The Importance Of Cultural Diversity In Social Work

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In today’s society where an abundance of resources exists, social workers are often the entry point for people to access services. Therefore, it is imperative for social worker professionals to have a clear understanding of themselves in relation to the client from a cultural perspective. While the social work profession has always focused on social justice and oppression, it wasn’t until the civil rights movement that there was a conscious shift in the social work pedagogy to focus the social service practice on race, racism, and training the workforce in cultural competences. Later in the mid 1980’s, the tone of cultural competence would shift from race and racism to a more inclusive language, which includes a more robust list of all types …show more content…

While this definition of cultural competence seems all encompassing, and inclusive I have several critiques of the model and how it is practiced in the social work field: First, cultural competent practices are daunting, these practices often distract clinicians from understanding the role that race and racism often play in systems on a macro level. If clinicians are not aware of how race and racism contributes to the cycle of oppression, then they may not be able to identify how they themselves, maybe unconsciously participating in this system of oppression, there by creating a notion of colorblindness. Second, the current definition of cultural competence is one that has been modified to address multiple groups of oppressed people. It has been argued that the decision to broaden the definition negates the responsibility of the clinician to be fully aware of race and how it impacts their client’s daily experience. As well as their own biases in regards to different races and experiences with racism. These two individual perceptions have a key influence on the client, clinician …show more content…

Unlike cultural competence, Anti- racism and the Anti-oppression framework has a clear focus, to directly address oppressive practices, and privilege in large institutions. In the “ More than being against it: Anti– racism and Anti –oppression in mental health services “ the authors Simon Corneau and Vicky Stergiopouls, identify seven strategies of the anti-racism and anti-oppression that should be employed when practicing direct service with clients. These seven strategies are "empowerment, education, alliance building, language, alternative, healing strategies, advocacy, social justice/activism, and fostering reflexivity” (Corneau & Stergiopoulos, 2012). The goal of using these seven strategies with clients is to engage the client in the process of care by recognizing the strengths and knowledge that the client brings to the relationship and honoring the idea that there is a racial feature of oppression that is inherent in the dynamics of the client clinician relationships. For example, the use of this practice in my current job with the Family Drug Courts could have a profound effect on the outcomes for both parents and children involved in the program. One example is the case of a 28-year-old mother of three that was separated from her children because of her drug addiction. This parent had an extensive history of trauma,

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