applying it effectively.
An Explanation of Cultural Competence Cultural competence is the ability to acknowledge, understand, respect and communicate with cultures and ethnicities different from one’s own. It encourages the acceptance of individual’s differences in appearance, behavior, and culture which offers positive changes in the way people interact with others. Furthermore, it offers an awareness and sensitivity to diverse cultures that often goes unrecognized (Hanser & Gomila, 2016). By fully understanding how to effectively interact with people from diverse cultures, the individual maximizes their ability to interact, not only in professional settings with staff and clients but in our growing society as a whole. Also, being culturally competent is beneficial because while it improves interactions between people of
It have been proven effective in providing services to individuals from a wide spread of diverse backgrounds. Cultural competence is understanding a set of congruent behaviors, knowledge, attitudes and policies that enable effective work in cross-cultural situations (Bazron, Cross, Dennis, & Isaacs, 1989). This means that an individual trains to understand different cultural groups. Cultural competency training is beneficial to all human service organizations because it aims to increase the knowledge and skills to improve one’s ability to efficiently serve different cultural groups therefore eliminating biases and
I have learned that it is important that educators and health providers be trained on cultural competency to understand the population they are serving. Marks, Sims, and Osher (King, Sims, & Osher, n.d.) define cultural competency as a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals and enables that system, agency, or those professionals to work effectively in cross–cultural situations" ( as cited in Cross et al., 1989; Isaacs & Benjamin, 1991). Health providers and educators should investigate demographic patterns or trends in the place where they live and work. This brings awareness of the types of cultures that they might come across when they are working with people. Organizations should integrate and implement policies that promote the value of diversity, self-assessment, manage the dynamics of difference, acquire and institutionalize cultural knowledge, and adapt to diversity and the cultural contexts of communities they serve (Georgetown University, 2004). Georgetown University (2004) also stresses that culture competency grows gradually and is always open for improvement.
For us to develop cultural competence we need to have a level expertise, knowledge and attributes. When I mention Expertise I am referring to professional skills such as, being able to communicate correct information for culturally different people and their communities, the skill to candidly discuss racial and ethnic issues and to react to culturally based signs, the skill to understand the meaning that traditions/culture has for each person, Interviewing skills that help to understand and accommodate the role of language in a person’s culture and the skill to use the idea of empowerment on behalf of culturally different people and communities.
In the field of human services, “cultural competency” has become a common buzz meant to address in part the . The intention being, that workers are able to achieve some level of knowledge and training that prepares them to work with
There are three core goals leading a counselor to become culturally competent, which include awareness of personal biases, understanding and acknowledging the worldviews of individuals from all cultures, and developing appropriate techniques and interventions by using specific skills and strategies. Becoming aware of ones own biases is essential for changing ones perspective. Being aware of Ones of biases allows the individual to rewire their thinking patterns and unattached previous assumptions. A cultural competent counselor will actively understand the worldviews of all individuals from different cultures. Research is a key fundamental when educating ones self about culture. A culturally competent counselor will accept clients for who they are and perceive them without judgment. Cultural competent counselors will create innovative techniques and interventions depending upon the client’s culture. Counselors must function with clients as a team to optimize growth and development of the client. Together, the counselor and the client can find new strategies and interventions that work effectively. Becoming culturally competent is an important goal for counselors and throughout the profession counselors will strive to achieve
Some of the author’s major points are the lack of understanding of what cultural competence really means which is bringing confusion about ways it can be utilized in the social work field. The confusion of the utilization of cultural competence is leading to the lack of consensus concerning the effective training that providers should obtain and the population being served with the cultural competence skills lack clear description. According to the author, the most popular cultural competence intervention in the healthcare system is the cultural competency training which is for health care providers and the two approaches that have been utilized in creating the intervention are; the programs aimed at improving knowledge which is group specific,
Arthur H. Woodard, Jr., MSW Soulhelp@me.com Jim Wuelfing, NRPP Jim.Wuelfing@gmail.com Name? From where? Doing what? Why here?
“Cultural competence is the ability to engage in actions or create conditions that maximize the optimal development of client and client systems” (Sue & Sue, 2013, p. 49). Multicultural competence includes a counselor to be aware of his or her biases, knowledge of the culture they are evaluating, and skills to evaluate a client with various backgrounds (Sue & Sue, 2013). Client assessment involves gathering information pertaining to the client’s condition. Making a culturally responsive diagnosis involves using the DSM-IV-TR axis (Hays, 2008). Following the axis backwards is ideal to discovering the client’s diagnosis, understanding the client’s ADDRESSING outline will help to come to a closer resolution
Cultural competent? What is the big deal? “The term cultural competence is used to describe a set of skills, values and principles that acknowledge, respect and work towards optimal interactions between the individual and the various cultural and ethnic groups that an individual might come in contact with” (HumanServicesEDU, para. 1). Being able to understand and effectively understand other cultures than your own, can make a huge difference in the patient’s treatment and how well the case manager can do his or her job.
What is Cultural Competence and why is it important to Health and Wellbeing Cultural competences are behaviours, values, attitudes and policies that a body of professionals should encompass in order to effectively work with other cultures (Bureau of Primary Health Care). Culture includes shared values, beliefs, religion, norms and customs. Competence is the ability to function as an individual and part of a team (Office of Minority Health). According to Mayhew cultural competence also involves how someone’s culture can influences the way they perceive health, illness and recovery (Mayhew 2016). The Georgetown University emphasized that cultural competence is being able to provide health services that meet social, cultural and language needs
Life experience coupled with professional experience has enriched the level of cultural competency that I function at daily. Starting my first career in the legal arena, almost twenty years ago, I carried more bias toward certain groups, often thinking in black and white rather than a rich rainbow of grays. Being empathetic to individuals that committed crimes against society and others was rarely accepted in my naïve viewpoint. After my first year of working with criminal clients, I began to understand that one simple act cannot define or give explanation to the beauty of multiple stories that fill the chapters in an individual’s life. I learned that I could not fully understand what led to the story that was playing out before me without
It has become a universal phenomenon among the public and private sectors. Specifically, with law enforcement organizations and the public tragedies there is a gap with the misunderstanding of cultural competency. In order to close the gap and meet the goals of an organization the organizations must be evaluated on their understanding of cultural competency. For the organization to succeed it must create a plan that includes problem solving, planning ahead for risks and applying knowledge in technology (Borrego & Johnson III,
Understand cultural competence and why is it important especially for that have a diverse workforce.
Cultural Competence is one of the eight core practices within the EYLF (above). Outlined in the EYLF Cultural Competence is described as: “Educators who are culturally competent respect multiple cultural ways of knowing, seeing and living, celebrate the benefits of diversity and have an ability to understand and honour differences. This is evident in everyday practice when educators demonstrate an ongoing commitment to developing their own cultural competence in a two way process with families and communities. Educators view culture and the context of family as central to children’s sense of being and belonging, and to success in lifelong learning. Educators also seek to promote children’s cultural competence.
Cultural competence is necessary in order to strive within society. We are social beings and interact with dozens of people each day. Each individuals’ perception is unique and is molded by their experiences. We are constantly learning and developing through the events around us. One experience that illuminated these realities was volunteer work I performed with inner city and mental handicapped individuals of all ages.