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Differences and similarities between cultures
Importance of culture in the practice of social work
Differences and similarities between cultures
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Also, cultural perspective helps social workers engage differences. Social workers can apply their understanding and realize the significant of variations in shaping life experiences from micro to macro levels. In other words, cultural competence helps social workers figure out the relationship between oppression and marginalization. So social worker can tackle the issues specifically. Hence, cultural perspectives help workers recognize themselves as learners and engage clients as experts of their own experiences. Thus, this can greatly build up the confidence of clients. Furthermore, Social workers shall be the agents who demonstrate the leadership as to work capably with multicultural groups in communities and also demonstrate responsibility for advancing cultural competence. For instance, challenging social structural, institutional abuse and ensure sustainable diversity. Therefore, cultural perspectives can help social workers promote human rights and different aspect of Justice. It is because cultural competence helps social workers look at the society at both individual and system level in different aspects. Hence, social workers can have a clearer picture of the society and also their clients. They will be easier to apply their knowledge of social, economic, and environmental justice as to …show more content…
As the historical context of development of diversity education and practice content showed, social work has continuously framed this issue in terms of ‘other.’ Some people believed that cultural perspective was not the idea of “diversity”, the message was more likely about understanding those that are “different”. According to Wear (2003), this implicitly defines the ‘other’ as being ‘non-heterosexual, non-English-speaking, and non-Christian’ This showed there are still oppression and inequality in this
The data provides culturally competent guidelines for social workers. The social worker must understand and appreciate diversity among and within cultures. They should be aware of the history, culture, and contemporary realities. They also must have good skills in patience, listening, and tolerance of silence. A social worker needs to be aware of their own biases and need for wellness and display humility and a willingness to learn. They need to be respectful, nonjudgemental, and openminded. However, researchers must find a way to measure cultural competence with studies that examine beliefs and evaluate actions of social workers. It should include several cultural groups.This will be highly important in building a knowledge base. Doing these studies there can be a better plan to include cultural competence and serve clients from different backgrounds a lot better.
In the National Association for Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics, there are many standards a social worker should uphold in order to promote a healthy and helpful relationship with the client. One such aptitude is Cultural Competence and Social Diversity, which is in section 1.05 of the NASW code of ethics (National Association of Social Workers, 2008). There are three sections associated with this competency “Social workers should understand culture and its function in human behavior and society, recognizing the strengths of all cultures”. It is assumed that “social workers should have a knowledge base of their clients’ cultures and be able to demonstrate competence in the provision of services that are sensitive to clients”. As a final point “Social workers should obtain education” in order to understand cultural diversity and oppression in people (NASW, 2008, p. 9).
As a social worker, the ability to merge cultural competencies with social work methods and theories allows intervention to be customized to meet their client’s need-based which vary upon culture. Since there are a massive amount of different cultures with different traditions, values, and beliefs the social worker needs to obtain the fundamentals of the culture in order to assess and advocate for the ethnic group effectively. The NASW of Ethics clearly values the competence and the Ethical Principle of Social workers practice within the areas of competence and enhances their professional expertise. In addition, “ Cultural competence is a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system or agency or among professionals and enable the system, agency, or professionals to work effectively in cross-cultural situations” (NASW, 2000b, p. 61). Cultural competency ensures that our primary mission of the social work profession to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty.
This paper will entail my reflections on three main areas pertaining to my own personal experiences. I will describe the influence of my own life experiences, give my particular world view, and describe what advantages and disadvantages, power, and privileges I will bring to my interaction as a social worker.
The National Association of Social Workers, NASW, considers the following as its six most core values; service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence. The value of service is considered to be a core value because offering help to those in need is a crucial goal for all of those looking to practice in the field of Social Work. These services can include, but are not limited to, addressing social problems, helping those in need, and volunteering their knowledge to those who cannot otherwise afford such help. Social Justice is also an important core value for a Social Worker to develop. As a Social Worker one will encounter many people from several different walks of life, no two cases will ever be exactly the same. Some of these walks of life can leave a client vulnerable, defenseless, exploited, oppressed, and troubled. Therefore it is important to learn what Social Justice is, and how to help people from falling victim to injustice. Dignity and Worth of the Person is one of the most important values that one should uphold. People who need the help of a Social Worker many, but not all, times feel powerless, embarrassed, and worthless because they feel as though they cannot control aspects of their life an...
