According to the
NASW Code of Ethics, to become culturally competent social workers need to
focus on six tasks, as follows:
1.
Develop an
awareness of personal values, assumptions, and biases
2.
Establish an
appreciation of other cultures and nurture attitudes that respect differences
3.
Understand how
one’s own cultural heritage and belief system differ from and may influence
interaction with clients who have different cultural background
4.
Recognize the
existence of stereotypes about discrimination against, and oppression of
various diverse groups
5.
Commit to learning
about clients’ cultures
6.
Acquire effective
skills for working with people from other cultures.
Using the Code of
Ethics as a reference, what ethical issues did you confront in your practice
this semester? Did you deal with race,
ethnicity, women’s issues, sexual orientation, confidentiality problems, or
problem in allowing your clients their own self-determination? Discuss any value
conflicts you
experience with the agency, clients, community, or others in your work. How did you
resolve them? How comfortable are you with
differences? How do you continually
evaluate your knowledge of differences and increase your level of cultural
competence? What type of self-management
activities did you use? For example,
spirituality, exercise, reading to decompress from your internship and your
clients. (Old Story: A doctor who turns to the hospital and states
“everyone may die tonight but I’m going to get some sleep so I will be
effective tomorrow”).
