- "Cultural competence, also known as intercultural competence, is a range of cognitive, affective, behavioural, and linguistic skills that lead to effective and appropriate communication with people of other cultures."
The ability to understand and interact effectively with individuals and groups from different cultural backgrounds, and to recognize and address cultural biases and stereotypes.
Definition of Cultural Competence: Understanding what cultural competence is, and the importance of it in social work practice.
Social Justice: The concept of social justice and how it relates to cultural competence in social work practice.
Oppression, Power and Privilege: Understanding the dynamics of oppression, power and privilege in social work practice and how they impact cultural competence.
Historical and Political Context: Understanding the historical and political context of social work practice, including laws, policies and practices that have enabled and perpetuated oppression.
Diversity: Understanding and appreciating diversity, including ethnic, cultural, racial, gender, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic diversity.
Communication: Communication skills that promote cultural competence, such as active listening, empathy and reflexivity.
Intersectionality: Understanding multiple identities and how they intersect to shape individuals' experiences and social locations.
Cultural Humility: Understanding and practicing cultural humility, including recognizing and addressing personal biases and assumptions.
Assessment, Intervention and Evaluation: Strategies for culturally competent assessment, intervention and evaluation in social work practice, including using culturally appropriate and relevant interventions.
Ethical Considerations: Ethical considerations and challenges to cultural competence in social work practice.
Advocacy: Advocacy for social justice and human rights for marginalized individuals, families, and communities.
Globalization: The impact of globalization on social work practice and cultural competence.
Awareness-focused cultural competence: This type of cultural competence focuses on developing an awareness of cultural differences and diversity, and how these differences influence people's beliefs, values, and behaviors.
Knowledge-focused cultural competence: This type of cultural competence focuses on acquiring knowledge about different cultures and cultural backgrounds to understand how to interact more effectively with people from different backgrounds.
Skills-focused cultural competence: This type of cultural competence focuses on developing practical skills for engaging effectively with people from different cultures, such as communication, active listening, and problem-solving.
Attitudinal-focused cultural competence: This type of cultural competence focuses on changing attitudes towards different cultures, such as developing an open-minded approach to cultural differences and developing empathy towards others.
Structural-focused cultural competence: This type of cultural competence focuses on identifying and addressing the underlying structural and systemic barriers that prevent people from marginalized cultural backgrounds from accessing resources and opportunities.
Advocacy-focused cultural competence: This type of cultural competence focuses on advocating for the rights and needs of people from different cultural backgrounds, such as challenging systemic discrimination or creating public awareness about cultural diversity.
- "Intercultural or cross-cultural education are terms used for the training to achieve cultural competence."
- "Effective intercultural communication relates to behaviors that culminate with the accomplishment of the desired goals of the interaction and all parties involved in the situation."
- "Appropriate intercultural communication includes behaviors that suit the expectations of a specific culture, the characteristics of the situation, and the level of the relationship between the parties involved in the situation."