Cultural Humility: Video Analysis

Cultural humility can be defined in a multitude of ways. The way in which a person defines cultural humility depends upon several factors, such as their cultural background, life experiences, personal biases and environmental influences. As stated in the video (Chávez, 2012), cultural humility is a multidimensional concept consisting of the following dimensions: lifelong learning and critical self-reflection, recognizing and challenging power imbalances for respectful partnerships, and institutional accountability. In order to achieve cultural humility, social workers, as well as those in other professions, must keep an open mind and have a willingness to learn new things about the cultures of others throughout their lives. Social workers must

also take on unfair power imbalances and advocate for the rights of the less powerful members of society. As long as power and privilege exists, the people without the power will continue to struggle to overcome it and make a better life. Therefore, social workers must step in and work to bridge the gap between the haves and the have not’s. Finally, social workers must hold the institutions that provide services to their clients accountable for their actions and ensure that the values they ascribe to are actually put into practice and are the most beneficial to the clients they serve.
In order to truly understand the definition of cultural humility, I believe one must take a step back and clarify the difference between cultural humility and cultural competence.

According to the video (Chávez, 2012), achieving cultural competence implies that you are all knowing and all powerful. Personally, I see cultural competence as an academic subject that many people attempt to perfect in a classroom and master without really understanding its usefulness in the real world. On the other hand, cultural humility requires people to relish in the unknown and enjoy not knowing everything about every person they encounter. As indicated in the video (Chávez, 2012), cultural humility is an approach or tool that you use that requires you to take into consideration where the client is coming

from.
Perhaps the most important lesson I took away from the video, is to approach every client with an open mind, have compassion, respect, and a sense of equality (Chávez, 2012). Therapy and/or treatment services will not be successful, in my opinion, if you do not fully understand the needs of the client and their background. There is no one correct approach to therapy/treatment that will work for every client that walks through your door. You must be versatile and be willing to alter your methods when necessary to make the client as comfortable as possible. However, understanding your client, their own cultural influences, and their needs is quite possibly the most daunting task that social workers must undertake. Another difficult task that can be minimized by achieving cultural humility, is realizing your own cultural influences and the resulting biases that originate from those influences. As a social worker, one must realize how their own biases affect their ability to help their clients and embrace them to provide effective services with minimal interference.
Another vital point that I took away from the video was the seriousness of the power imbalances in our society (Chávez, 2012).

Social workers are placed in a unique position to recognize the effects these power imbalances have on the diverse clientele they encounter and advocate for the social change that is required to challenge these imbalances. In the social work profession, so many people come in with issues they cannot overcome alone. The majority of these issues result from a lack of power and resources on their part and/or the oppression they have to suffer through and try to overcome. Social workers must realize that a person’s cultural background, ethnicity, race, and various other aspects of who they are may place them in a minority group that is discriminated against and held down by the oppression caused by the more powerful groups in society. Although social workers will never be able to eradicate every social issue that exists, the important thing is that we try to make social change and work to implement social policy that will, ideally, minimize the gaps that divide people in our

society.
Unfortunately, all of these ideals and values are virtually worthless if the institutions that provide services to clients do not actually put them into practice and work to serve the best interest of their clients. It is not a pointless venture to develop values to follow that aim to serve the clientele in the most effective way, but social workers and the institutions they work through must actually execute the values and be held accountable when they fall short in certain areas (Chávez, 2012). For example, a possible shortcoming in an organization may be that they do not have any translators or bilingual speakers to communicate with clients that do not speak English. In my opinion, if you are going to practice cultural humility and meet a client where they are, you must give that client the opportunity to effectively communicate with you and take in to consideration where they are coming from.
As aforementioned, it is essential to remember that not all clients are the same, so there is no one acceptable way to approach therapy/treatment with a client. You must regard clients with respect and attempt to understand their perspective, cultural background, and personal values and recognize how these things play a part in where they are now. The key is to recognize that you do not know and understand everything about every person you encounter. You have to keep an open mind and really listen to what they have to say and what factors have led to the issues they are dealing with. It is also vital to remember the influence someone’s cultural background has on their life and what privileges and limitations they have dealt with as a result. Ultimately, achieving cultural humility is a lifelong learning process that requires you to be dynamic and open to altering the way you think and interact with others.
References:
Chávez, V. (2012, August 9) Cultural Humility: People, Principles, and Practices
[Video file] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaSHLbS1V4w