ABSTRACT

The Council of Social Work Education (CSWE) and the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) mandate that social workers engage diversity and difference to practice cultural competence. Because the social work profession serves a diverse population that includes humanity’s extensive list of intersecting backgrounds and identities, the very essence of cultural competence comprises fundamental complications in its overall conceptualization, construct, and application of theory to practice. The purpose of this study explored the challenges newly employed social workers faced in practicing cultural competence relative to their experiences as novice professionals. The sample included 20 participants who recently graduated from accredited CSWE MSW programs and were newly employed in the field of social welfare. Through qualitative research methods, data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and one focus group. The findings emphasized the multifaceted nature of cultural competence and highlighted (a) areas for growth in feelings of inadequacy, (b) frustration with fundamental organizational barriers, and (c) prejudice from clients.

摘要

社会工作教育委员会 (CSWE) 和全国社会工作者协会 (NASW) 要求社会工作者参与多样性和差异性来实践文化能力。由于社会工作专业服务于多元化的人群，其中包括人类广泛的交叉背景和身份，文化能力的本质包括其整体概念化、构建和理论应用于实践的基本复杂性。本研究的目的是探讨新雇用的社会工作者在实践文化能力方面所面临的挑战，这些挑战与他们作为新手专业人员的经历有关。样本包括 20 名最近从经认可的 CSWE MSW 项目毕业并在社会福利领域新就业的参与者。通过定性研究方法，数据是通过深入的半结构化访谈和一个焦点小组收集的。调查结果强调了文化能力的多面性，并强调了 (a) 不足感增长的领域，(b) 对基本组织障碍的挫败感，以及 (c) 来自客户的偏见。