Ch. 4 cultural context

1. SWK 501
Ch. 4
CULTURAL CONTEXT OF PRACTICE

2. It’s All About Context!
 Social work practice and related social welfare
policies are integral with the increased
diversity of our population… “The culturally
aware social workers approaches the client
relationship mindfully…”

3. Cultural Competence
 Understanding culture is central to the helping process
 We need both general knowledge about aspects of culture,
but even more importantly is the interaction with clients that
will allow for “culturally congruent” interventions
 Differences within a given ethnic group (ie., Hispanics or
Latinos, Asian-Americans, Native Americans, etc.)

4. Core Cultural Concepts (Box 4.1, 61)
 Culture
 Cultural diversity
 Cultural awareness
 Cultural imposition
 Cultural encounter
 Cultural desire
 Cultural sensitivity… culturally responsive… cultural competence
 Cultural humility

5. NASW Standards for Cultural Competence
Look up these standards on the NASW
website (www.socialworkers.org)
https://www.socialworkers.org/Practice/Practice-Standards-
Guidelines

6. Attitudes and Worldview
We are raised to view the world and
others based on the values, beliefs, and
attitudes of our home…
Harder for dominant culture members to
“get it” & understand…

7. Attitudes
 Our values, beliefs, norms, language, and traditions are influenced by the culture
we are raised in. We tend to think of these as “normal” and when confronted with
differences from other cultures, we want to label as wrong or deviant.
 Attitudes about oppression… “Not me….” Many whites/non-minorities hold a
“color blind” perspective and think that race should not and does not matter.
This view can be very limiting, and can have an oppressive effect on minority
groups

8. Color Blind Racial Attitudes Scale (CoBRA)
Racially Aware Statements
 White people in the United States have
certain advantages because of the color of
their skin.
 Race plays an important role in who gets
sent to prison.
 Race plays a major role in the type of social
services (such as type of health care or day
care) that people receive in the United
States.
 Racial and ethnic minorities do not have the
same opportunities as white people in the
United States.
Color-Blind Statements
 Everyone who works hard, no matter what
race they are, has an equal chance to
become rich.
 Social policies, such as affirmative action,
discriminate unfairly against white people.
 English should be the only official language
in the United States.
 Racism may have been a problem in the
past; it is not an important problem today.

9. Comfort with Cultural Difference
 Cultural awareness is a process
 Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS)

10. Cultural Awareness/Self-Awareness
Cultural Self-Inventory Part 1: Self-Awareness
Personal Identity:
 What ethnicity(ies) do you identify with?
 What other cultural groups do you consider yourself a member of?
 With which cultural groups do you most strongly identify? How do they influence your
personal identity?
 In what ways do your language, style, appearance, and behaviors reflect the influence
of these cultural groups?
 What values do you hold that link you to your cultural memberships?
 On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being most positive), rate how you feel about each of
your cultural identities or membership groups.

11. Cultural Awareness/Self-Awareness
 Describe an episode or an experience of discrimination as a result of a cultural
membership.
 Identify the benefits or privileges attached to your cultural memberships.
Spiritual Beliefs:
 How would you describe your spiritual beliefs?
 When did you adopt these beliefs, and to where can you trace the influences that led
to your adopting these beliefs?
 On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being most important), rate the level of importance of
your spiritual beliefs in your day-to-day life.
 When you encounter others with different spiritual beliefs, how do you perceive them
in relation to your personal beliefs?

12. Stages of Cultural Sensitivity
 Complete Cultural Self-Inventory (Handout and Box
4.3) and discuss with your group

13. Cultural Knowledge - Intersectionality

14. Cultural Knowledge - Intersectionality
Diversity and Difference in Practice
Critical Thinking Question: Apply the intersectionality model to yourself and your
group’sclassmates or friends to assess diversity in a small sample of individuals.
Across how many dimensions of the human experience do the five of you vary?

15. Developing Specialized Cultural Knowledge
Cultural Empathy
Intercultural sensitivity
Open-mindedness
Rate yourself 1-10, 1 being little cultural
knowledge and 10 being extensive cultural
knowledge… How can you expand your
cultural knowledge??

16. Developing Specialized Cultural Knowledge
Box 4.A – Building Cross-Cultural Knowledge – Assist is you know a little about a lot
of cultures or a lot about one or two cultures?? Strive to deepen your cultural
knowledge AND the scope of cultures you are competent with!
Box 4.6 – Explore key areas of cultural difference. Think about how you would
describe your own culture in relation to these areas…

17. SKILLS
 The NASW's standards for cultural competence in social work practice, standard
#4, states that "social workers shall use appropriate methodological approaches,
skills, and techniques that reflect the workers' understanding of the role of culture
in the helping process.“
 Individuals who are effective in multicultural settings are flexible. They possess
the "ability to switch easily from one strategy to another . . .
 A quality related to flexibility is tolerance of ambiguity
 Another marker of multicultural competence is the ability to take the social
initiative.

18. Skills – Cultural Competence and LGBT population
Read Box 4.8 and the case of Matthew. After answering the questions, watch the following video for
information that may increase your competence for working with this population:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm2cGoUnR8c
Here are the links mentioned in the video:
The Genderbread Person - https://www.facebook.com/TEAMCebu.org...
Lesbian and Trans man Terminology - https://www.facebook.com/TEAMCebu.org...
Gay Terminology - https://www.facebook.com/TEAMCebu.org...

19. Serving Special Populations
 Young Children and Adolescents
 People with Intellectual Disability/Developmental and Physical Disabilities
 Verbal Ability:
 Social Intelligence:
 Physical disabilities
 Older Adults
 Sense of Purpose: Coping:
 Plans for Aging: Faith:
 Support System:
 People with Mental Illness

20. Summary
 With an increasingly diverse population, cultural competence is essential for social
workers
 Holding a “color-blind” view of the world is a limiting perspective for any social
worker
 SELF-AWARENESS creates the opportunity for the social worker to become
comfortable with cultural differences. Apply the Developmental Model of
Intersensitivity to yourself!
 Culture influences the decision to use a particular social work skill when working
with diverse clients