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RUNNING HEAD: Personal Work Plan for Culturally Competent Practice Samantha Pedri 1

Personal Work Plan for Culturally Competent Practice


Social Work 3110
November 19th, 2013
Samantha Pedri

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Being culturally aware and educated is very important in the social work field because you will
be working very close with many different people of many different cultures. It is also important that we
understand the differences in which different cultures interact and know how they behave. I feel as if
though I have a good understanding, but know that it is more complex and have much to learn. In this self
assessment I get to learn about where I want to go in my future with social work and how to take steps to
getting there.

Starting this course I had a basic knowledge of what I was getting into. I knew I would be
dealing with all sorts of clientele in regards to culture, beliefs, and ethnicity. I understood that
there will situations in which I did not agree with my clients beliefs or be okay with the situation
in which they were seeing me. I came in thinking I almost did not have a choice with who I
worked with, and that if there were a problem that I had to continue to work with them. I
sometimes forget that from an ecological perspective, which is supported by a diversity frame
work, it can help me get beyond any ethnocentric, sexist, or class-biased of normative theories
(Appleby, Colon, Hamilton, 2007). Each clients situation is important and has to be seen as
complex. Not all people experience particular events or processes in the same way as either
negatively or positively (Appleby, Colon, Hamilton, 2007). If I do have a problem, I have to
remember this: Any client should be asked to differentiate his or her own individual experiences
as a member of a particular diversity group as a cautionary step against working from stereotypic
assumptions (Appleby, Colon, Hamilton, 2007).
A situation in which my views on my own culture have been shaped would be an incident i n high

school after class the special needs class sold puppy chow. I bought it every day from the same
boy, Ray, who was a freshman so he was very shy. He was also very nice, polite, and very smart.
He was autistic and had some other physical handicap. One day while I was in line an immature

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student behind me laughed at him for complimenting me and said, Shut up, you retarded
N*****. I do not like the N, word. I will not say it, nor tolerate hearing it. I also did not like
the fact he used the term retarded to a boy who had autism and was physically handicap. Ray
was so embarrassed and you could see the hurt on his facial expression. I had turned around and
stood up for Ray, I was disgusted. The next day I saw Ray, he had a card he made in school that
day. What he wrote on the inside forever changed my life. He told me the reason he keeps going
is because of beautiful people like me, and not because of my looks, because of my heart, and
there was a great purpose for me. He thanked me for standing up for him and said it was so brave
of me to stand up for someone like him. He said that white girls do not usually talk to him and
most people make fun of him because he is different, but I was special. This moment reminds me
everyone has a story, has a reason, and has a heart. He was scared because of his color and his
disabilities. I never have judged anyone, but this reminded me why I did not, and will not.
Being one of three black students in an all white school is struggle enough. The boys who
made fun of him make me embarrassed of the town I come from, they have some horrible race
issue because we are hicks. Racism is a huge issue today still and it is because of ignorant
children like the boys I witnessed. I look at Ray and see how hopeless he looked and felt in that
situation. Hate crimes happen because of people like the boys I went to school with. No matter
where you are from, what color you are, or how you are raised, you will have a different story
from everyone else. That is what people tend to forget when it comes to culture and ethnicity.
Throughout this course, the most meaningful thing I took away was how much we
stereotype people. How we stereotype women, Asian Americans, Arab Americans, the list is
endless. I did not realize how racially and ethnically discriminating it is and that most, if not all,
of these stereotypes are inaccurate. The basic stereotypes like Asians eat cats and dogs, women

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belong in the kitchen, and Arabs are terrorist are horrifying enough, but the fact that these lists go
on and on and we continue to follow living based on these.
What is challenging to me is how are social workers expected to know everything about
each group of individuals? There are so many different aspects to each culture such as beliefs,
religions, facial expressions, and also how they interact with people. They may or may not take
offense to certain things I do as an American, or they may do something I as an American take as
rude or strange. Also, there will be such a struggle to break past these stereotypes as a social
worker because they are stressed in most environments as being true.
Learning about the LGBTQ community really interested me because it is such a
debatable topic and so sensitive that many people avoid this conversation. In class a student who
is from a different country made a comment that they have never met one. When they said this
they were referring to either a gay or lesbian, or bisexual. They also said that in their country
they were basically not allowed, there is no acceptance. This interested me to learn what other
countries that are like this. I found that there are seventy six or more countries that have anti-gay
laws. This is not anti-gay marriage laws; this is homosexuality as a whole. These countries are
mostly African, Asian, Middle East, and South American countries. People who come from these
countries to America may not agree with the social acceptance it is receiving, this I really
question.
I would love to work with the LGBTQ community; this group would be very beneficial. I
feel as though this is a community that is majorly targeted and I would love to hear from their
experiences to open my eyes to more of what the world gives them and how they view the world.
How they see religion also would be very important, because religion is one of their biggest

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obstacles. A group of people I would not be able to work with would be hate groups such as
Westboro Baptist Church members. These people are absolutely driven off of hate and obnoxious
absurdity. It would just be very difficult to get past what they do; I do not stand for what they do
so it would be very hard for me to be civil and not want to argue it.
I work in retail and I feel as if I had a decent understanding of families and culture, but
after this course I have a better understanding as to why some people are the way they are.
Working with Asian Americans, I at first just thought they were rude, but it is their culture to be
very quiet and keep to themselves. I did not realize this till after it was discussed in our chapter.
Now when working with someone from a different culture I slow down my interaction with them
and understand that I cannot take offense to their behavior or reactions. I would like to learn
more about the Arabic group and culture. In America I feel as if this group is targeted to an
extreme so I would like to get a better perspective on their feelings towards us and the way they
are treated.
Going back to the Westboro Baptist group, this is a group that I am positive I would try to
refer to someone else if my agency allowed me too because I would struggle to help them the
way they needed to be helped. It would be professional to make it work and to work through it,
but I do not believe that this group of people are in deserving need of help. There is something
about the Westboro Baptist Church group that is absurd, and they take speech to a whole new
level. These people are going around the country picketing against homosexuality announcing
that America is doomed and we are all sinners. These people take advocating to a whole new
level. They go to events such as soldiers funerals protesting, walking on American flags on dirty
ground. People like this I find very hard to give the benefit of the doubt to. They honestly make

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me sad and disgusted that there are people like them that are proud of what they do and say to
others.
After learning the basics of each culture, I would like to know more about the Arabic
culture, it is the culture that I am least knowledgeable on, and a group that is majorly targeted in
the United States. There is always more to learn on how to interact with different groups such as
what groups shake hands, what groups take offense to maybe humor, or body positioning. Things
like this are the small things that are very important I would like to be more educated on.
A plan of action to lean more, I will first pick a culture or group that I am most interested
in and do my own research on. I will then pick a group that I am least educated on and do
research on them. I could learn what I can on my own so I am better prepared. I will also take a
course on a group that I feel as if I will be working with mostly as soon as I get my career in
social work. I could also try working with a group or culture that I am not familiar with so I
could personally learn more about them on a firsthand experience. This way I will be educated
on different cultures.
I plan on going into the mental health field, or substance abuse, so becoming culturally
competent is very important because these are two very intense and involved fields. I feel as
though I am decently educated on cultures and ethnicities but would like to learn a little more so
my interactions will be smooth, first impressions mean everything. There is only more to learn
going into this program, and continuing on, I will pursue the education to learn more about other
cultures than my own.

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References:
Appleby, G., Colon, E., & Hamilton, J. (2007). Diversity, Oppression, and Social Functioning
(3rd Edition ed.). Boston: Pearson.

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