Reflection on the Helping Process II

Reflection on the Helping Process II
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Reflection on the Helping Process II
Cultural competence has become a prerequisite of effective social work. To be culturally competent, social workers need to have cultural awareness to ensure that their own culture does not influence them or bias their social work helping process. Yan and Wong (2005) indicate that while cultural awareness is important in cultural competence, there is a certain problematic assumption that has been overlooked. This assumption is that social workers can become culturally impartial by applying certain strategies while dealing with clients who are stuck in their own cultural beliefs. Yan and Wong (2005) posit that social workers and their clients can't be entirely free of influence from their cultural backgrounds. However, they suggest that self-reflexivity can be used as a way of co-creating new meanings with clients from different cultural backgrounds in the helping process.
In some ways, I agree with Yan and Wong's (2005) perspective. We spent our entire lives being influenced and shaped by our cultural beliefs, practices, and experiences. Culture is a huge part of our individual experiences, which is why, in some cases, people who cannot identify with a specific culture struggle with their identity. Based on how strongly culture influences who we are, it can be difficult to completely ignore our cultural backgrounds and remain neutral. However, I think that social workers can be able to distance themselves from their cultural background by understanding the cultural background of their clients. Other than self-awareness of one’s culture, cultural competence involves learning about other people’s cultures. This mainly comes from interaction with people from different cultures, which in the case of social workers, involves interaction with clients. This can then promote understanding. Once social workers understand the cultural background of clients, they can work together with clients towards a common solution. Also, these interactions enhance the development of cross-cultural skills, which are essential in the helping process. I differ with Yan and Wong's (2005) position because, in a way, they are comparing a social worker and a client. When they say that social workers are expected to be neutral and the same expectation is not placed on clients, I agree. However, I feel like they are trying to treat the social worker and the client the same, yet they are not. Social workers have a responsibility to the client and it is their job to ensure that they horn their cross-cultural skills so that they can help the patient. As such, they should be able to practice some degree of impartiality, which is not expected of clients.
In their work, Almeida, Hernandez-Wolfe, a...