Cultural Competence

Cultural competence means acknowledging any preconceived ideas or beliefs you might already have about a particular group of people. Your goal as a social worker is to recognize these as such and set them aside as you enter into a relationship with your client. Being open to differences—to not assuming that differences create barriers—is an important social work skill. Indeed, the similarities between social worker and client almost always outweigh the dissimilarities. To assess cultural similarities, you must first learn about the culture. In this Discussion, you engage with a person of a culture different than your own and identify values unique to that person’s culture.

LEARNING RESOURCES

Required Readings
Kirst-Ashman, K. K., & Hull, Jr. G. H. (2018). Understanding generalist practice (8th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.
Chapter 12, “Culturally Competent Social Work Practice” (pp. 467–496)

National Association of Social Workers. (2015). Standards and indicators for cultural competence in social work practiceLinks to an external site.. Retrieved from resource https://www.socialserviceworkforce.org/system/file…

To Prepare: Identify cultural values unique to a specific cultural group.
Post a response to the following:

Describe a cultural value evident in a culture other than your own that you have worked with or that is a part of your community.

Explain how you would adapt intervention skills when working with this client from a culture different than your own.