Springer, J. F, Sale, E, Kasim, R, Winter, W, Sambrano, Soldad, C, (2004). Sandra; Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work: Innovation in Theory, Research & Practice; Vol 13(3); 1-23. Doi: 10.1300/J051v13n03_01
I have grown to appreciate diversity and I seek out opportunities that will increase my competency in this area. While working with diverse populations I have learned that diversity represents individual and human differences that impact how we problem-solve, work, and learn. Often times we sum diversity into three main categories, race, gender and ethnicity; however, diversity is expanding and we must include all aspects of diversity. There are several factors that distinguishes us and the dimensions of diversity may be hidden or visible. They may remain constant or fluctuate as life changes and they may not be easily defined. Social workers must embrace diversity as well as its dimensions and understand that diversity is multidimensional.
Culture-bound values, in a simple term culture, consists of all those things people have learned in their history to do, believe, value, and enjoy (Sue, 2016, p. 218). It 's important in this category for one to express themselves, regarding the client. Also the social worker should read between the lines and observe what the client may not be saying. Focusing on the client individually, looking for verbal/emotional/behavioral expressiveness, insight, self-disclosure, scientific empiricism, distinctions between mental and physical functioning, and ambiguity, all fall under
Social Workers are very important to everyday life. They are the ones that help people in need when they have nobody else to turn too. Also, they provide resources and better understanding of predicaments that you could be experiencing. I will reflect on how the class has affected me, my own experiences and how some theories have connected to my life experiences, and lastly, if the class helped toward my major. This class is important for someone that wants to become a social worker and wants to learn about the different theories used. Also, learning about me during this process of completing this class is fun and a way to see if the social work profession is right for me. There was many theories explained throughout this class but many will not be said because it wasn’t the main points that I was trying to get across. There are two tools that are used that can help a social worker organize a client’s life: Bubble map and Briefcase exercise. There are so many different ways a social worker can help a client deal with their problems and come up with a solution. It is up to that social worker to identify the client’s problem and see what theory fits.
A social worker must present themselves as a learner and understand clients from all experts of their own experiences. To show your respect to the clients as a social worker you must be able to show that you understand complexity of cultural identity. Cultural competence targets social workers knowledge of development, focusing on culturally specific demographics, characteristics, values, and intravenous technique. When dealing with cultural sensitivity a worker’s genuine appreciation of the client’s uniqueness and universalistic respect for the client’s humanness is needed. To have success in multicultural practice, cultural responsiveness come in to play, which means to be culturally responsive, social workers use dialogue skills that place the client’s construction of reality at the center of the
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.
In social work, a social worker has to come to the client’s level and start from there. The client does not have to come to the social workers level. In order for this to happen the social worker has to know the importance of culture, race, gender, sexual, diversity and other forms of diversity to make the best decision for choosing a type of intervention. Understanding the client’s culture, race, gender, sexual diversity and other form of diversity is important because they affect each person differently. An example, Roberto is Latino and in their culture they believe in machomism, so this is something his social worker needs to know when addressing Roberto or someone of the Latino culture. Hispanic women bring machomism
Social Workers shall develop an understanding of their own personal and cultural values and beliefs as a first step in appreciating the importance of multicultural identities in the lives of people…Cultural competence includes knowing and acknowledging how fears, ignorance, and the “isms” (racism, sexism, ethnocentrism, heterosexism, ageism, classism) have influenced their attitudes, beliefs, and feelings. (citation)
families, and communities to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social workers are change agents and because of that, they aim to help people develop their skills and abilities to use resources provided to them to strengthen and improve their lives and communities to resolve problems. One of the main goal of social workers is to improve the well-being and lives of the most vulnerable populations, fight against poverty, unemployment, domestic violence and the underserviced population by emphasizing on the person-in-environment and social justice model. The social work profession, considerers the individuals’ internal and external struggles, while working with the individuals to examine their relationships, family, work environment, community, and other things that might impact them and identify ways to help address problems and challenges.
The work of a social worker is complex and all encompassing. Social workers work in many capacities seeking justice, liberation, and equality. There work is global, as they work to put policies in place to govern practices. To keep up with societal shifts and generational changes there learning is continuous. As new questions rise so does the need for the continuation of research, not only to answer these questions but to implement into