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Why is diversity important in social work
Negative consequences of gender stereotypes
Impact of culture on human behaviour
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Culture affects us tremendously in life, it affects how we behave, function, think, and act towards others. According to Appleby, culture is defined as, “all the values, norms, knowledge, behavior patterns, and artifacts that are transmitted from one generation to the next and form a way of life of a people” (pg. 18). The reason why culture exists is because people share their knowledge, creations and experiences from one generation to the next. People find it difficult to understand other cultures, if they do not put the effort into it, because they become so accustom to their way of life that anything different seems off. Gender and sexual orientations impact culture and will impact me with my future profession as a social worker and other kind of human service providers.
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I understand that there are different types of cultures most of which I may not know of, but I will do my best to keep my bias to myself. In order for me to provide the best service for my clients I will need to always place myself in their shoes and view their situation from their point of view, not mine. Keeping an open mind is very helpful since there are many things in the world that I am not completely aware about however with patience and an open mind I could be accepting of it all. I will also have to not just view my client’s point of view, but also look at the situation through my client’s family point of view. Understanding cultural based issues that the clients bring, will help my ability when functioning as a social worker since it will only educate me more. Besides doing research on the culture, I will also show respect towards family traditions and beliefs, treat them with dignity and respect, develop an understanding towards sexual orientation and gender, and lastly promote equality and
Culture has many strong, distinct effects on the viewpoints of people. There are those that discriminate other races because of their culture. Culture influences the appearance of a person and in this period of time, appearance is essentially everything. Culture makes people heavily judge others in the world because of their appearance, their race, and the languages they speak, which is part of their culture.
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.
Understanding culture is an important aspect of being a social worker; this does not mean learning common cultural traits is of great significance to the social work profession. “Consider the second-generation Japanese-American social worker whose practice consists of Mexican-American and African-American families. Memorizing national traits or cultural rituals would be interesting and informative, but ultimately these would be an inaccurate basis on which to “know” these particular families” (Dorfman, 1996, p. 33). When understanding cultural competence it is important to learn from the client about their culture in order to serve them in the most helpful and efficient way possible. There is a major drawback to memorizing information, and that is this information will not give you a real understanding of whom your client is and what life...
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.
The effects of cultural traditions and institutions are primary factors influences that determine the ideologies of gender and sexuality within societal sects. Authors have explored the theology of the various origins of these elements within society through the science fiction genre and how these elements lead to discrimination and isolation. Authors’ concepts of social structures that formed perceptions of gender and sexuality are created by desensitizing sex through a systematizing of sexual desires and actions.Western culture and society has inserted traditionally social policy in regard to gender and sexuality through religious institutions, while propagating xenophobia
Culture is expressed through a variety of different ways, from clothing styles to lifestyles to faithful traditions. It can also have a deep impact on the viewpoints of those around you, whether negatively or positively. No matter how a person goes about their everyday life, they can rise above the expectations of their culture to change the world around them. Culture does not have to be the basis of every thought, word, or deed of a person.
Ethnography is a research method used to explore different cultures from a personal view. Many anthropologists have sought to use ethnography as their main study method because of its specificity and opportunity to get hands on. Those that participate in ethnographies are expected to accurately record detailed accounts of the society in which they are staying, but at the same time maintain a critical distance.
Society and culture surround everyone at all times. It helps raise and shape the population into what it is from the moment a person is born to their death. It is a very powerful factor in the world. It can cause hatred and war but it can also cause love and acceptance. It affects our behavior, tolerance, and decisions.
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
There are many different types of cultures and ways people would react in different situations. When a person thinks of the word culture they start to think of races, places, and states. Culture is in fact a lot more than that, culture is a society’s set of unique patterns, behaviors and beliefs (M.A., Lucas, Social Psychology Sociological Perspectives 3rd edition). Culture can be identified in various ways for example, the way you feel about certain situations or how would one person react differently from the way they grew up environmentally or religiously. The way a person was raised environmentally, physically, and spiritually all have an effect on other cultures. The way a person would normally act would no longer act that way due to the actions of the past. Different cultures affect other cultures in almost any way possible.
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.
I will do this through self-evaluation and reflection, as well as consulting my peers and supervisors if I begin to struggle in this area. Through my social work studies, I have been emerged in situations where studying culture and diversity is required; this has provided me with comfort in my knowledge on other cultures. After graduation, I may not be required to study diversity and culture, and as a professional, I will have to make time to educate myself on diversity issues, attend continuing education courses concerning culture, and be unafraid to ask questions to further understand differences. I do not feel uncomfortable about any of the inventory items, but I feel I can always do more to be educated about my own culture and the culture of others. In the future, I may interact with clients completely different than I, and to best serve these clients it will be important to learn more about their culture through research and asking questions. Furthermore, I must remember not to make assumptions about any individuals, even if I know a great deal about their culture, rather I should ask individuals questions and understand their personal perception of their
Cultural Appropriation versus Multiculturalism In today's society, there are many different cultures that individuals identify with. Culture is very important to many people and is something that helps define who we are. When different cultures are respected and appreciated, it is a beautiful thing, it can bring individuals in society closer to one another. Ideally, this understanding of one another’s cultures can lead to multiculturalism.
Culture is a society’s set of unique patterns of behaviors and beliefs (Rohall, D. E., Milkie, M. A., & Lucas, J. W. (2014). Social Psychology Sociological Perspectives (3rd ed.). NJ: Pearson). Culture can be identified in many ways, it can be identified by your family, the way you feel about certain things, your decision making, and so forth. For example, I was raised in a Mexican and sort of religious household so for me, my values and beliefs differ from other peoples’. My Mexican culture taught me to value our hard work and appreciate what we have in our lives. With that belief I grew up always appreciating what I had and even what I didn’t have at times. Another concept my culture taught me was to always respect my elders and show them manners regardless of their race,
There are a lot of different cultures in the world we live in today. Finding the place you belong and discovering your own culture can be a challenge. This is especially true when you look at culture as an individual versus culture in your family, or even within your community. I’ve always been very family oriented, so that plays a big part in who I am and how my family’s dynamic works. I believe that my family has had a huge impact on the development of my culture, and I hope that I have had the same impact on theirs.