Cultural Competence Essays Examples

Discuss three distinctive cultural patterns that may impact the delivery of culturally competent services to the Latino community.

Transmigration
Migrating from Mexico to the USA is one cultural pattern that defines the Latino community. Given the disparity in the wealth status of USA and Mexico, the border differentiating the two countries becomes one of the highly risky areas in terms of social welfare. Furthermore, the social, political and environmental conditions make the immigrants (who are, as a matter of fact, undocumented) politically and socially vulnerable. Thus, the delivery of culturally competent services to the Latino community cannot be effectively conducted considering these aspects (Furman, et al., 2009, p171). Notably, transmigration involves a situation where individuals move about, across different cultures and countries for economic reasons. Thus, cultural intensive service provision cannot be conducted effectively.

Social Isolation

The Latino community’s culture is defined by a sense of social isolation especially considering the racial segregation they receive. Lack of social and emotional support leaves the community in a state of solitude and seclusion which eventually make them shy away from the rest of the society (Furman, et al., 2009, p173). Their continued movements and lack of a long-lasting residential base inhibit the community's ability to develop positive social networks that are crucial for allowing culturally competent services. Thus, their solitude makes them rely entirely on their own rather than allow for services from other avenues.

Language Disparities

Latin America and American English are two different languages. Language is the biggest cultural barrier that affects the delivery of culturally competent services to the Latino community (Benavides). For instance, a Latino who is not proficient in English is assumed ineligible for assistance even if they seek or apply for aid. Furthermore, there are fewer Spanish-speaking American social and caseworker, therefore, for a Latino community member who fails to present and interpreter, they are either dismissed without being offered any service or sometimes they would have to wait much longer (compared to Americans and English-speaking Latinos) to obtain the same services (Furman, et al, 2009, p172).
Discuss the factors that contribute to many ethnic and racial minority client’s preference to interact with ethnically and racially similar practitioners.

Lack of Multi-culturally Competent Practitioners

A situation where a practitioner who cannot work with diverse cultures always exists leads to miscommunication that leads to misunderstanding. For instance, when seeking for health services, miscommunication and understanding between the patient and the provider could eventually lead to misdiagnosis, inappropriate medicinal prescription and treatment option related confusion. Such practitioners fail to understand a client’s cultural perspective that is crucial to diagnosis. Hence, ethnic and racial minority clients would rather interact with similarly ethical and racial practitioners to enhance the understanding and communication between them.

Mistrust of the System

Clients from ethnic and racial monitories always tend to believe that the service provider from a majority group will always treat them unfairly or judge them unjustly. This stigma, especially when associated with mental concerns, makes such clients rather get services from one of their own. Mistrust in the system is the greatest factor which leads to clients from ethnic and racial minorities prefer interaction with ethnically and racially similar practitioners. In fact, it can be noted that, minority groups have little or no trust in the majority groups especially in the Latino-American case. For their good, clients from minority groups always prefer interrelating with caseworkers of their origin to guarantee justice and fairness.

Perceived or Experienced Discrimination

Inequality, unfairness and injustice that minority groups experience from their majority counterparts is also another reason client from minority groups prefer interacting with practitioners from racially and ethnically minority groups. As the saying goes, ‘once bitten, twice shy’; for clients from minority groups who have experienced injustices from their counterparts there is a likelihood that they will rather deal with one of their own. Furthermore, individuals from ethnically and racially minority groups have the perception and worldview that the majority groups are there to discriminate and segregate them. Hence, they become afraid of what might befall them need they be handled by a professional from a majority group.

Language Barrier

Language is one of the fundamental factors that define the relationship between a client and the service provider. Disparity in languages brings about confusion and misunderstanding. As noted earlier, clients from minority groups are likely to be sidelined just because fail to understand a ‘majority language’, say, English. It denies them eligibility for services and thus, they tend to keep away from such scenarios (Furman, et al., 2009, p170). In essence, they would prefer to deal with professionals who have can communicate in their language to enhance understanding and effective service provision.
Rich Furman in his article, "Social Work Practice with Latinos", identified seven cross-cultural factors that apply to all cultures. How do United Arab Emirates (UAE) compare or contrast to at least two of the factors?
United Arab Emirates sharply conforms to the aspect of heterogeneity. Just like the Latino community’s diversity considering aspects such as origin, the UAE community presents a union of people of dissimilar nationalities and creeds present in one society. Moreover, just like the Latino community (which is made up of Native Americans, African American or white background) the UAE is composed westerners, Emiratis, Arabs, etc. The Latino community, considering the heterogeneity factor, is made up of people from different countries including but, not limited to Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica, Mexico and Spain (Furman, et al, 2009, p173). Similarly, the UAE is simply made up of seven emirates each led by their leader under the Federal Supreme Council which unites them (Every Culture). This implies that the United Arab Emirates conforms to the heterogeneity aspect of other societies and cultures just like the Latino Community.
Another similar aspect is the values factor. Mexican culture, for instance, embraces a spirit of collectivism and communal orientation (Furman, et al., 2009, p 169). Similarly, the UAE values a system that embraces family values. The UAE residents just like the case of Mexico have a community spirit that puts the interests of the society above an individual’s self-preferences (Every Culture). This mutual empathy system creates a sense of belonging which defines the unity and harmony that the two societies live in. Group interests present in both cultures generate a supportive spirit that makes individuals care for their own. In essence, it is important to note that the value factor that applies to all cultures is applicable both to the Latino community and the United Arab Emirates community.
According to Benavides, “Cultural Competency in Hispanic Communities”, what are some of the benefits of conducting a needs assessment? What may be some of the limitations of needs assessment?
Conducting a needs assessment in the case of Hispanic communities has got a number of benefits. First, it helps develop, improve and maintain communication links between the city governments, the federal government and the residents. Secondly, an evaluation of existing services helps identify gaps in service provision and thus, helps improve access to the services by the Hispanic communities. Additionally, conducting needs assessment is the basis upon which partnership and trust between the Hispanic community and the government can be established (Benavides). Remarkably, trust and a positive partnership between the two parties is what each and everyone among the Hispanic Communities would rather go for. Lastly, through conduction of a needs assessment, the Hispanic culture can be promoted and supported by different avenues such as the media that creates a spirit of inclusion.
On the other hand, also conducting has a number of limitations. First, it can lead to the development and corresponding implementation of policies and guidelines that are not appropriate for the target group. Through misconceptions, inappropriate policies may be detrimental to a society. More significantly, a needs assessment can socially erode a culture by filling gaps with the wrong kind of interventions. Normally, a needs assessment recommends the most appropriate intervention. However, a wrong intervention model could typically erode the culture of a society. Furthermore, a needs assessment requires a government to change its service provision models periodically to suit a specific interest group (Benavides). Changing service provision patterns periodically is detrimental to consistent economic development.

References

‘Countries and their Culture: United Arab Emirates’. Retrieved from <www.everyculture.com> Accessed on 8th March, 2015.
Benavides, D. A. (n.d.) Cultural Competency in Hispanic Communities.
Furman, R. et al., (2009). Social Work Practice with Latinos: Key Issues for Social Workers. Social Work, Volume 54(2): 167–174.