A Working Model of Cross-Cultural Clinical Practice (CCCP)

A long-standing gap between clinical and cultural practice can lead clinicians to feel overwhelmed by the task of integrating clinical practice with a culturally sensitive approach, while working toward changes in clients’ lives. This article attempts to assist clinicians in their efforts to achieve this task. Using a Task-Analysis approach in the alliance research (Safran et al. 1994), this article discusses the development of Cross-Cultural Clinical Practice and proposes a detailed working model for its possible application. A case example is presented to highlight key components of the model. Limitations and implications of the model in clinical social work practice are also described.     

A Theoretical Framework Explaining Cross-Cultural Sexual Harassment: Integrating Hofstede and Schwartz

After a slow beginning, research on sexual harassment from a cross-cultural and international perspective has begun to assume more importance in the literature. Several recent studies have given weight to cultural differences in explaining cross-cultural sexual harassment behaviors across samples from various countries. Herein, we synthesize elements of Hofstede's and Schwartz's cross-cultural theories and specifically apply them to the field of sexual harassment. Our model highlights how the integrated conceptualization based on Hofstede and Schwartz's work is consistent with much of the existing empirical research on sexually harassing or exploitative behaviors, directed towards women, in many different countries and cultures. We offer testable propositions for future empirical research as well as theory development in the area of cross-cultural sexual harassment. The derived research propositions suggest that differences in the likelihood to sexually harass by men, as well as the tolerance of sexual harassment by women, vary across different countries due to the fundamental differences in cultures and values.     

Developing Culturally Responsive Supervision Through Yarn Up Time and the CASE Supervision Model

ABSTRACT

This article explores a culturally focused supervision training program supporting Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal supervisors to provide cross-cultural supervision for Aboriginal staff within mainstream and Aboriginal community and human service organisations. The key features of the training program, Yarn Up Time and the CASE supervision model are a culturally respectful approach to cross-cultural professional supervision practice with the purpose of contributing to the development of culturally responsive supervision with Aboriginal staff and their clients. The article concludes with feedback from participants who attended the training and supports the future advancement of cross-cultural supervision practice and models in Australia.

IMPLICATIONS

• There continues to be a need for more culturally responsive supervision for Aboriginal staff and for non-Aboriginal social work practice with Aboriginal people.

• Yarn Up Time and the CASE model is a culturally appropriate approach for supervising Aboriginal staff and non-Aboriginal social workers’ supervision of social workers’ practice with Aboriginal communities.

• Social work supervisors need to be able to use an effective cultural supervision model to support Aboriginal staff in Yarn Up Time.

     

The Psychology of Working: A New Framework for Counseling Practice and Public Policy

The authors present the psychology‐of‐working perspective (D. L. Blustein, 2006; N. Peterson & R. C. González, 2005; M. S. Richardson, 1993) as an alternative to traditional career development theories, which have primarily explored the lives of those with choice and volition in their working lives. The major historical and conceptual features of the psychology of working are reviewed, with a focus on how this framework provides a more inclusive and, ideally, more just vision for the career counseling field. Implications for career counseling and a case presentation are provided to examine how this new perspective can inform counseling practice. A brief overview of public policy implications concludes the article.     

Developing Family Therapy Skills on a Shoe String Budget: A Peer Supervision and Training Approach

Family therapy skills are an essential tool when working with young children and their families, yet accessing family therapy training and supervision in workplace settings has become more difficult. Skills enhancement may be obtained through formal training in accredited courses, a costly undertaking, in which clinicians most often carry the entire cost for the training. In this paper, we propose that specific family therapy skills relevant to working with families of young children can be developed within a peer group format. The peer training described in this paper is extremely cost effective, easy to set up, specifically tailored to our unique training needs and the characteristics of the population of families we are working with. Further, the training allows us to develop fresh and creative ways of skills acquisition, our own ‘curriculum’, with flexible use of training techniques, depending on our particular needs at a given time. We conclude with some of the disadvantages of the model and propose ideas for future development.     

