As I begin working with people cross culturally, there are a few ideas in this article that I want to remember. The article points out that it is important for us to build connections to our client’s racial and ethnic origins; however, it is equally important that we connect these individuals with other multiracial individuals and family systems. When working with multiracial clients, it is important that we let the client construct his or her own label. As I begin working with people cross-culturally, I can do this skill by asking open-ended questions and allowing the client to construct his or her own identity. This article had some excellent ideas about what skills social workers can use, when working with people cross culturally.
Each client is influenced by race, ethnicity, national origin, life stage, educational level, social class, and sex roles (Ibrahim, 1985). The counsellor must view the identity and development of culturally diverse people in terms of multiple interactive factors rather than a strictly cultural framework (Romero, 1985).
Empathy is a critical component in the helping process. In order to provide effective services, social workers must possess an emphatic and culturally competent approach to assessments and interventions within practice settings. In an effort to assess and evaluate how cultural and empathy applies to practice, I endeavored to interview a social service provider who works to provide support and resources to a culturally diverse client population.
It is important to understand “cultural accessibility” which includes “understanding, appreciation, and affirmation of values and beliefs that are held by the communit (Delgado, 1999, p. 34). Nonverbal communication is also an aspect of cultural associability due to the communication to the client in a way they understand (Delgado, 1999,). This is an important aspect because it allows the social worker to be available to learn from the client in order to build competence at the time of face-to-face contact. Each client is an individual and is more than just the cultural norm’s they can be stereotyped by.
As a multiracial mental health counselor, I disagree with your assessment and strategy associated with James’ substance abuse. You cited Choi, He, Herrenkohl, Catalono, and Toumbourou (2012) as having stated that multiracial youth having a higher number of peers who have substance abuse issues, and this data being linked to problems exhibited by this same population. The authors cite this information in their literature review, and set out to examine this long cited hypothesis. The authors found this hypothesis not to be true in their study and also state that the studies that cite this data are speculative and lack sound empirical data. In their study, the authors found that although multiracial youth do experience more exposure to peer risks
Corey, M., & Corey, G. (2014) mentioned that the two important aspects that form the “foundation of multicultural counselling competency” are “self-awareness and global literacy” (as cited in Corey, M., & Corey, G., 2014, p.104). Indeed, in a place with such a diverse cultural network like Canada, working with people who come from different cultural backgrounds is inevitable. Thus, the first thing that a helper needs to pay attention to when working with people is to be mindful of his or her own values and beliefs. Since every single person is unique, if a helper is able to identify her own person, she will be more aware of it and less likely to impose those personal views of hers into professional practice. Therefore, the helper could carefully
Recognizing that ethnic identity is only one facet of diversity. My clinical practices involve serving many individuals who have diverse personal and cultural identities. During case conceptualization I routinely ask clients to describe their own values and perspectives to add to my understanding while increasing their comfort. As I serve an increasingly diverse population, keen observation and feedback from clients will continue to illuminate pathways to expanding my awareness and understanding. I see no end to my professional journey to provide culturally responsive
Bourgeois and Schoenberg’s supposition explaining the absence of cultural relativism toward others while reviewing ethnographic research on a specific community or network of people, is especially true. Reviewing this research on the social work shows how important services and resources are for these communities. According to Brad Karoll, a social worker builds upon the client’s strengths. It is a basic principle for practitioner’s, known as the strengths based perspective. Karol defines the practice as knowing that all humans are capable of change and growth, this growth should be seen no matter the client’s circumstances, trauma, and oppression (Karoll, 2010). According to McGee and Warms (2013), relativism becomes dangerous when it seen
For the article review, it will be an overview of the qualitative study created by the journal of multicultural counseling and development. It will also go into a little detail about who are frontline human services providers and what do they do when it comes to the field of human services. The article review also takes a look at the lack of multicultural training for frontline human service providers and how more training would become more necessary for them to need when it comes to dealing with clients different from them. It will review the measures that were used for the study, sample, summary of the results, and it will also talk about the seven themes when it comes to multicultural competence. This article review will be a study analysis
Although I somewhat mentioned it above, my reason for majoring in social work is so much more than deciding Biology was too hard. Like previously stated, I knew I wanted to help people, and it is very evident that social workers do exactly that. In addition, I love the diversity that social work allows. With this degree, I can work in almost any setting, with almost any population. This allows workers to be able to change their specific field of work when they feel stuck. I look forward to finding just which setting of social work is perfect for
One of the most important things when you decide to be a social worker is that you gotta be open minded and be ready to work with different cultures. In addition, you need to be willing to work with people from different religion, or people that may think different. They are several clients with different backgrounds, for example Latinos or hispanics may have the same background, but they are a very diverse group, they have their own cultural identity. As a social worker you can stereotype or even judge and not assume the worst. As a social worker is wrong to stereotype because you have to be very open minded. This is why as a social worker you should try to learn about the different cultures that exist in the world and more if you are working
Social work is a discipline that dedicates it efforts in facilitating unlimited options to enhance the quality of life of those who it serves; this is archived by instilling positive structure to address life’s challenges. Consequently, what characterizes a superior social work practice is the level of cultural competence. According to NASW, cultural competence refers to the process by which individuals and systems respond considerately
It is imperative that social workers become knowledgeable about their clients’ cultures and are culturally sensitive. In learning about their clients’ cultures, social workers need to be aware of how powerful and significant culture is in relating to clients’ behavior, values, and beliefs. Becoming culturally competent requires the ability to integrate awareness, knowledge, and skills while maintaining a positive working relationship with the client (Sue and Zane, 1987). Today, the concerns regarding cultural competency continue to accentuate the importance of preparing social workers for a diversified society.
As a social worker, I will demonstrate cultural competence to ensure self- determination to my client by incorporating standard 3- cross culture knowledge in my practice. In order to provide effective service to my client I will research their cultural background, gain further knowledge and understanding from my colleagues and clients.
In this era, diversity and cultural competence are extremely important to understand, regarding the foundations of human development in the social environment. Diversity can alter or affect an individual’s behavior in many ways. Diversity is considered when an individual is different, or composed of differing elements. Therefore, diversity can include different nationality, gender, sexual orientation, age, class, disability, gender identity, immigration status, political ideology, and religion. At any time, an individual is determined as belonging to another group, different from the majority, the individual is considered to be subject to the effects of diversity. Many children coming from different countries have a problem with language. Not being able to speak the language of the community can cause huge barriers for the children to overcome. Many parents believe that the key to a successful life and fulfillment is to get an education. These parents encourage their kids, that with an education nothing can defeat you. It is also very important for the social worker, or human service provider to be comfortable with diversity, and is culturally competent. Cross-cultured means the individual appreciates and compares the differences and the similarities of different cultures as well as their own.
Cultural self-awareness is an important essential tool to the profession of social work. It has its important factors that help us understand the clients’ needs, explore options, and acknowledge ethical dilemmas while considering ethical principles. By recognizing these factors, we can understand and be culturally competent and have strategies to implement a plan. Cultural competence is a set of congruent behavior patterns, attitudes, and policies that enable a system, agency, or organization. During the helping process of the client, it intensifies our awareness about our own learning development such as strength vs. weakness, successes vs. failures, beliefs and values. It is the most important attribute in counseling according to Rogers