Understanding Cultural Competence
The world has become immensely diverse with societies comprising various cultures due to factors like globalization and technological advancement. This is a critical area of consideration for human service professionals as culture stands as one of the central issues in effective service provision. It means that as one trains to get into the human service world, he or she should be well-versed in matters of culture. A culturally competent human service professional is one who is well-educated on the cultural needs of their client and provides services that are tailored to meet the cultural needs of such a client while ensuring to prevent the occurrence of conflict as instigated by cultural differences. Conner and Walker (2017) provide the definition of multiculturalism as suggested by Paul Pederson. They identify that it occurs when two or more individuals who have different perceptions of their social environments engage in a helping relationship. It means that a culturally competent human service professional develops and advances an effective and healthy helping relationship with a client who holds a significantly different perception of their social environment when compared to the professions.
Some crucial characteristics of a culturally competent professional include self-awareness (Conner & Walker, 2017). A professional who is self-aware is well-informed on their cultural aspects and is cognizant of how these may conflict with those of the client. Such a professional would ensure to gain insight into the client’s culture to ensure that he or she participates in the development of a helping relationship that is culturally accepting especially for the client. Another characteristic is the development of a color-blind position (Conner & Walker, 2017). This is where the professional views everyone as equal and is not influenced by issues like color or gender when providing services to clients. A culturally competent professional needs to be accepting of criticism. This includes both positive and negative criticism especially that which touches on culture. Such a characteristic would ensure the professional identifies areas that need to be worked on and is also cognizant of where he or she is doing well.
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The Role of the Human Services Professional
The foundation of a trusting relationship between the human services professional and a client is the latter feeling accepted and not judged during the initial stages of interaction. A diverse client getting help in a diverse setting comes in with significant reservations and will often opt to remain silent for the fear of being judged. It means that when such a client detects any slight instance of cultural discrimination from the professional, he or she will not be willing to engage. The chances of developing and advancing a helping relationship will be greatly diminished and the interaction between these two individuals may not be fruitful. It means that multicultural human services are at the center of developing a trusting relationship between the professional and a diverse client in a diverse environment (Conner & Walker, 2017). Without these culturally tailored services, the human services profession may not be helpful to clients.
Challenges existent in a multicultural context especially for the professional include difficult clients. Some clients may refuse services from a professional who is not from their culture with the assumption that the professional does not understand their cultural needs even when he or she is culturally competent. Another challenge is that a client’s culture may strongly conflict with the professional’s. in such a case, the professional may find it difficult engaging with the client’s cultural underpinnings. Resources available for support in case of such challenges include the Ethical Standards for Human Service Professionals (National Organization for Human Services, n.d.). The resource provides guidelines that ensure professionals adhere to given rules when considering the client’s culture. The consequences attached to these standards mean that the professional will do all that is in their power to ensure the standards are followed and no harm comes to the client (Conner & Walker, 2017). Another resource is peer supervision where professionals can depend on each other in the gaining of insight or resolution of issues that touch in the culture of the client.
Improving my Cultural Competence
One of the strategies I believe would be effective in improving my cultural competence is engaging in frequent research in cultures different from mine. This would ensure that when I encounter a client from a particular culture, I have prior knowledge of cultural issues that may help in the creation of rapport during our initial interactions. I may need to engage in more cultural research as the relationship progresses but initial knowledge would ensure that trust is developed from the first interaction. I would also engage with a supervisor, someone well-versed in the human service professional for guidance on issues of culture. Such an individual would have immense experience and knowledge in matters of culture and would play a critical role in helping me improve my cultural competence.
I believe that some of my strengths in the area of cultural competency include my adoption of a color-blind position when engaging with clients. I believe that all individuals are equally deserving of the fair access to the service I provide and would therefore engage with every client in a fair manner with their welfare at the center. An area I believe I need to improve on is my fear for difficult clients. It is highly likely that I will encounter clients who are uncooperative or may view me as incompetent due to the cultural difference. I am afraid that in such an instance, I may not know how to interact or engage with the client. I think I would be too defensive as I would try to show the client that I am competent enough. Nonetheless, I understand that this may not be the best approach in addressing such an issue thus my desire to improve in this area.
References
Conner, G., & Walker, W. (2017). The culturally competent counselor: Issues specific to four minority groups (Links to an external site.). Open Journal of Social Sciences, 5(3), 113–121. https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2017.53010
National Organization for Human Services. (n.d.). Ethical standards for human service professionals: National Organization of Human Services adopted 2015 (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from https://www.nationalhumanservices.org/ethical-standards-for-hs-professionals
Woodside, M., & McClam, T. (2019). An introduction to human services (9th ed.). Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu
