Institutional racism refers to the pattern practiced by social institutions such as schools or governmental organizations that promote negative treatment to a particular set of people based on their racial background thus resulting in inequality (Littlewood, 2003). An example of institutional racism is the racial profiling by the police department. It is typical news nowadays that Blacks and Latinos in the United States are continuously disproportionally targeted by the police department (Bornstein, 2015). This advantages brought about by institutional racism sometimes are unnoticeable by the oppressors, because the denials surrounding it protect the white privilege that they are never acknowledged (McIntosh, n.d). The concept relates to social work with the diverse population in that one group of people find more favor from social institution compared to the others. For example, in a nursing practice, a nursing professional who is a minority will only be assigned small role that undermines their skills while someone who is White will receive various benefits like promotion (McKenzie & Bhui, 2007).
In the article “The Many Faces of Social Work” Morales and Sheafor (2002) explain the concept of soceitally induced stressors as the various factors that stems from an individual’s relationships with the rest of the people in the social environment. This relates to the appraisal theory of emotion whereby stress often arises when an individual assesses a situation that he or she considers personally relevant and understands that he or she does not have the necessary resources that can help in copying with the situation. The societally induced stressors include knowledge and wealth.
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The forces that are at work to keep some groups in disadvantaged, second-class position include psychological and historical factors. Since ancient times, people have often tried to scale themselves against each other and as history has shown the Blacks and Latinos were always considered to be inferior and this has manifested itself to the society today whereby if an individual is from a Black or Latino culture, they are considered as minorities.
Social stressors refer to the behaviors and circumstances that are social in nature and that relate to physical and psychological strain (Morales and Sheafor, 2002). Asians Americans are among the communities today that still are affected by cultural factors. Adhering to native values is the leading social stressor among Asians Americans such as placing a high value on the family as a unit. Every person in this culture often has defined roles in the family, and they are expected to function flawlessly in these roles while submitting to the needs of the family. This, in turn, creates a social stigma especially if a person cannot meet these demands. The other social stressor is a career. In this same culture living in America, success is a crucial element, and people are advised to follow the professional career and considering being a deviant is often punishable by cruel means. Therefore, most of the youths growing up develop a psychological strain on how to pursue that which they love over disrespecting their parents' wishes.
Being culturally sensitive means possessing the ability to realize cultural differences and similarities among individuals without assigning them either positive or negative value (Buchtel, 2014) . Sometimes this is known as having interpersonal skills allowing people to appreciate and understand one other irrespective of their cultural backgrounds. It is essential social work practitioners to be culturally sensitive because it aids them in developing interpersonal skills necessary to promote equal care to the general public (Buchtel, 2014). By being culturally sensitive, they can understand others' practices while respecting their values and habits hence promoting professionalism and proper communication skills. This also helps in equal distribution of resources and limiting waste as everyone receives an equal share of public properties. There are various ways of becoming culturally sensitive and not all of the processes entail time-consuming tasks like going to school. One of the ways becoming culturally sensitive is by interacting with diverse groups through volunteering to events accompanied by a friend who can help in explaining complex issues (Cournoyer, 2005). The other means is by reading books written on other different cultures, and that can offer insight into their values, beliefs and cultural practices as it helps in getting a picture of these diverse communities.
References
Bornstein, A. (2015). Institutional Racism, Numbers Management, and Zero-Tolerance Policing in New York City. North American Dialogue , 18 (2), 51-62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/nad.12031
Buchtel, E. (2014). Cultural sensitivity or cultural stereotyping? Positive and negative effects of a cultural psychology class. International Journal Of Intercultural Relations , 39 , 40-52. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2013.09.003
Cournoyer, B. (2005). The social work skills workbook . CA: Thomson Brooks.
McKenzie, K., & Bhui, K. (2007). Institutional racism in psychiatry. Psychiatric Bulletin , 31 (10), 397-397. http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/pb.31.10.397
Morales, A., & Sheafor, B. (2002). The many faces of social work clients . Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Littlewood, R. (2003). Institutional racism. Psychiatric Bulletin , 27 (7), 277-277. http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/pb.27.7.277
McIntosh, P (n.d) White Privilege: Unpacking the Invincible Backpack
