In a world where every society is becoming culturally diverse, there is a need for social workers to become culturally sensitive. In the US, a census has shown that the ethnic and racial makeup of the individual states has been increasing tremendously over the years. According to the Federation of Social Workers, social work is defined as a profession based on practice and academics which promotes social change and development. Moreover, Social work has been proven to bring about social cohesion and empowerment of people in a given society. Work is also known to liberate people from hunger and social crimes. The most central principles of social work are centred on human rights, respect for diversity and a sense of collective responsibility. Theories of social work have underpinned this definition to mean a practice under which people engage in activities that address life challenges and also enhance the well-being of the community. Therefore, there is a big reason for social workers to be culturally sensitive.
Research Problem
There has been a general belief that social workers often become knowledgeable about their individual cultures since when they are young which makes them sensitive to work when they have grown up. Research has also shown that, when social workers are learning about their client's cultures, they need to be aware of the significance and power of the culture in relation to the client's behaviour which affects their beliefs and values. This has called upon the social workers to be culturally competent so that they can have the ability to integrate their, knowledge, skills and awareness in work and at the same time maintain a good relationship with the clients. This increasing concern for social workers to be culturally sensitive has continued to be of great importance especially if social workers eye to work in a diversified society. Despite this desire, many people have not yet understood the effect of cultural differences in social work and therefore the need to be culturally sensitive. This research aims at finding out the need and importance of cultural sensitivity in social work. To do this, a critical analysis is done on past literature to get a glimpse of what other researchers has done in this area. Moreover, more emphasis will be done on descriptive approaches to fill the research gap which exists.
Research Questions
This research proposal aims at looking for answers to the following research questions.
What is the influence of cultural sensitivity on social work?
How can social workers ensure that they address cultural issues when they are providing social work services?
What is the importance of cultural competence in Social Work Practice?
Literature Review
The purpose of doing literature review is to identify the contributions that have been done by other researchers in this field of study. This will provide a guide and more insight into what it is going to be done in this research so that the data and findings gathered can be improved. In addition, literature review gives an additional analysis on ways of improving the methodology of research used by other researchers and the one to be used for this research. From what has been done before, it is evident that cultural sensitivity in social works is of great importance and ought to be considered by social workers.
Empirical Review
Several research studies have been done before by other researchers on the need for cultural sensitivity in social works. The following research studies show the findings that have arrived at by other researchers regarding cultural sensitivity in social work.
Linder S. Butler " Christian E. Molidor. (1994). This research was to find out the effect of cultural sensitivity in social work practice. The researchers adopted a descriptive research design by investigating the development of children who are raised up from a heterogeneous culture. The aim of the research was to look for the influential factors and choices which compels workers in the clinical practice to adjust to when dealing with children patients. It was found out that cross-cultural issues in social work are unavoidable in social work that involves studying and serving of children and their families in any capacity ("Cultural Competence in Services - Child Welfare Information Gateway", 2018). The researchers further found out through their professional self- examination and recognition of personal bias that sensitivity ought to be enhanced in social work especially in a setting where patients come from a wide range of cultural diversity.
Gwendolyn Watts " Mary Sheppard et al. In this research, the objective was to the standards that are required for cultural competence in the social work practice. The researchers adopted a descriptive survey research design to obtain data from many organizations which practice social work. The findings revealed that among other things, the main standards required of a social worker include: Cultural competency which is grounded on ethics and values of social work profession, social workers ought to recognize and appreciate the importance of having awareness of one's own cultural identity that can affect his or her own cross-cultural experience and practice. Moreover, the research revealed that social workers should seek to understand the beliefs, traditions and values of other people so that there is an incorporation of the same knowledge into the social work process.
Kohli, Huber " Faul (2010). The research was to find out the issues relating to cultural diversity in the workplace. The researchers adopted a descriptive research methodology in the context of social work profession. The research found out that without regard to the general biases that can exist in the social work practice, cultural sensitivity calls upon the social worker to attend to the values, motivations and needs of the clients so that social work services can be provided in an accurate and efficient manner (Kohli, Huber " Faul, 2010). Avoiding such sensitivity could lead to unfavourable outcomes in the workplace.
Fernández-Borrero, Vázquez-Aguado " Álvarez-Pérez. (2018). The researcher carried out a research to investigate the influence of cultural sensitivity in social work practice by taking a case study of immigrants in Spain. The objective of the study was to understand and analyze the intercultural sensitivity levels among the social workers in public social places in Spain. And relate them with the elements of intercultural competence. In the research 298, professional and 163 social workers from Andalusian were targeted. The variables were analyzed using t-test and ANOVA to establish the correlations between the dimensions of Intercultural sensitivity and other variables. The findings from this research revealed that there is high Intercultural sensitivity with significant differences emanating from previous training, age and relationships of the social worker with other people.
National Social Association of Social Workers. (2017). The National Social Association of Social Workers conducted a research to find out the importance of cultural competencies in Social Work. They adopted a descriptive research design by investigating the social worker's cultural sensitive ways in relation to a level of their performance. The research found out that workers who practice cultural sensitivity usually exhibit the highest level of performance. It was also found out that cultural sensitivity goes hand in hand with adherence to the social work practice code of ethics.
Definition of Key Terms and Concepts
Cultural Competence
Cultural competence according to Association of Social Work Boards is the development process which evolves over time that makes a person be aware of how to deal with people of different cultures in the workplace. Cultural competence requires the social worker to understand how different professionals and person’s values may conflict with their own as they interact (Boyle " Springer, 2001). The role of Cultural competence in social work is to ensure that a social worker is aware of the language and behaviour that is appropriate in a culturally diverse setting.
Cultural Sensitivity
Cultural sensitivity in the context of social work is the ability of a person to be aware of the similarities and difference that are seen between different people without feelings of negativity or positivity, worse or better, wrong or right towards other people ("Article Shows Cultural Sensitivity", 1992). Cultural sensitivity requires a person to be aware that people are not the same and they should recognize that one’s own culture is not better than another person’s.
Code of Ethics
As per the National Association of Social Worker, codes of ethics are the minimum code of acceptable behaviour that is accepted by a social worker. Code of ethics also outlines what is required of a social worker in cases of an ethical dilemma. Since the main role of a social worker is to ensure that the basic needs of the people are met or improved, they should be guided by a code of ethics to ensure this is always upheld.
References
Article Shows Cultural Sensitivity. (1992). Social Work. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/sw/37.3.284-a
Boyle, D., " Springer, A. (2001). Toward a Cultural Competence Measure for Social Work with Specific Populations. Journal Of Ethnic And Cultural Diversity In Social Work, 9(3-4), 53-71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/j051v09n03_03
Cultural Competence in Services - Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2018). Childwelfare.gov. Retrieved 21 March 2018, from https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/cultural/services/
(2018). Nlasw.ca. Retrieved 21 March 2018, from http://www.nlasw.ca/sites/default/files/inline-files/Cultural_Competency_Standards.pdf
Fernández-Borrero, M., Vázquez-Aguado, O., " Álvarez-Pérez, P. (2018). The Influence of Cultural Sensitivity in Social Work Practice with Immigrants. Retrieved 21 March 2018, from
Kohli, H., Huber, R., " Faul, A. (2010). Historical and Theoretical Development of Culturally Competent Social Work Practice. Journal Of Teaching In Social Work, 30(3), 252-271. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08841233.2010.499091
The Importance of Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice | NASWIL.org. (2018). Naswil.org. Retrieved 21 March 2018, from http://naswil.org/news/chapter-news/featured/the-importance-of-cultural-competence-in-social-work-practice/
