Culture refers to the ideas, customs, and social behaviors of a specific group of people or a society as a whole. I belong to the white race, and I am an English speaker. I am a female, and this is how I identify myself. On my religion, I am a Christian who has been baptized under the Christian laws. On the sexual orientation, I am a heterosexual person, married to and attracted to the opposite sex. I do not have any disability. Social workers should have knowledge and understanding of various information about culture of a society. Such information that can be of importance to social workers include the traditions of the society, the values, family systems, and race. These are important because they determine how the social worker understand the problem and how to approach it. Other important aspects of culture necessary for social workers include religion, sexual orientation, immigration, the refugee status, social class and the gender identity expression of the cultural group (Williams & Prior, 2015). Understanding these cultural aspects and being culturally competent can help social workers to be more sensitive to the individual values and beliefs as well as family system in a way that promotes client’s satisfaction.
Without cultural awareness, social workers will not be sensitive to individual and family beliefs and values, and this can lead to lack of respect and mutual understanding. When social workers do not show respect for the beliefs and values of a specific cultural group, this group may feel disrespected, and the outcome is dissatisfaction with the services. Lack of cultural awareness can also lead to communication barrier between the social workers and the cultural group. Communication barrier can hinder the implementation of the right intervention to help solve the problem at hand. It is therefore important that social workers develop cultural competence in their career.
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Reference
Williams, D. J., & Prior, E. E. (2015). Contemporary polyamory: A call for awareness and sensitivity in social work. Social work , 60 (3), 268-270.
