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RESPONSE 1

Respond to at least two colleagues who selected a different article from the one you selected. Share any insights you gained from your colleagues’ posts.

Colleague 1: Whitney One important article that focuses on mental illness and culture is the article Community Attitudes Towards Culture-Influenced Mental illness: Scrupulosity vs. Nonreligious OCD among Orthodox Jews that was found through the Walden library (Pirutinskiy, Rosmarin, & Parament, 2009). The article focuses on how culture can influence a community’s attitude towards mental illness (Pirutinskiy, Rosmarin, & Parament, 2009). One specific culture the article focuses on is the Orthodox Jewish Community who has OCD (Pirutinskiy, Rosmarin, & Parament, 2009). This article also addresses how Orthodox Jews see their up bring through their culture as casual to their development involving their routines, rituals, and religions (Pirutinskiy, Rosmarin, & Parament, 2009). This then does not affect them as much as those who are from a different culture who are not brought up the same way and this would then affect them through the acculturation process (Pirutinskiy, Rosmarin, & Parament, 2009) It’s important that social workers take in consideration in using the cultural formulation interview to apply cultural competence skills in working with the cultures such as the Orthodox Jews. A cultural formulation interview will focus on a framework that assess for an individual’s cultural features, mental health, and these relate to the individuals social and cultural context and history (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The scholar will use the cultural formulation interview to assess and apply competence skills to each client’s case. The scholar would first asses the client with four categories that are included in a cultural formulation interview (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The scholar would first have the client describe their cultural identity such as their as their race, ethnic, or cultural influences (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Then continue to follow the assessment with the other three categories. Then the scholar would use a set of 16 questions cultural formulation interview to obtain information of the clients mental health and by using this assessment it will identify the clients culture and how it has impacted the clients clinical presentations and care (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).Through this assessment it will assist the social worker and client in understanding how culture affects the individual. Acculturation can affect each cultural client different involving their psychological and sociocultural aspects. Acculturation occurs and affects the individual’s psychological change when two cultures have contact involving cultural groups or cultural members (Berry, n.d.). An individuals experiencing acculturation can also experience behavioral repertoire due to the acculturation (Berry, n.d.). This can then influence long-term psychological and socioculutral challenges such as sociocultural adoptions and migration (Berry, n.d.). The scholar would talk with each individual on how acculturation affects them and then assist these clients in understanding acculturation and setting up goals to help cope with or work through their challenges of acculturation.

Reference American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.

Berry, J. W. (n.d). Acculturation: Living successfully in two cultures. Pergamon Press - An Imprint of Elsevier Science. Pirutinsky, S., Rosmarin, D. H., & Pargament, K. I. (2009). Community attitudes towards culture-influenced mental illness: scrupulosity vs. nonreligious OCD among orthodox jews. Journal Of Community Psychology, 37(8), 949-958. doi:10.1002/jcop.20341 Colleague 2: Brooke

Mental illness is a prevalent, bleak reality in today’s society, with anxiety and mood disorders, comprising the majority of diagnosed cases (Corrigan, 2004). While there is often stigma attached to the term “mental illness,” for a variety of reasons, less common are cultural considerations accounted for when diagnosing and treating mental illness. Sellers, Ward and Pate (2006) examine depression as it affects Black African immigrant women. Although this was a relatively small exploratory study, with only five participants, each woman reported depression to be a major health concern, adversely affecting their current daily living circumstances. This determination was made when four primary factors were considered, including perception, context, symptomatology and culturally supported coping strategies, gathered via an extensive interview process (Sellers, Ward and Pate, 2006). These factors all contributed to the subjects’ perceptions of effective, culturally sensitive treatment, further providing insight into sound social work interventions for this population.

The Cultural Formulation Interview, included in the DSM - IV, was designed to identify the impact culture has on both the treatment and potential outcomes of diverse individuals (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). This 16 question assessment takes into account the perceptions of the patient, as well as the other contributing factors related to culture, that may adversely affect the delivery of effective treatment. This interview would be utilized when working with an individual to gain information regarding their perceptions of their diagnosis, as well as their perceived treatment options (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Additionally, this interview would provide insight into the client’s support network, as well as their coping skills. Cultural factors will weigh on the client’s responses.

Acculturation, the complex process of gradually blending cultures, can potentially have significant effects on the individual who has undergone the process (Berry, 2005). The lens with which the person views this process can determine whether these effects are positive or negative. To expand, should the individual view the meshing of two cultures as a sign of losing his/ her original culture, there can potentially be psychological ramifications. As a result sociocultural immersion can be compromised (Berry, 2005). On the contrary, should the individual see the initial benefits of acculturation, the process can be a positive experience, having positive psychological effects regarding the transition, further reinforcing the patient’s journey.

As a clinician working with individuals undergoing this process, it is vital to recognize the perceptions of the client, first and foremost. Perhaps the client is not choosing to mesh with a second culture, but feels pressured to do so. Validating the journey, therefore, becomes the responsibility of the social worker. Encouraging the client to journal their experiences, while becoming familiarized with the nuances of the secondary culture, would be an appropriate approach to employ.

