This study employed a qualitative (grounded theory) method to achieve a better understanding, conceptualization, and operationalization of how cultural competency translated into practice could be observed and evaluated in social work students and practitioners. The research findings presented in this study were organized into three overarching themes: the spectrum of cultural competency development, essential components of culturally competent practice, and competent practice evaluation. The findings broadened and deepened current understandings of culturally competent practice by clarifying cultural concepts, incorporating clinical and cultural approaches to enlarging the scope of cultural frameworks, and identifying and formulating core cultural components in clinical practice.
Purpose -The population of the USA consists of a culturally diverse mix of individuals, many of them recent immigrants, from a wide range of ethnic and racial groups. Given an increasing multicultural and multilingual population, an urgent need for cross-cultural community and health services, and for culturally competent practitioners, has emerged in the profession of mental health. The reality of that diversity raises two crucial implications: the profession needs more culturally competent practitioners to work with multicultural service-users; and the clinical assessment and treatment of the population has become more challenging and complex. This paper seeks to explore vital cultural components in training mental health practitioners to work with multiethnic groups. Design/methodology/approach -A qualitative and purposive methodology with structured interview questions was employed to gather data for analysis. The process of data analysis included line-by-line transcription of each interview and then the data were coded and categorized. Professors, experienced clinicians, and researchers in the multicultural field were interviewed for data collection.Findings -The findings were organized into four essential components in achieving cultural competency in mental health training. Attitudinal components: cultural appreciation, learning curiosity, assumption free, and cognitive flexibility; emotional components: emotional knowledge, reflective ability, worldview knowledge, and cultural alertness; intellectual components: cultural knowledge, single culture, and clinical knowledge; and integrative practice components: cultural engagement, integrative assessment, and integrative intervention process. Originality/value -The findings contribute to an expanded understanding and integration of major cultural elements in mental health training and practice.
Peer mentoring in social work education can be beneficial in developing and promoting legislative advocacy skills among social work students taking foundational social welfare policy courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. A descriptive case study is presented of a student peer mentoring project within a social work educational program at a regional comprehensive state university. This study describes the incorporation of a peer mentoring program to assist in promoting legislative advocacy skills among social work students. The project encompasses annual state-level high-impact practice (HIP) legislative advocacy action events across 5 years before and during the global pandemic. This article also seeks to inspire social work educators to embrace peer mentoring as a means to enhance and promote the development of advocacy skills as students find their collective voice and speak up to educate lawmakers on contemporary social problems impacting vulnerable populations.
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