Perceived Levels of Cultural Competence for School Social Workers: A Follow-Up Study

The purpose of this article is to report on findings from a follow-up study that examined the relationship among social work education programs, postgraduate professional development, and school social workers’ perceived levels of cultural competence in practice with urban minority youth. The initial study demonstrated that African Americans perceived a higher level of cultural competence than their Anglo American counterparts did. Findings highlight the need to understand the processes by which practitioners become culturally competent for urban school social work practice. Underscoring the importance of professional development, the authors determined that geographic location of practice may serve as a factor that influences how practitioners anticipate the need for culturally competent practice with diverse populations. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

Toward a Cultural Competence Measure for Social Work with Specific Populations

Abstract

The notion that cultural competence is crucial to sound social work practice is widely accepted in the profession. However, there exists a gap between the achievement of the goal of developing culturally competent practitioners through social work education and the ability to measure such competence. A second gap exists between education and the providing of culturally appropriate services in everyday practice. These gaps are likely due to (1) the broad terms used to define cultural competence, (2) the slow evolution of instrumentation to measure cultural competence, and (3) the lack of culture-specific training and measurement techniques. This paper assesses the need for further refinement of the concept and suggests a new approach for the development of instruments to measure it. The authors provide an overview of the construct of cultural competence, analyze the conceptual and empirical foundations of four well-known measures, and provide a rationale forthe development of culture-Specific instruments.     

Defining Culturally Competent Practice with Sexual Minorities: Implications for Social Work Education and Practice

In recent years, social work has placed an increasing emphasis on culturally competent practice. Although use of that term has referred primarily to practice with ethnic and racial minorities, the concept has been broadened to include social work with other culturally diverse populations. This article examines the application of cultural competence principles to practice with gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered clients. Attitude, knowledge, and skill components are addressed to delineate a culturally competent approach to social work with sexual minorities. Implications for practice, education, and the profession are also discussed.     

The queer youth cultural competency (QYCC) scale: Measuring competency in direct-care behavioral health workers

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) youths are disproportionately represented in behavioral health treatment settings, and face disparities in outcomes when compared to their non-SGM peers. These youths need workers who are culturally competent in addressing their specific needs. This article presents a scale to measure the SGM-related cultural competence of direct care workers. The scale, named the Queer Youth Cultural Competency (QYCC) scale, fills a gap in the measurement literature and enables social workers to more robustly address the cultural competency of service providers as it relates to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youths receiving behavioral health treatment.     

Are we ready for them? Overseas-qualified social workers' professional cultural transition

Developing sociocultural competence in a new country is essential for migrants practising social work within new and distinct cultures. An argument for interventions needed to support the cultural transitioning of a migrant social work workforce is made, informed by findings from a mixed methods study of the experiences of overseas-qualified social workers in New Zealand. One of the main findings relates to migrant social workers' professional adaptation to the new environment. We focus the discussion here on how the perceptions and practices regarding the cultural dimensions of the transition informed their adaptation. Although this is a highly contextual example of social work practice in a foreign setting, the dynamics have equivalents in many international contexts as migration of labour is common globally. We argue that a greater focus on the migrant workforce is required in debates on globalisation. The discussion of the findings will highlight the need for culturally informed interventions to enable an increasingly global workforce to successfully make a professional cultural transition.     

Getting to Know the Piece of Fluff in Our Ears: Expanding Practitioners' Cultural Self-Awareness

Israel being a multicultural society with a variety of ethnic groups, the delivery of culturally competent services is a crucial issue in social work practice. This paper describes the outcomes of a training model for cultural competence applied with social work graduate students in Israel. The model, based on work with immigrants' narratives, increased the cultural self-awareness of the trainees. Presented are conceptual and technical aspects of the training model as well as outcomes of an evaluation study. Fifty-one trainees submitted a short account of their personal experiences following the training. The reports indicated expansion in the trainees' cultural self-awareness: awareness of their own and their families' immigration experiences as well as of other transitions in their lives. Training elements that made this outcome possible are discussed.     

