Diversity and Cultural Competence in Social Work

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Introduction: Case Example

The example case scenario is focused on a hypothetical situation involving an immigrant individual named Miranda, and she is a heterosexual female who is 27 years old. Miranda and her husband immigrated from South America to start a family and new life in the US. They have three children, and recently, Miranda lost her mother. She reports having major challenges with parenting her two children and difficulty sleeping. She additionally states that she constantly feels sad, depressed, and tearful, which further hinders her parenting capabilities. Her husband works as a truck driver, which means he is almost always away from the family. The children have ADHD symptoms, which makes parenting even more complicated. The caseworker is required to work with Miranda, overcoming cultural barriers.

Multiculturalism and Diversity of Values

Diversity of values is an integral part of the modern world and societies, which was built on the failures of history of divisions of the previous centuries. It is evident that the given notion is also of paramount importance for ensuring a proper function and stability of a globalized world, where nations and economies are at a severe disadvantage without being integrated into a global economy. However, the most important reason is manifested in the fact that diversity is morally and ethically based.

Issues in Diversity Measures

The topic of diversity is a widely brought up and researched subject, especially in social work, but the issues are still persistent despite these efforts. Research indicates that in many critical professions, the lack of diversity is starkly evident, and no significant progress has been made in the last 40 years (Bernard & Cooperdock, 2018). In other words, many specialities, including social work, are predominantly occupied by a specific ethnic or racial group. Another article reveals that the diversity problem is a common issue among organizations, and many diversity-promoting programs fail to reach the desired objective (Cole, 2008).

Diversity as a Problem

The main reason for the latter is the fact that enhancing diversity is conducted in a highly superficial manner, where the appearance of diversity is established with no profound changes. Therefore, one can easily observe that the given idea is mostly enforced through social work policies and concepts, but no root cause factor is addressed. Organizations integrate diversity training, where the content of the sessions is mostly focused on negative aspects of the lack of diversity, such as an organization having a poor image or penalties for workers who do not strive for diversity.

Social Work and Diversity

It is critical in social work today since social workers work with a diverse group of people, and thus, equal service can only be provided if one values anothers dignity and worth. The central value is the pursuit of social justice, which focuses on justice and fairness in social endeavors. Diversitys value is to provide service to humanity, which makes it a prime interest to uphold others interests as a professional goal. Such measures do not create environments where minority groups and women directly interact with people, which would be the most plausible and effective method of reducing bias among majority groups (Reamer, 2013).

Code of Ethics

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics contains several elements on the issues of marginalization, discrimination, and oppression. For example, section 4.02 of the Code states: Social workers should not practice, condone, facilitate, or collaborate with any form of discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, political belief, religion, or mental or physical disability (NASW, 2021, p. 7). Therefore, the NASW Code of Ethics promotes diversity and cultural competence as the social workers central values, which include competence, integrity, the importance of human relationships, dignity and worth of a person, social justice, and service (NASW, 2021).

The Code offers a set of values, principles, and standards to guide decision-making and conduct when ethical issues arise. It does not provide a set of rules that prescribe how social workers should act in all situations. Instances may arise when social workers ethical obligations conflict with agency policies or relevant laws or regulations. When such conflicts occur, social workers must make a responsible effort to resolve the conflict in a manner that is consistent with the values, principles, and standards expressed in this Code. If a reasonable resolution of the conflict does not appear possible, social workers should seek proper consultation before making a decision (Cole, 2008).

Code of Ethics: Ethical Principles

Social workers are responsible before clients for promoting their well-being and ensuring that their interests are primary. In the given case scenario, the social worker has a responsibility to be alert to and avoid conflicts of interest that interfere with the exercise of professional discretion and impartial judgment. Social workers should inform clients when a real or potential conflict of interest arises and take reasonable steps to resolve the issue in a manner that makes the clients interests primary and protects clients interests to the greatest extent possible. In some cases, protecting clients interests may require termination of the professional relationship with proper referral of the client. Moreover, the social worker should act to prevent and eliminate domination

Decision Making

When there is an opposition between a social work professionals, agencys, or clients values, the social worker should follow the ethical principles and core values represented in the Code of Ethics in the decision-making process as it can help to avoid the personal judgments and biases. In the case of the given case scenario, a social worker is responsible for maintaining the non-discrimination policy and social justice in society. Social workers need to abandon any personal judgment, bias, or prejudice by adopting the clients perspective. The cultural barrier can be overcome by putting an effort to properly understand the immigrant Mirandas experience to provide the best help one can provide in an ethical manner.

Challenges in Diversity

The unique cultural composition of the client population is a highly important aspect of social work, where diversity can be delivered and ensured in a more precise and complete manner. In order for social workers to meet the needs of the diverse population, the efforts need to be done with an emphasis on cultural competence, and thus improvements can be made by integrating more compassionate and progressive approaches. The derived information can be used for better advocacy practices, where the problems are addressed at their roots rather than imposing incentives without the alterations of the basis.

Best Practices

It is important to note that social work requires a wide range of competencies, which is manifested in the overall complexity of the occupation. However, it is stated that all social workers operate within the What-Why-How framework, and the common mistake is to forget the Why component, which makes the work process highly procedural and managerial (Marsiglia, Kulis, & Lechuga-Pena, 2021). In other words, the latter element is integral for social workers to operate strategically and stay aligned with the essential objectives instead of being distracted by minor aspects of the work. Core aspects of cultural competence in social work include skills, knowledge, attitude, and awareness.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the main mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs of people from oppressed and vulnerable communities. In the United States, the multicultural diversity in the social work profession may several challenges and lead to value and cultural contradictions between professionals, clients, and affiliated organizations. Therefore, for social workers, it is essential to follow the Code of Ethics in the decision-making process to avoid personal prejudices and biases. Moreover, social workers should always make sure to improve their cultural competencies and have enough level of self-awareness.

References

Bernard, R. E., & Cooperdock, E. H. G. (2018). No progress on diversity in 40 years. Nature Geoscience, 11(5), 292-295. Web.

Cole, E. (2008). Navigating the dialectic: Following ethical rules versus culturally appropriate practice. American Journal of Family Therapy, 36(5).

Marsiglia, F. F., Kulis, S. S., & Lechuga-Pena, S. (2021). Diversity, oppression, & change: Culturally grounded social work. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

NASW. (2021). Code of ethics. UAF. Web.

Reamer, F. (2013). Social work values and ethics (4th ed.). New York: Columbia University Press.

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