Recognizing the influence of culture is an important aspect for social workers when working with diverse populations. The client is a 30-year-old single African-American (AA) single woman with a child. Culture identifies a set of values and beliefs in a community and its corresponding worldview. As the AA culture has been forced to assimilate into the dominant culture, their own culture has been slowly forgotten. The client has deep roots to her ancestors and has mainstreamed into a new dimension. The client is reconnecting with her Baptist faith as she has lost the support from spiritual leaders. “African-Americans have developed abilities and coping mechanisms to deal with racism, and they rely on their social systems that have been perfected over the generations” (Marsiglia & Kulis, 2009, p. 187). The client represents a very diverse cultural group and the intersection of social class and gender which contributes to her oppression. The client is a single AA female with a son, living in poverty, lack of education, unemployed, with a felony charge, and receiving cash assistance from the state to support her son. …show more content…
Unfortunately, her mother lived in poverty as this is the way her future was molded. The client was raised in a single parent household in which her mother worked two jobs to support the children. The client graduated high school and completed one year of vocational school to become a hair stylist. Her oppression once again rises to the surface with her pregnancy and dropping out of school. This was her one hope to regain her status in society. The client currently lives with her 60-year-old boyfriend who is oppressing her to live and abide by his rules since the apartment is in his name. The client feels obligated to follows his way of life and may fear the self-confidence to take the necessary steps to
In the social work practice, social workers should abide by and respect the protocol of their particular organization. The first ethical standard I would like to discuss is that a social worker having cultural competence and social (NASW, 1999). A social worker must possess the knowledge of values, customs, tradition and history just to name a few in order to have success with clients that may identify as something other than their own identity. Culture directs impacts human behavior. Within this case study, due to Mrs. Sanchez’s culture, she struggled to assimilate with the American culture and this included her being able to learn the English language. Her culture was very important to her and I respect that. As a social worker, I would have
Counselors today face the task of how to appropriately counsel multicultural clients. Being sensitive to cultural variables can be conceptualized as holding a cultural lens to human behavior and making allowances for the possibility of cultural influence. However, to avoid stereotyping, it is important that the clinician recognize the existence of within-group differences as well as the influence of the client’s own personal culture and values (Furman, Negi, Iwamoto, Shukraft, & Gragg, 2009). One’s background is not always black or white and a counselor needs to be able to discern and adjust one’s treatment plan according to their client.
Sociocultural psychology began with Lev Vygotsky in 1931 in dealing with how people react to their environments, pressures, and influences that surround the individual in everyday life. This is a slowly expanding approach that is working towards treating psychological diseases such as obsessive compulsive disorder, also commonly known as OCD.Social psychology focuses mainly on how people react to their surroundings and others in society. Many psychologists go about treating illnesses, such as OCD and eating disorders, by placing people into situations where they have to confront their problems. Many psychologists such as Solomon Asch and Stanley Milgram performed experiments to observe how people react to surroundings and pressures.
It is important to include cultural issues in the helping process to be more effective. We also need cultural competence because the U.S. is becoming more diverse. Therefore with diversity comes different beliefs, norms, and values. Eurocentric values dominate sciences and began cultural universals which puts the clash of dominate and non-dominate cultural behaviors in motion. In 1996 the NASW Code of Ethics increased the recognition of cultural competence. It is important to know diversity exist within ethnic and cultural groups because social workers need to know that relationships between helping professionals and clients may be strained. This happens because of the distrust between groups. Another important aspect is that the professional realizes their own values, biases, and beliefs. The reason for this is because they must value diversity to start with and understand the dynamics of difference. Culturally competent practitioners have to go through developmental process of using their own culture as a starting point to meet all behaviors. Striving for cultural competence is a long term process of development. The literature on cultural competence is theoretical and conceptual. They have not been evaluated in a systematic way. Roughly there are 2 million Native americans in the U.S. Which survive decimating disease, over-repressed in child welfare system, suffer from health problems, and are among the poorest people in the United States. Working with them clearly falls within the social work clearly mandate to serve vulnerable and oppressed clients. However, we do not know how many people from this group is actually receiving help from social workers. Even though it is important to train social workers to provide care in th...
Cultural Competence 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 who your client is and what life experiences they have personally faced.
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.
Behaviour is a socio cultural construct. An individual’s behaviour and their level of acceptance of certain behaviours will vary based on their reality, which is shaped through their societal constructs, environments and rules (Morrow, 2011). The care and guidance an adult provides a child directly impact the child’s behavioural development (Porter, 2008). An adult’s beliefs and perceptions about children’s behaviour relate directly to the quality of care that is delivered to children (Porter, 2008). The argument of this essay is that children’s behaviour is impacted by the care, guidance and influences from their ecological systems. This essay will discuss different behaviours identified by children in learning environments and formulate
Culture can be defined as behaviors exhibited by certain racial, religious, social or ethnic groups. Some factors in which culture may vary include: family structure, education, and socioeconomic status (Kodjo, 2009). Some may think cultural competence is something that has an end point, however, when the big picture is seen, it is a learning process and journey. From the writer’s perspective, the client-therapist relationship can be challenging. Culturally competent therapists must realize that behaviors are shaped by an individual’s culture. Many changes are taking place within the United States cultural makeup. Therapists and healthcare professionals are being challenged to provide effective and sensitive care for patients and their families. This type of culturally sensitive care requires the professional to be open and seek understanding in the patients diverse belief systems (Kodjo, 2009).
Cultural Competence is being able to engage in respectful and effective practice with diverse individuals, families, and communities, preserving their dignity and affirming their worth. A social worker should be aware of their clients’ cultural and environmental contexts, in order to know a client’s strengths, but cultural competence is never fully realized, achieved, or completed, but rather cultural competence is a lifelong process for social workers who will always encounter diverse clients and new situations in their practice. 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’ cultures. Social workers should obtain education
“Culture” is a term that over the years, has taken many forms, served many purposes and has been defined in a variety of contexts. At the rise of the industrial era, inhabitants of rural areas began to migrate to cities, thus starting urbanization. As this new era began to unfold, urbanization, mass production, and modernization became key ingredients in the transformation of culture. As more people became literate and the production of mass media such as magazines, pamphlets, newspapers etc. increased, many had the option and desire to identify collectively – popular culture began to rise. Popular or “mass” culture can be described as a “dynamic, revolutionary force, breaking down the old barriers of class, tradition, taste, and dissolving
Culture is what makes us unique, interesting individuals in our special own way. The way my parents raised me was very traditional and somewhat strict. I have a family of six which include, my little sister, myself, my older sister, my older brother and of course my parents. They come from an Ecuadorian background but after living in America for so long, they’ve “Americanized” some of their old cultures to have a mix of both. We were always told to respect our elders because of their knowledge. Family gatherings were always very important and checking up on each other weekly was a must. School was another very important factor in our culture. We were always reminded that if we wanted to do or be anything in life, school would always have to be our first priority. Thanksgiving is also a
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.
1). Ethnographic fieldwork is very important to the practice of cultural anthropology. In a 2 to 3 page essay discuss the strengths and weaknesses of this research method. In doing so, please do the following:
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)
Man is a social animal, a great philosopher once said and it defines one of the fundamental truths of human existence. Humans are dependent on each other for companionship and survival. We cannot live alone. The need to build relationships and living together has resulted in development of civilization and society. For centuries humans have devised ways to communicate with each other. Festivals and public events use to be a way for people to communicate and interact with each other. Different religions organized their ceremonies and worships in a way where large number of people could participate. These served not only a spiritual aspect but also a social dimension. Over centuries human civilization has evolved and changed dramatically. With