Complexities of cultural difference in social care work in England

The ageing of the ethnic minority population in Britain has led to a more ethnically diverse older client group for social care services than has ever been the case. This article focuses on the issue of how social care staff in England experience working across differences of culture, ethnicity, religion, and language. First, the article critically discusses the concept of cultural competence. Then, it reports on the perspectives of social care staff on their attempts to work in a culturally competent way. Individual in-depth qualitative interviews were carried out with 39 social care practitioners, and thematically analysed. Themes related to professional competence, appropriate behaviour, and training needs. Some practitioners felt unable to perform to their accustomed skill level when working across diversity, which has implications for the quality of care provided and job satisfaction. Other practitioners were confident in working across diversity. The key difference between these practitioners was a degree of cultural reflexivity. Recommendations for training are provided.     

From these roots: The role of historically Black colleges and universities in preparing the nation’s gerontologists for an aging society

ABSTRACT

The aging of the United States population is creating an increased need for social workers and other helping professionals with training in gerontology. Recent estimates indicate that less than 3% of MSW students are enrolled in an aging concentration, as compared to 19% enrolled in children/youth concentrations. In addition, the phenomenon of a diverse baby boomer generation joining the ranks of persons age 65 and older has created a plethora of scholarship and curriculum development aimed at readying the aging network for the unprecedented growth of older persons. Social work can make unique professional contributions to the field of gerontology and older persons. This study asserts, however, that social work is not adequately prepared to practice in an increasingly diverse aging society. The social work profession has articulated commitments to acknowledging and affirming how diversity and culture shape the human experience and to developing social workers who can competently engage in research-informed practice and practice-informed research. However, there remains a need in social work education for more widespread use of culturally relevant pedagogies that can help achieve these goals. Informed by both the Afrocentric and Black perspectives, this study presents a content analysis of the curricula infused at two historically Black universities. The nature and extent of the contributions of historically Black universities to social work education is the focus of this article. The scope of this investigation also includes the identification of prominent Black social work educators and discusses the implications of these perspectives for more culturally informed gerontology curricula that promote culturally competent gerontological social workers.     

Integrating cultural competency and empirically-based practices in child welfare services: A model based on community psychiatry field principles of health

Acknowledging the existence of racism in our society is crucial to understanding the need for a culturally competent approach to developing empirically-based practices in child welfare, thereby providing a foundation for evidence-based practice in the field. Advancements have already been made in mental health to address cultural competence and evidence-based practice. This article presents a model of seven field principles of health promotion successfully used in the mental health services. Examples of the use of the model in various settings and evaluation projects are provided. Each of the seven principles – rebuilding/supporting the village; providing access to health care; improving bonding, attachment and connectedness; improving self-esteem; increasing social skills of target recipients; reestablishing/strengthening the adult protective shield; and minimizing residual effects of trauma (Bell et al., 2002) – is elaborated. The model's critical role in establishing culturally competent evidence-based practice is further outlined for application in the field of child welfare.     

Conducting culturally competent evaluations of child welfare programs and practices

As the population of the United States has changed over the last two decades, so has the population of children who come to the attention of the child welfare system, resulting in increasing calls for cultural competence in all aspects of child welfare programming and practice. Given the changing demographics among children involved in the child weltare system and the increasing need to address the racial and ethnic disparities observed in this system, the need for culturally competent approaches to evaluate the outcomes of services for children and families is essential. This article discusses the challenges in conducting culturally competent evaluations and provides strategies to address those challenges within a child welfare context.     

