Core Concepts
The idea that understanding and interacting with people across cultures makes you competent.
What is cultural competency?
Kimberly Crenshaw's concept of interlocking a person's social and economic identities.
What is intersectionality?
This North American language gives clients an advantage of being seen and heard by practitioners.
What is English in cultural competency?
The process of analyzing personal values, biases and background.
What is critical reflexivity?
According to Pon (2003), this is the default standard in which other cultural groups are measured against.
What is Whiteness?
Assumption that people across different cultures all act and behave the similarly.
What is stereotyping?
Learning of different cultural practices, values and lived experiences that are evolving and continuous.
What is cultural humility?
According to Goldberg (1993, as cited in Pon, 2009), this is a shift away from biological exclusion of race to those based on culture.
What is new racism?
Is commonly used in social work practice based on assumptions of shared culture that ignore internal diversity, power relations and oppression.
What is ethnic matching?
To judge other cultures based on the standards of one's own culture.
What is ethnocentrism?
The separation of cultural groups to maintain capitalistic and colonialist discourses.
What is othering?
Ensures the client is comfortable, respected and safe in regards to their culture.
What is cultural safety?
The idea that cultures are fixed and uniform.
What is cultural essentialism?
Traditional social work forgets the history of colonialism and racism while pretending to be fair and inclusive.
What is ontology of forgetting?
Ensuring a clients protection of rights by providing support and empowerment to clients.
What is advocacy?