Competency 2
Engage Diversity and Difference in Practice
Practice Behaviors
- Apply and communicate understanding of the importance of diversity and difference in shaping life experiences in practice at the micro, mezzo and macro levels.
- Present themselves as learners and engage clients and constituencies as experts of their own experiences.
- Apply self-awareness and self-regulation to manage the influence of personal biases and values in working with diverse clients and constituencies.
Engaging diversity and difference in practice in social work means that I will acknowledge, appreciate, and accept that each person is different. Each person’s background is important and learning more about what sets them apart will help me as a social worker to better understand where they are coming from which will in turn allow me to better serve clients and client families. In becoming a competent social worker, it is my goal to engage in diversity and difference in my interactions with clients and client families. I will recognize the importance of diversity in the aspect of social work and I will work to engage diversity and difference in all interactions with clients and client families. I will seek to better understand each client and affirm them in their differences. I will be intentional about being competent in diverse groups and will work to keep clients the experts of their own situations.
Evidence 1 (Class):
For Human Behavior and Social Environment class, I had the opportunity to complete a bio-psycho-social history assessment on an individual and write a paper on it. This experience really opened my eyes to the diversity and difference of each individual person and the different strengths and qualities that come from those differences. It gave me a better understanding of where the individual was coming from which helped me understand where he was at now a little better. The individual’s name has been changed to protect confidentiality. To read the full bio-psycho-social history paper click here.
Evidence 2 (Field):
In my practicum placement, at DFCS in Catoosa County, we work with many different groups of people. We work with many different ethnic populations as well as people with many different socioeconomic statuses. Because we work with such a diverse population, I wanted to gain more understanding of some of the groups that we work with. I did some research about different statistics within Catoosa County regarding topics such as food and nutrition, housing, public safety, equity and others. I also read an article about homelessness in Catoosa County and efforts that are being taken to change the regulations regarding people experiencing homelessness. I wrote a reaction about both of these articles in my weekly journal. To read my reaction click here.
Evidence 3 (Additional):
Recently, I was able to volunteer at the Ooltewah Seventh-day Adventist school to help prepare and serve a breakfast for the children attending the school. I was able to engage with diverse populations while preparing and serving breakfast to the children. I was able to engage with many of the children and maintain self-awareness and self-regulation throughout all my interactions with individuals. This gave me an opportunity to be involved with many different diverse backgrounds, cultures, and ethnicity groups. Below is a picture of preparing the breakfast. A picture serving the children could not be posted due to the age of the children.
Skills Used:
For this competency, I had to use active listening skills, critical thinking skills, empathy skills, and communication skills
Knowledge Used:
To gain knowledge about different and diverse groups that I work with in my practicum placement, I gained understanding from my field instructor, other case workers, as well as from research regarding different populations that my agency works with. I also gained knowledge about the importance of diversity from my different classes such as Human Behavior and Social Environment 1 and 2, Social Work Practice with Groups and Families, and Social Work Practice with Organizations and Communities. These classes broadened my knowledge and understanding about why diversity is so important and how to encourage diversity in my social work career.
Values Present:
For this competency, I used the values of dignity and worth of a person being intentional to show each person dignity and respect regardless of their background or differences. I also used the value of competence because I was taking efforts and being intentional to learn about the different groups and the diversity among the population so that I would be more prepared and able to work with different groups of people.
Cognitive Processes Used:
For this competency, I had to understand, identify and discuss the importance of diversity and difference in practice. I also had to apply the knowledge that I had been researching to the agency that I am placed. I was able to document what I had learned from my research and process this with my field instructor.
Affective Processes Used:
For this competency, I had to pursue a greater understanding of why diversity and difference in practice was so important. I also had to review my findings with my field instructor and integrate what I had learned into my interactions with clients and client families.
Theoretical Foundation:
Expectancy Violations Theory. This theory proposes that we predict things in the future based upon ideas and beliefs that we have come up with and then we expect our predictions to come true. This can apply to our interactions with clients and client families. When we work with clients or client families, we often predict things based upon stereotypes, or presumptions that we have in our mind. However, it is important to remember than when working with clients and client families, each person will be different. It is important for us to recognize the importance of their individuality and seek to understand them better rather than just rely on our predictions because they will often be very different than we had predicted in our mind.