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Strategies for Clinical Cultural
Assessment and Interactions
The following strategies for cultural assessment are offered as guidelines
for social workers, and they may apply to other transcultural interactions.
- Consider all clients as individuals first, as members of minority status,
and then as members of a specific ethnic group.
- Never assume that a person's ethnic identity tells you anything about
his or her cultural values or patterns of behavior.
- Treat all "facts" you have ever heard or read about cultural
values and traits as hypotheses, to be tested anew with each client. Turn
facts into questions.
- Remember that all minority group people in this society are bicultural,
at least. The percentage may be 90-10 in either direction, but they still
have had the task of integrating two value systems that are often in conflict.
The conflicts involved in being bicultural may override any specific cultural
content.
- Some aspects of a client's cultural history, values, and lifestyle
are relevant to your work with the client. Others may be simply interesting
to you as a professional. Do not prejudge what areas are relevant.
- Identify strengths in the client's cultural orientation which can be
built upon. Assist the client in identifying areas that create social
or psychological conflict related to bi-culturalism and seek to reduce
dissonance in those areas.
- Know your own attitudes about cultural pluralism, and whether you tend
to promote assimilation into the dominant society values or stress the
maintenance of traditional cultural beliefs and practices.
- Engage your client actively in the process of learning what cultural
content should be considered.
- Keep in mind that there are no substitutes for good clinical skills,
empathy, caring, and a sense of humor.
Source:
Nancy Brown Miller, "Social Work Services to Urban Indians,"
Cultural Awareness in the Human Services, James Green, ed.
Prentice-Hall, 1982, p.182. |
