Running head: SKILL DEVELOPMENT: PART D

Skill Development: Part D Leonard T. Thomas II Georgia State University Professor Maria Azuri (SW 3000)

SKILL DEVELOPMENT: PART D

Cultural Competency Action Plan 1. Ethics and Values: As far as the practice of social work is concerned; I contend with this particular standard every day in the form of not fraternizing with the clients that I work with. Creating a professional standard of distance helps to establish yourself as the clinician and gives the client the perception that you are guiding the process. I work with ADAP (Aids Drug Assistance Program) patients and an overwhelming amount of them identify as being gay. With such an influx of gay homosexual clients, it would is very easy for fraternization to take place. When someone has overstepped the professional boundary Ive created, I either ignore the advance or request another case worker to take my place on their case. 2. Self-Awareness: Delving into and understanding my cultural heritage means that Ive had to look back at an adverse history in the lives of my ancestors. Recognizing resilience in spite of their troubles makes me emphasize with the struggles of others. Learning to release the feelings associated with my own unique struggle opens up my mind to see that Im not much different than others throughout the world. The truth is that everyone has AND does deal with adversity, regardless of the notoriety associated with it. 3. Cross-Cultural Knowledge: As a result of taking this class and taking part in the group project presentations, I am now tasked with soaking up every detail about not only the other vulnerable population groups but also every form of culture that exists. As a future practitioner, I do not have the privilege of remaining ignorant of others around me. Gathering knowledge is a self-appointed process that does not happen through osmosis. I must participate in the learning process and be open to ideas that may challenge my own perception of what is acceptable. Still, having this base with which make informed decisions and judgments will help immensely in my practice goals of understanding others more fully. 4. Cross-Cultural Skills: After gaining the requisite knowledge, I would then interact with diverse individuals by attempting to work with them through culturally comfortable means. This might mean conveying key ideas through their own language to be best understood or recognizing special days or holidays in order to accommodate different beliefs or observances different than my own. 5. Service Delivery: It would be my responsibility as an outward extension of my profession to not be aware of, but be knowledgeable of all social service programs in my region in order to make accurate referrals to essential services. I want to be a repository of information. If my client has a need, I want to be able to fire off a list of resources without having to necessarily look it up online or merely suggest an agency to a client. I will be able to take an assortment of resources and combine them into a comprehensive package. 6. Empowerment and Advocacy: As social workers, we are called to improve the life outcomes of the people we work with. I know that as a kid, I wouldve liked to have had someone on my team to help me combat the bullies that plagued my elementary school. It feels good going to bat for someone else. I also enjoy the idea of giving someone the tools and arsenal to demand and speak up for the things they may need. 7. Diverse Workforce: Thankfully, the social service agencies that Ive come into contact with do have a workforce that comes from all walks of life. I personally feel that life experiences greatly influence the quality of the services the practitioner will be able to

SKILL DEVELOPMENT: PART D

render to clients. Having a unique background allows the social worker to cultivate repoire and gain the trust of whomever they may be working with. Agencies should embrace the individuality of every person regardless of their appearance or orientation. 8. Professional Education: In order to be an effective social worker, I am going through all the channels of gaining an education that is accredited and recognized by a national organization. The CWSE sets the standards by which all programs are evaluated and as a graduate of this program, I feel confident in knowing that Ill be able to apply the knowledge gained to my practice area. I will also be required to gain new knowledge on a continuous basis in order to keep my licensure current. This helps to reinforce competence and holds practitioners accountable. 9. Language Diversity: As Georgia becomes more acculturated, the need for printed materials in other languages will need to increase. This hasnt been the case as of yet because the majority of residents speak English, yet there is a need to have more materials available in Spanish. On my trips to New York I was able to see that the culture necessitates the need for materials in a variety of languages for all the diverse groups that live there. It is my hope that people in other states and jurisdictions recognize the need to accommodate other groups. 10. Cross-Cultural Leadership: Insofar as my education is concerned at this point, I havent gained enough skills to be able to talk to other professionals as competently as I would like concerning population groups outside of my immediate interest. I think that we all come into the profession for different reasons, and we tend to stick to the groups to which we have the most significant attachments. My personal challenge is to delve outside of my niche when its time to do my field placement and attempt to learn about a group that I would not normally be interested in. I think that Id find the change to be refreshing and well-received despite my feelings at this time. I would like to know the variance between LGBT populations of different ethnic backgrounds and how they come to deal with the same circumstances from different cultural perspectives. Social Action Plan My understanding of the mechanisms of oppression and discrimination is that its a cyclical process. One generation breeds ignorance to newer generations and it continues until someone or something brings enlightenment to change the thinking of the masses. Unchallenged prejudice is one of the hardest things to penetrate because as we age the more attached we become to our beliefs and values. People are reluctant to change their biases towards other groups because they do not want to feel as if they are betraying their own culture. As Ive written about before my father has his own set of prejudices against white people and refuses to change his beliefs about their inherent natures. It is concerning that he is such a bigot, but in many ways it motivates me to treat every person that I come across with dignity and respect to which every human being is entitled. I would like to become more of an advocate for other people. Ive noticed that I can be somewhat shy and reserved which is fine within my personal life, but needs to be refined in order to maximize the helping potential that I will have with clients. Specifically, my population group is and always will be LGBT youth living with HIV/AIDS. As someone who wants to work from the administration side of the aisle, policy standards as it relates to equal access and opportunity will be tantamount. This group will need protection from larger forces who seek to oppress and maintain the status quo. I am willing to

SKILL DEVELOPMENT: PART D

confront the legislature about issues concerning this group and seek out initiatives that will support their interests. Im not sure if politics is for me, but as I delve deeper into bureaucratic barriers Im starting to see that becoming a politician might be the only avenue that I have to exact positive change for this specific vulnerable population. Post Reflection Experience When I first completed my pre-test inventory at the start of the course, the assessment indicated that my strongest knowledge areas were African American culture and LGBT culture. I scored quite badly on the other culture groups. This makes sense considering that I was never truly exposed to other cultures. I indicated in my first reflection that by the end of this course I would like to have a general overview of some of the challenges that other groups must contend with in their daily walks through life. As a result of the taking the course, I learned many things that I had never really thought about. I had been so consumed by the struggles of my own people that I had never really thought about the struggles of others. It was shocking because it seemed so selfish of me and I never like to think of myself as self-serving. The post-test proved to be almost as telling as the first. I did score infinitely better overall with the cultural awareness that I gained from the group presentations as well as the class readings. My recall of finite details concerning different population groups still evaded me but I do feel as if I learned a little bit more. I would also like to attribute my newfound knowledge acquisition to the many cultural immersion exercises that we were required to do. Ive never participated in activities with other cultures besides my own. I was happy to do it, yet I also felt badly for never wanting to do it before. I saw beautiful people from a variety of different backgrounds who strive for the same things I do. It seems almost unfair that they are relegated to the background of society because they come from foreign places and are still viewed as second class citizens. Now that I am aware of other diverse cultures, I feel an inclination to go visit exotic locales and participate far from Americas shores. I feel that Ive missed out on so much because our culture Americanizes every single thing. In that way, I feel as if weve lost the authenticity that makes people so unique and individual. Ironically, in our country we view everything as individual but attempt to make everything a homogenous experience. It will be my goal to soak up as much knowledge as I can to enhance the experiences Ive had in class and contribute holistically to the field of social work. I will be contributing in ways that are free of stereotypes and generalizations. I want to be able to competently talk about different cultures with other people in a way that is comprehensive and clear. In the process, Id like to educate others on groups that they may never have thought about so that ignorance does not pass on through the future generations.