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. American society is becoming increasingly culturally diverse.
It is dire for culture to be understood because it represents a major part of the lives of people. Culture can affect communication, perception, behavior (body language), protect, and is a bond which ties our people together. It is important for all people, especially social workers, to learn how to be culturally competent, which can be defined as the “possession of knowledge, values, and skills necessary to make services culturally relevant, thereby increasing their effectiveness” (Clark). Key components of cultural competency Social work requires for social workers to have a high degree of cultural competency. The four key components of cultural competency are awareness, knowledge, attitude and skills.
Equality and fairness are core aspects of social justice and are drawn on extensively by social work practitioners. The two terms are, however, given a range of diverse meanings by practitioners. Those meanings are translated into and reflected in their practice. The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) has established the promotion of social justice as an essential goal “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
Literature Review INTRODUCTION It is of paramount consideration that social workers are conscious of, aware and sensitive to the cultural demands of their clientele. This is because culture is a pivotal factor upon which a great deal of conduct, norms, social connections and mindsets of clients revolve. For social workers there is need to understand and appreciate how cultural traditions influence relationships with a diverse panorama of client needs and demands. This literature review seeks to create a foundation regarding the facts stated above through filtering and analysis of relevant and interesting research studies and works by previous authors. This review of literature focuses on how social workers develop or maintain cultural competence following graduation from Masters of Social Work Program.
When they are in need we must do everything in our power to make a change. Sometimes this involve advocating for them to see a change in social problems. The definition of a social worker states that they are trained person that carries out work with the aim of alleviating conditions of those in need (12). This often calls the need for social justice. After learning about social workers throughout history, I realize there’s multiple ways to help those in need (11).
In general, they appear to be motivated by a combination of humanitarian and egalitarian values, and by a desire to understand how society works and how to make it better for everyone. Frequently, a person is motivated to become a social worker following exposure to injustice and oppression.(p.16.) 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. There are many factors that contribute to the influences of my life experiences.
According to the NASW Code of Ethics, “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 and to differences among people and cultural groups” (***). Basically, what this is stating is that social workers need to understand their client’s culture and be able to serve them in a way that is appropriate to their diversity. A social worker can also learn a lot about diversity through a system perspective framework. In the text, they discuss a social workers mission and say that it is to help enhance opportunities for all people. With a systems perspective framework, you get the opportunity to reach out and learn about many different cultures and communities because you are trying to help your client.
Policies govern the way in which we live. They dictate and shape our lives and distinguish which services are being implemented by the agencies many of us work for. Furthermore, social welfare policies are put in place to help the client population we service and are designed to promote the wellbeing of its citizens. Social welfare policies were designed to “service the needs of particularly vulnerable or disadvantaged groups such as foster children, low-income families living in inner-city areas, or people with mental illness” (Midley, 2009, p. 5). Social welfare policies affect us on many levels and is not only designed to protect the vulnerable population but also to protect employees benefits which include but are not limited to the benefits such as Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare.
In the mezzo-level, social worker task force devise different methods to effectively embracing diversity in larger scale and advocating for the rights for entire community. It is my belief that social workers embrace the social justice system through diversity and must be benevolent to persons, who are mistreated in an indifferent society. As a social worker, I understand the importance of preservation various traditions and embrace cultural diversity. It is essential for a practicing social worker to serve different populations with the customs and ideologies in order
In the future, this article will affect my future practice in social work because from this article I got the impression that it is important to focus on diversity and having an appreciation for the uniqueness of my future clients. It’s the idea of working with clients who are being oppressed because of the characteristics of their identity. In a society, the issues of social justice are usually as direct result of the rules of the society that are generally created by those of higher power and privilege. Clients are impacted at the societal level because of laws that perpetuate their oppressive status. Knowing and understanding this injustice allows me to advocate for change because it’s about respect and upholding dignity for a