A Re-Conceptualization of the Working Alliance in Cross-Cultural Practice with Non-Western Clients: Integrating Relational Perspectives and Multicultural Theories

This article will addresses a gap in the literature regarding the working alliance in cross-cultural treatment. The paper draws on references from current relational theories and multicultural conceptual and empirical sources to re-conceptualize the definition of the working alliance to include cross-cultural dynamics between Asian clients and European-American therapists as a case in point. The paper includes an overview of the working alliance, and a proposal for the inclusion of specific relational domains that this author has found to be important for the definition of the working alliance. These domains are empathy, mutuality, the dynamics of power and authority, the use of self, and the process of communication. A case vignette is included to illustrate these discrete domains. The paper opens new directions for clinical practice and research in the area of the working alliance in cross-cultural counseling.     

Building School,Family, and Community Partnerships: Developing a Theoretical Framework

School, family, and community partnerships are among the suite of strategies advocated for improved school outcomes in which social workers can play a valuable role. Such partnerships are complex to implement in practice and there is little systematic research to guide the practitioner. This study evaluated an early intervention partnership program involving school, family, community, and philanthropic partners implemented in two primary schools in rural Victoria, Australia. The findings highlighted challenges in the process of evaluation and program implementation and in the opportunities this provided to identify key enabling factors. These involved having: a shared vision and aims; democratic governance; a supportive policy and organisational environment including external funding; workers with skills and clear roles; activities for project momentum; and ongoing review and evaluation. These factors can be used by social workers and others working with schools as a valuable conceptual framework to facilitate school, family, and community partnership processes.     

Youth in Foster Care and Social Media: A Framework for Developing Privacy Guidelines

Although youth in foster care most likely use social media websites, there appears to be a lack of policy guidelines related to this use. When one considers youth in foster care, the state's mandate to provide safety, and foster parents' rights to exercise parenting responsibilities, the notion of privacy and the use of social media becomes complex. Critical Systems Heuristics will be introduced as a tool in developing policy recommendations. An application of this framework will be provided which can serve as a guide for an agency or workgroup tasked with developing policy guidelines for social media use by youth in foster care.     

Developing a Rubric for Supervision of Students Counseling LGBTQ Clients

More than 100 pieces of anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) legislation are active in 2018. In this current political climate of “conscience clause” legislation, counselor educators and supervisors are poised to adopt more holistic practices in assessing and evaluating student and supervisee readiness to work with LGBT queer (Q) clients. The purpose of this article is to present a dispositional framework for assessment and evaluation and introduce the flexibility, integrity, awareness, stability, compassion, and openness (FIASCO) rubric of professional counseling dispositions. Two court cases, Keeton v. Anderson-Wiley and Ward v. Wilbanks, are used as case examples for applying the FIASCO rubric to situations involving LGBTQ clients.     

A Science-Based Framework for Responsible Gambling: The Reno Model

As social observers increasingly identify gambling-related problems as a public health issue, key stakeholders need to join together to reduce both the incidence and prevalence of gambling-related harm in the community. This position paper describes a strategic framework that sets out principles to guide industry operators, health service and other welfare providers, interested community groups, consumers and governments and their related agencies in the adoption and implementation of responsible gambling and harm minimization initiatives.     

Finnish and American Sociology: A Cross-Cultural Comparison*

A comparison is made of the interrelationship between theoretical orientations and research methods of authors publishing in major U. S. journals, with those publishing in Sosiologia, the major Finnish journal. Based on a content analysis of 1,808 articles, similarities are found cross-culturally concerning the tendency for authors with a realist theoretical orientation to use comparative historical data-gathering techniques and for nominalists to employ data-gathering procedures more amenable to quantification (e. g. surveys and experimental methods). These data also document the often conjectured tendency for European sociologists to emphasize a more collectivist, organic, and hence realist theoretical posture. Similarities and differences between U. S. and Finnish sociology are discussed in the context of various cultural, historical, and political differences in the maturation of sociology in the two countries.     

NPO,Internal Controls,and Supervision Mechanisms in a Developing Country

The premise of this paper is that effective supervision and proper internal control system (ICS) can promote accountability and transparency, and this will attract more donors. However, in a developing country like Malaysia, it is common that proper accounting standards are not available, the laws are not enforced, and charities often struggle for survival. Debates on regulating nonprofit organizations (NPOs) have been sensitive to many and are often left unresolved, and some quarters believe that NPOs should be left to handle their own affairs. This paper provides evidence from a survey of 60 charities on the status of their ICS. It briefly describes the current state of regulations in Malaysia and makes a case for better monitoring of the sector, as this might be the reason NPOs are lacking in their ICS. We propose what type of regulation and assistance can be provided by the authorities to this sector, not only in Malaysia but also in other developing countries facing similar challenges.     

