Essay Example: Cultural Competency as a Necessary Skill for Social Workers

Based on the NASWs principles of ethics and values, social workers should have cultural competency requiring the standards of humility, self-awareness as well as the commitment to embrace and understand culture as key to their effectiveness. Also, they have to demonstrate an appreciation of their individual identities and consider those of others. About the cross-cultural knowledge, it is critical for the social workers to possess and establish specialized knowledge, as well as understanding, inclusive of the family systems, values, traditions, history, sexual orientation, spirituality, and religion (Garthwait, 2014). Moreover, they have factor in the tribal groups and physical abilities of different groups in the population. In the cross-cultural skills, the workers should have broad range of techniques and skills, which demonstrate respect and understanding for the role of culture in research, policy well-being of all people and specifically those coming from the minority ethnic groups and races.

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For the last ten years there has been an association in the mental health focusing on the mental health of families and children from the minority populations in the United States. Identified as the risk in these groups because of being underserved, the health practitioners are faced with a challenge of answering the question about what constitutes the relevant services of the clients in the minority groups. For instance, Hoshi, a young man aged 20 years, was born in Japan and later migrated to the United States to progress his education and graduated as a systems analyst. However, his family was still in Japan. The young man engaged himself in residential treatment because of his addiction to alcohol. According to the treatment program, every client had to notify his family about the intervention and it was a requirement for the professionals to contact the members about the substance abuse. His parents were ashamed of his actions of disclosing the details of his life to the staff. Hoshi was disowned by his family and the health care professionals were astonished by these acts after discharging him. This example demonstrates the effects of culturally inappropriate interventions on the recovery. The professionals were sensitive about the possibility of harming the client because of their interventions and that is the reason why they had to make initial contacts.

The Good Shepherd Hospice addresses the needs of the diverse cultural groups by implementing various guidelines to ensure that all the clients are served well regardless of their differences. The agency overcomes the barriers of cultural and linguistic barriers through the employment of the multicultural professionals who are aware of more than one language. Based on this model, the management assumes that drawing the members of staff from one culture facilitates good relationship between the clients and them. Also, this group ensures that the traditions and cultural values of the patients are not changed.

Ethical and Legal Prohibitions Against Discrimination

Different from the difficulties, which the migrant workers face as they are living in other countries, they experience discrimination in the work place since they are not citizens of those nations. Most of the countries prohibit discrimination of employees based on their pay, gender, or status. However, this rule does not apply to the migrant workers. In the United States and the European Union, these acts depending on non-nationality and migrant status is expressly exempted (Rourke, 2008). Therefore, they have no right of claiming that they are discriminated and can only have a recourse through turning to other relevant grounds to their situations. About the prohibition of discrimination on ethical basis, it is unethical to deny individuals equal opportunities in health, education, employment and other sectors based on their ethnic or racial backgrounds. According to the utilitarian theory, people should act for the greatest good of the population. Similarly, various institutions should undertake their operations in a manner, which encourages fairness for the entire population.

Effects Individual Values and Beliefs , and the Human Rights on Social Work Practice

About the personal beliefs and values in the administration of the counselling sessions on the clients, there is a close relationship between them and the outcomes of these services. There is a significant effect of individual values on how the client perceive the intervention. If there is no agreement or these beliefs are not consistent with those of the client, then the objectives of the approach cannot be met.

The current standards imposed in the social work practice considers the context of the profession committed towards the realization and promotion of human rights (Vinson and Neimeyer, 2000). According to the International Federation of the Social Workers, the religious, democratic and the humanitarian ideals are critical for the human needs to be met, and these experts should have the scientific knowledge to understand the human behavior for the establishment and development of framework for meeting the individual needs.

References

Garthwait, C.(2014). The Social Work Practicum: A Guide and Workbook for Students. Bostom MA: Allyn.

Vinson, T. & Neimeyer, G. (2000). The Relationship Between Racial Identity Development and Multicultural Counseling Competency. Journal Of Multicultural Counseling And Development, 28(3), 177-192. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1912.2000.tb00344.x

Rourke, M.(2008). Legal prohibitions against employment discrimination available to migrant workers employed in Europe. A review of international instruments and national law in four selected countries. International Labor Office: Geneva.