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.

Berry, J. W. (2005). Acculturation: Living successfully in two cultures. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 29, 697–712.

Corrigan, P. (2004). How stigma interferes with mental health care. American Psychologist, 59(7), 614–625.

Sellers, S., Ward, E., & Pate, D. (2006). Dimensions of Depression.Qualitative Social Work,5(1),

45-66.

RESPONSE 2 Respond to a colleague in all of the following ways:

• What changes would you make to the policy described by your colleague? Explain. Describe the specific policy advocacy skills you will use.

• How, as a professional social worker, will you work to ensure policies adequately represent the needs of oppressed and marginalized populations? Describe the specific policy advocacy skills you will use.

• What is your ethical responsibility as a social worker to engage in policy practice within your own practice or agency?

Colleague 1: AnnaVi Feeding Wisconsin spreads awareness and education to officials and policymakers on hunger in Wisconsin. The agency advocates that families who qualify have access to benefits that enable them to purchase food by giving them a monthly allowance that is automatically loaded into a credit card (Feeding Wisconsin, 2015). The program aims to provide nutritious food for children and families so they can focus on other issues they may have. Once the family is approved, the card is loaded with funds to purchase food at any grocery store that accepts the form of payment often referred to as EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer). The program has provided $912,707,262 to individuals and families is Wisconsin in 2016. One of the policies of the program is meeting the monthly income limits, recertification every 6 month and reporting changes in income, household size or employment, however the focus is to advocate, educate and spread awareness to elected officials and policy-makers. The program addresses low-income, disabled, impoverished individuals and families that struggle with providing food. According to Feeding Wisconsin (2015), “we believe that together, we can end hunger through strong public policies at both the state and federal levels working in tandem with a vibrant private charitable sector” (para. 5).

References

Department of Health Services. (2016). Foodshare Wisconsin data. Retrieved from https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/foodshare/rsdata.htm

Feeding Wisconsin. (2015). Public policy & advocacy. Retrieved from http://www.feedingwi.org/publicpolicy/.

RESPONSE 3

• Respond to your colleagues’ responses to the group discussion. In your response, reflect on how a social worker can use a strengths-based perspective to overcome group difficulties.

Colleague 1: Katie Describe your experience working in groups or as a team.

I have been involved in group work since pre-school. My experience with group work throughout the years has mainly been the same. I notice that when there are smaller groups, such as with 3-5 members, there are always one or two people who take the lead, one member who contributes minimally and one who does what they are asked.

Explain the importance of collaborating with different groups and building coalitions in order to advocate for community and policy change.

In order to advocate for community and policy change there needs to be collaboration. The community that the agency I currently work for, Connections, serves is cross cultural, diverse, and all inclusive, we do not turn individuals away, regardless of their financial state and or ability to pay. The community that we serve is Cuyahoga county and the strength of this community is the services available for mental health and chemical dependency treatment. There are great community outreach programs that we collaborate with on a daily basis such as the fatherhood initiative which seeks to strengthen families in our community by encouraging fathers to play a more active role in nurturing and raising their children and frontlines services mobile crisis, which is a 24/7 Suicide Prevention Hotline for children and adults and their Crisis Stabilization Unit which is also available 24/7 for individuals in psychiatric crisis as an alternative to inpatient psychiatric hospitalization.

Luckily there is a positive community perception of our agency which helps us better assist our clients with their issues. All of our locations have a great relationship with law enforcement and we are currently working with them to assist with crisis intervention team training, also known as CIT training. CIT provides law enforcement-based crisis intervention training for assisting those individuals with a mental illness. We have successful relationships with other community resources such as detox centers and residential facilities for those afflicted with chemical dependency and or mental illnesses such as Stella Maris and Orca House. Connections also has a great relationship with The Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Board of Cuyahoga County who assists with funding for our uninsured individuals along with assisting our clients with emergency shelter programs such as RESPITE and group home placement and funding.

List one strength you will bring to your group.

I believe the strength that I will bring to this group is thoroughness. I have always done assignments on time and with attention to detail. I take group work very seriously as I know that it is a project that not only affects me but others as well based on my performance. I am able to work effectively with others to get the task at hand done.

Describe a potential difficulty that may occur within the group and explain a strategy you will recommend to your group to address that difficulty.

One potential difficulty that may occur in this group is that one or more members may not do the work that is asked of them. Since there are only three individuals in this group, all members need to take their role seriously. A strategy that can be utilized in order to deal with member/s who are not contributing would be to communicate to see if there are underlying issues that are contributing to this such as a family emergency, or medical emergency, and take the necessary steps if that is the case such as asking the instructor for an extension. If the member does not communicate back with the group, then the other member/s will need to complete their portion of the project to best of their ability and communicate with their instructor the ineffective dynamics of the group.

Colleague 2: