Running head: CULTURAL COMPETENCE 1
SOWK 6111 Week 3 Assignment
Racquel Walsh
Walden University
CULTURAL COMPETENCE 2
Describe two social issues related to the course-specific case study for Claudia that inform a
culturally competent social worker.
Claudiaâs social worker was very culturally competent. The social worker had an
understanding knew and understand that Claudiaâs mother did not speak or understand English,
so because of that, the social worker took the initiative of translating a majority of her that to
Spanish so that Claudiaâs mother could understand and to also promote a better level of
understanding. This also helped with Paula standing firm in her faith and gaining more
confidence as well. Also, Claudiaâs social worker had an appreciation as well as an
understanding regarding the true situation in regards to Claudiaâs current living situation and
environment. The social workerâs appreciation and understanding in being able to use her
position in her child-centered therapy in order to assist Claudia with building up confidence. The
social worker never showed a preference in wanting to remove Claudia from her current
environment and place her in a safer environment.
Describe culturally competent strategies you might use to assess the needs of children.
It is very essential for social workers to be culturally competent, being a social worker
you will be providing assistance to individuals of various cultural backgrounds. There are
multiple strategies that can be used by a social worker when it comes to assessing the needs of
children. One of the main strategies that are widely and most commonly used is making
arrangements to meet with a family so that you are able to interact with the family. Meeting with
the family will allow you to be able to gain more of an understanding of the family and obtain
more information on family history as well as anything that could have possibly affected the
child emotionally. The school could be a visitation at the school the child attends and has
interactions with the teachers and other school personnel. Being as teachers spend a lot of time
with the children on a daily basis, they can also have an understanding of the child. The teacher
and other school personnel that interact with the child on a daily basis can also provide
information on the childâs performance and how the child interacts with other children. Being
able to work and interact with the child closely can also assist with being to gain a much better
understanding of the childâs needs. Building a good rapport with the child will make the child
feel more comfortable around you in turn will allow the child to be more open with you.
Describe the types of data you would collect from Claudia and her family to best serve
them.
Claudiaâs family are immigrants and have not settled in the United States and adapted to
the culture. A piece of information that would be very vital to get from Claudia as well as her
family would be their financial stability and their ability to provide the necessities. Any barriers
that may be in the way of the family being able to obtain any legal documents so that they are
able to live in the United States will be essential to know. Knowing these barriers will shed light
on how to assist the family. Claudiaâs parents are not in the position at the moment to interact
with others because of the language barrier and them not being able to speak and understand
Spanish. Providing the family with resources so that they can learn English will be very helpful
to the family so that are able to interact and communicate with others as well. The family
learning English and being able to communicate with others could help the family with feeling
more so of a part of the American culture and society.
Identify other resources that may offer you further information about Claudiaâs case
Information from cultural competency approaches in all areas and daily activities are very
vital information. According to Cooper, âchild-centered approaches needs to explore in school
and social interaction such as churches (Cooper 2000). With Claudia being a schoolchild, the
school she currently attends can be of great help and assistance by providing information that can
help with being able to better understand Claudiaâs case. Claudiaâs performance in school as well
as her interactions with the other children at her school, teachers, and other school personnel can
help with making a determination of Claudiaâs self-esteem as well as social skills.
Create an eco-map to represent Claudiaâs situation. Describe how the ecological
perspective of assessment influenced how the social worker interacted with Claudia.
An individualâs environment can have a great influence on the individualâs day-to-day
living. âAn ecological system understanding is an important tool for a social worker in their
activities (Harrison & Turner 2010). An eco-map can provide great assistance with being able to
define information on certain behaviors. Claudia is a young school-aged child currently living in
a harsh environment which can interfere with her having a good and positive upbringing. Claudia
is being raised by her mother and father, who are Spanish immigrants and are not able to
communicate in their new environment due to them not being to understand or speak English.
Claudia is being raised in a family where they struggle to pay bills for household necessities, and
absent parents to their work schedules. The culture of Claudiaâs family and the culture of the
environment she and her family live in are conflicting with one another.
Describe how the social worker in the case used a strengths perspective and multiple tools
in her assessment of Claudia. Explain how those factors contributed to the therapeutic
relationship with Claudia and her family.
The social worker that is working on Claudiaâs case did not run into any difficulty due to
the strengths that she possesses. An advantage to make note of in Claudiaâs case is her
supportive family. Claudiaâs mother and father seem to be very supportive and actively ready to
work with and interact with Claudiaâs social worker in order to effectively help her. Positive
interaction from peers also assisted with the therapeutic relationship. The attitude of the family
was another contributing factor as well. Claudiaâs mother was very open with the social worker
and even shared her perspective on Claudia to assist the social worker being able to gain a better
understanding of Claudia and the familyâs situation. The social worker being able to interact and
engage with Claudia and her mother assisted with being able to track the progress of Claudiaâs
development.
References
Cooper,3B. (2000). : The measure of a competent child care social worker?3Journal of Social
Work Practice,314(2), 113-124.
Harrison,3G., & Turner,3R. (2010). Being a 'Culturally Competent' Social Worker: Making
Sense of a Murky Concept in Practice.3British Journal of Social Work,341(2), 333-350.