Parenting in Later Life: A Cross-Cultural Study

This study explored older parents’ beliefs about their parental role with their adult children, their perceptions of intergenerational conflicts between themselves and their adult children, and the negotiation of autonomy versus dependence with adult children in later life. The influence of cultural norms and mutual dependence on these intergenerational relationships was also evaluated. Focus groups were conducted with two groups of older adults attending a senior center in New York City—one who identified as American and the other as Asian Indian. Implications of the findings and recommendations for social workers are highlighted.     

Independent Advocacy for Children and Young People: Developing an Outcomes Framework

This article draws on a study of the outcomes and impact of independent advocacy for children and young people to explore how the value of advocacy is understood by them and by professionals, and what differences advocacy can make to the lives of children and young people. Findings indicate that outcomes of advocacy can be significant and wide‐ranging, including both direct effects on the child or young person and wider impact on services. This has implications for how to capture and report the outcomes of advocacy, for which this article offers a new conceptual framework.     

A Model for Developing International Student Exchanges

This paper presents a model of international student exchanges that considers the needs and expectations of both host and guest country. It draws on the literature on international social work in addition to the experiences of the authors, who have taught social work courses abroad and conducted numerous service projects in the Caribbean Islands. One author has been placing social work students in international field practica for the past 10 years.

This model of developing and maintaining international student exchanges suggests that communication is at the core of successful international work. The process of developing the exchanges should include the following communication steps for both host and guest nation: (1) establish a feedback loop with potential participants; (2) gain an overview of the other country; (3) provide orientation at micro, mezzo and macro levels; (4) identify gains; (5) consider costs; (6) clarify expectations; and (7) establish roles for the student, field liaison, and field supervisor. The aim is to enhance the quality of the experience for all by utilizing a strengths‐based approach. The model emphasizes long‐term relationships, mutual respect for diversity and commitment to reciprocity at all stages. Finally, the model presents principles that serve to maintain relationships internationally. Examples from the authors' experiences are presented throughout to illustrate the process.     

Expanding the Horizons of Forgiveness Therapy: A Cross-Cultural Application with a Bedouin-Arab Woman

This paper highlights forgiveness therapy, a therapeutic approach that has received limited attention in the social work literature. This study represents a beginning exploration of its cross-cultural application. Theoretical and empirical perspectives on forgiveness and forgiveness promoting psychotherapy are provided, and Enright’s pioneering process model is delineated. A case study of the utilization of forgiveness therapy with an Israeli Bedouin-Arab woman who experienced a traumatic interpersonal injury within the polygamous family is presented. LaRoche and Maxie’s guidelines for conducting cross-cultural psychotherapy are utilized to examine important dynamics that emerge in the case study. These authors’ recommendations, which are consistent with a process-oriented conceptualization of culture, as well as intersectionality, appear potentially useful for informing the transcultural application of forgiveness therapy. Future research questions and directions related to the utilization of forgiveness promoting psychotherapy with diverse populations are considered.     

Rapid Social Change and the Turmoil of Adolescence: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

This article is a selective literature review, viewing adolescence in a cross-cultural perspective. Starting with the Mead/Freeman controversy, it centers on the following question: Which are the cultural contexts that best ensure a smooth transition from childhood to adulthood? The review covers some of the ethnographic research, both case studies and work using the hologeistic method (those using the Human Relations Area Files), and some of the research in cross-cultural and developmental psychology, but neither cross-national comparisons nor studies with migrants in multicultural societies. It is found that social adolescence is a universal life stage, but that it takes very different forms in different societies. Its extension into a youthperiod occurred in societies with an age-grade system, and is nowadays linked to urbanization, industrialization, and formal education. Adolescence does not need to be a period of storm and stress, and the generation gap and problem behaviors considered a “normal” part of adolescence are in fact culturally produced. In many situations, these problematic aspects of adolescence are linked to rapid social change or acculturation, most often in the form of westernization. Societies that manage to keep some continuity, cultural identity, and basic values such as family solidarity, often also manage to avoid importing the problems of adolescence despite social change. Of importance are the tolerance and flexibility of adults, close contact between generations, appropriate role-learning and acceptance into the adult community, including in the economic sphere.