Cultural Competency

Cultural competence is a recurring theme in social work practice, theory and research. It is attested by The British Association of Social Workers' Code of Ethics that social workers should be aware of the importance of recognizing the importance cultural and ethnic diversity, thriving to promote practices, procedures and policies that come in line with this aim (Basw,2009). In contemporary social work literature, cultural competence is a controversial and frequent subject which indicates that amongst social work profession there is a growing recognition of its importance. In the U.K in child-care law is embedded the attention to cultural competence and cultural diversity. The trend of a perpetual increasing flow of bureaucratic guidance has

When children and families move here, they bring with them their own customs, traditions, their own ways of bringing up their children and their own religious faiths. Difficulties occur when these families and their children need to adjust to a new set of child rearing norms and traditions that might come in conflict with theirs. Many migrants might experience a sense a loss of their own identity being dislocated from their cultural networks and their communities which can be deepened by the effects of grief or trauma .The social workers are required to develop an awareness of cultural competence, in order to be able to take into account and fully appreciate key issues in relation to ethnicity and culture ,especially when the needs and families from a diverse background are assessed from this perspective (Simpson and Littlechild, 2009).

In order to avoid unjust discrimination against various cultural groups and ethnic minorities, social workers need to have a good understanding of how delivery of services and their own practice are impacted by structural and personal issues in relation to ethnic and cultural differences and the theory of 'Otherness'(Littlechild, 2011).

One of the main principles of social work profession is to promote social justice. Social workers have a duty recognize diversity and to challenge negative discrimination on the basis of numerous characteristics such as age, ability,

(2010) notes that social workers should thrive to develop effective responses to oppressive political regimes, understanding the place of religion and faith in informing their ethical stances and breaches of human rights .He further explains that social workers should focus on appreciating the strengths of various cultural practices, and constantly learn how to apply these principles in their personal practice and in their agencies. In a similar vein , Sender and Littlechild ( 2006) argue that a clear appreciation and recognition of cultural understanding cannot be achieved without learning from research ,theories or sound ideas. Social work education and social work need to initiate an attentive examination of how Western individualistic, libertarian social work values might differ from different value bases in various minority ethnic groups and communities that may be at odds. these issues can be sometimes contentious , especially in relation to definitions of neglect or child