Arab American Marriage: Culture,Tradition, Religion,and the Social Worker

The growing and varied Arab American population and the continuing stereotyping and mistrust between people of Arab descent and other Americans make the need for culturally competent social work more pronounced. This study considers the importance the institutions of marriage and family retain within what can be a generally high-context community. Marriage, family, and religious relationships can be complicated by a sense of honor and stigma alongside frequently distressing experiences or news from the country of origin. Various generations of Arab Americans are returning with their Middle Eastern counterparts to their religions to reestablish their identities. We shall consider the problems between fundamental and enlightened readings and understandings of the traditional marriage contract, especially under Sharia law, and traditional gender roles in relation to the varied expectations of the bride and groom, the extended families, and the cultural community. We suggest ways that social workers can develop skillful communications within effective cultural community networks to offset both inappropriate and insensitive misdiagnosis and treatment.     

Assessing Cultural Competence in a BSW Student Population

Bachelor’s level social workers serve a population that is becoming more diverse. Social work educators must respond with adapted teaching methods, theories, and exercises to reflect the growing need for cultural competence in our practitioners. The 2015 Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) outline the knowledge, value, and skills competencies central to social work education. These competencies include thorough integration of cultural competence in social work education; the ways in which this content is taught likely vary greatly between programs. This study assessed whether students gained competence as a result of taking a bachelor’s level social work (BSW) course in cultural diversity at a mid-sized public university. Furthermore, the study assessed whether their level of competence was related to student demographics, such as being from an urban or rural community. One hundred twenty-three students completed the California Brief Multicultural Competence Scale (CBMCS) at the beginning and end of a course specifically dedicated to cultural competence. Results indicate that the course itself is effective in increasing significantly student’s self-reported cultural competence. Study results lay the foundation for future research that will (1) assess more broadly the implications of a specific cultural competence course and (2) aid in the development of a social work-specific measure of cultural competence.     

Culturally Competent Practice with Bisexual Individuals

Working with lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals requires clinical social workers to demonstrate cultural competency with these populations. Although there are many common issues across these identities, bisexual individuals experience unique challenges that differ from lesbian and gay individuals. Bisexuality is sometimes misunderstood by heterosexual as well as lesbian and gay individuals, leading to experiences of marginalization from multiple sources. Moreover, clinical social workers may incorrectly assume that the treatment needs of bisexual individuals are the same as lesbian and gay individuals. This paper utilizes qualitative interviews with 45 bisexual-identified people to illuminate five prominent issues in clinical practice with bisexual people. They are: (a) biphobia, (b) practitioner attitudes about bisexuality, (c) identity development, (d) social relationships, and (e) sexual health. Findings illuminate clinical practice strategies that will facilitate culturally competent social work practice with this population.     

Teaching Note—Challenges in the Classroom on LGBTQ Topics and Christianity in Social Work

This article provides guidance in facilitating the development of culturally sensitive skills for working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) populations that take into account power and privilege. Social work faculty and students have an ethical obligation to be competent and aware of privilege. When working with LGBTQ populations, this means addressing personal and social values and beliefs about gender and sexuality. Faculty may not feel prepared to address the influence of Christianity, the dominant religion in the United States, on social forces affecting LGBTQ populations and on social workers’ religious feelings when working with these individuals. This article describes pedagogical techniques and provides guidance for developing faculty and student competence and awareness when working with LGBTQ populations.     

An Examination of College Students' Perceptions of Transformative and Culturally Competent Educators: Are Social Work Students Unique?

The purpose of this study was to examine college students' perceptions of transformative and culturally competent educators. Using data collected from a cross-section of 194 undergraduate (associate and bachelor level students) and graduate students in social work and other majors from four colleges or universities in the Midwest region of the USA, the findings indicate that transformative and culturally competent educators are important to college students. Using the Students' Perceptions of Transformative Educators Scale (SPTES), the data revealed that the overall mean for the SPTES was high, with a score of 198.24. The range was 131–233. The standard deviation [SD] was 21.55. This mean suggests that students place a high level of importance on attributes of transformative educators. When examining the culturally competent subscale of the SPTES, the data also revealed that students want educators who personify culturally competent attributes. The data illustrated a mean for cultural competence of 63.27. The range was 36–70. The standard deviation was 7.89. This mean suggests that students also place a high level of importance on this attribute in educators. ANOVA results indicate that respondents do not significantly differ along the lines of age or race on the SPTES. Student rank (associate, bachelor and graduate), however, did reveal significant differences on the cultural competence [F(2, 174) = 3.280, p < 0.040] and socialization [F(2, 187) = 4.172, p < 0.017] subscales of the SPTES. Social work students also demonstrated statistically significant differences in their slightly higher scores related to the perceptions of the overall SPTES (mean = 202.17, SD: 22.88, p < 0.01); the cultural competence subscale (mean = 65.03, SD: 6.64, p < 0.00) of the SPTES; and the socialization subscale (mean = 26.21, SD: 3.06, p < 0.02) of the SPTES.     

Research Self-Efficacy

This article discusses challenges that educators face in attempting to develop culturally competent social workers who understand the dynamics of oppression and embrace a commitment to promoting social justice. An educational model is described, focusing on the use of an interactive Web forum aimed at providing a safe vehicle for student dialogue. Usage patterns of the website are summarized and data from student evaluations are analyzed. The authors provide recommendations based on evaluating the use of computer technology to meet the challenges inherent in teaching and learning processes related to combining cultural diversity and societal oppression content.     

Lessons on social and health disparities from older lesbians with alcoholism and the role of interventions to promote culturally competent services

ABSTRACT

Older adults who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) face greater health risks and possibly more costly care because of their reluctance to seek out health and long-term care services because of limited cultural sensitivity of service providers. This is particularly evident in older lesbians who face substantial risk of health problems associated with alcoholism and are less likely to be open with health care providers because of stigma combined with feelings of alienation, stress, and depression. An estimated 4.4 million older adults are predicted to have problems with alcohol by 2020, and the rates of alcohol-related hospitalizations are similar to those for heart attacks, creating exorbitant medical costs. More culturally competent health and long-term care may reduce health care costs by effectively addressing the dynamics of alcoholism, aging, and lesbian culture. Training initiatives such as those developed by the National Resource Center on LGBT Aging have begun to address the need of a more culturally competent aging services network. This article provides exemplars from empirical data on older lesbians with alcoholism to highlight some of the health, economic, and social disparities experienced in the aging LGBT community. Current interventions in the form of cultural competence training for service providers are presented as a potential step toward addressing health disparities among LGBT older adults.     

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.

     

Ethical Tensions and Dilemmas Experienced in a Northern Ugandan Social Work Internship

This article explores the ethical tensions and dilemmas that arose for 2 U.S. social work students during an 8-month international clinical internship in northern Uganda. These students encountered cultural differences related to issues of confidentiality, autonomy, and self-determination. Student experiences were analyzed using the cultural orientation framework of collectivism. A strategy for reflecting on ethical dilemmas that arose is presented involving identification and exploration of the ethical dilemma, reflection on the dilemma in the context of culture and socioeconomic factors, development of culturally responsive and ethical interventions, and continued review and reflection. Such exploration of culturally based value differences is needed to increase social work students' cultural competence.     

Developing cultural competence for social work with families living in poverty

Social workers need to have a good understanding of the cultural contexts within which the families they are working with are living. Whilst each context will be unique in many respects, the majority of families involved with social workers will share the experience of living in impoverished circumstances. At a time when levels of family poverty are rising rapidly in the UK and many other European countries as a result of a global financial crisis followed by economic recession and major cuts in public spending, it is particularly important that social workers understand the impact of poverty on the lives of the adults and children with whom they are engaged. One of the best ways of developing an understanding of any aspect of culture is to listen to people talking about their lives. Using a combination of research evidence based on the first-hand accounts of parents and children, and analysis of selected practice examples drawn from anti-poverty social work in England, the key elements of culturally competent practice for social work with families living in poverty are identified.