Cultural Humility in Social Work: A Lifelong Commitment
Being in the field of social work means constantly striving to tailor your treatments and interventions based on clients' specific needs and unique backgrounds. For many years, the buzzword was "cultural competence," referring to a person's ability to understand a wide range of cultural insights. In social work, it has been believed that a strong sense of cultural competence could help professionals provide clients with the personalized interventions needed for success.
In recent years, though, experts have begun to grasp why striving toward perfect cultural competence in social work is an unrealistic goal in social work. Instead, we're beginning to see a shift toward the idea of cultural humility — or the understanding that everybody has limitations but that social workers can still strive to do their best by forming genuine connections with their clients.
With a thorough understanding of cultural competence versus cultural humility, along with an in-depth look at what cultural humility in social work looks like, professionals can better assist the populations they serve.
Understanding Cultural Humility
Before we dive deeper into what cultural humility in practice might look like, it's essential to understand what this concept entails in the field of social work. For further details and best practices, refer to the guide “Standards and Indicators for Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice” outlined by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW).
Defining Cultural Humility
Specifically, cultural humility refers to a continuous practice of self-reflection and self-improvement — particularly as it relates to a person's understanding of cultural differences. Cultural humility requires a shared respect for all cultures and backgrounds as well as varied life experiences.
Cultural humility can be applied to a vast variety of disciplines, from teaching and research to social work and healthcare. Regardless, the most critical tenet of cultural humility is the idea that it is impossible to have a complete awareness of all cultures at all times.
The Three Key Components of Cultural Humility
There are three core components of cultural humility, not just in social work but across the board. These include:
- A commitment to lifelong learning with the understanding that cultural humility and awareness requires constant re-evaluation and challenging of one's own preconceived notions or belief systems.
- A sense of accountability for institutions (such as schools and hospitals) as well as the people who run them to become more culturally aware.
- An understanding of power dynamics and a willingness to challenge those imbalances or power dynamics in social work (or any other field).
Why Cultural Humility Is Crucial in Social Work
With a firmer grasp of what cultural humility and cultural awareness in social work entails, it's time to explore the importance of cultural humility in this field.
Addressing Privilege and Power Dynamics in Social Work
First, maintaining a mindset of cultural humility recognizes that there are inherent power imbalances and differentials between social workers and their clients — in addition to differences in privilege, cultural background, and life experience. This improved sense of cultural awareness in social work can help shift these imbalances to create a greater partnership between clients and social workers, which may be more effective in promoting positive change.
Promoting Client-Centered Practices
In many ways, cultural humility in social work can promote practices, interventions, and strategies that are truly centered on the client's unique needs. When social workers apply cultural humility strategies in their own work, they can better understand their clients' needs in ways that a cultural competence focus simply doesn't allow.
Reducing Bias and Stereotyping
Inherent bias and stereotyping are persistent issues in the field of social work. All too often, social workers are unknowingly allowing their personal preconceived notions and stereotypes about different ethnicities, genders, and backgrounds to affect their professional interventions and treatments. With a focus on cultural humility, social workers can reduce their own inherent biases, provide better treatments, and work toward a stronger sense of social justice in social work.
Strategies for Developing Cultural Humility
With all this in mind, what are some strategies social workers can apply in their own work to improve their sense of cultural humility?
Commitment to Lifelong Learning and Self-Reflection
Perhaps most importantly, professionals must be committed to a lifetime of social work self-reflection and learning. After all, it took your entire life (up to this point) to subconsciously develop your own biases and beliefs about different cultures; this isn't something your mind will simply "unlearn" overnight. Instead, social workers practicing cultural humility in therapy or any other setting must be prepared to put in the work day in and day out.
Seeking Supervision and Peer Feedback
Another way to foster your own sense of cultural humility in social work is to simply ask for feedback from supervisors and fellow peers in terms of how you handle your workload. Peer feedback for social workers can be incredibly insightful, allowing professionals to better perceive their own strengths and weaknesses while creating a more supportive work environment.
Engaging with Diverse Communities
Simply taking the time to get out in the community and actually engage with people of diverse backgrounds can be one of the most effective components of any cultural humility training. When social workers are exposed to people from backgrounds different from theirs, they can more effectively begin to challenge their own preconceived notions and biases while developing a stronger sense of diversity in social work practice.
Integrating Cultural Humility Into Social Work Practice
For some social workers who have been focused on the idea of cultural competence for so long, understanding what cultural humility actually looks like in practice may be a challenge. However, there are a few tips and best practices that social workers can keep in mind as they strive to integrate the tenets of cultural humility into their work.
Assessing Clients With Cultural Humility
First impressions can make a major impact, which is why it's crucial for social workers to assess their clients through a lens of cultural humility at all times. Rather than assuming that you know what interventions would be best for each client, try approaching the treatment as a true partnership where your client is just as involved and invested as you are.
Adapting Intervention Strategies
Remember, too, that no intervention strategy in social work is "one-size-fits-all." In fact, fostering cultural humility in social work requires that social workers let go of that dangerous notion and understand that intervention strategies must be adapted to each unique individual to make the greatest impact.
Advocating for Systemic Change
There remains much work to be done in terms of spreading cultural humility, not only in social work but also across all fields. Social workers embracing the concept of cultural humility in their work, then, need to be prepared to advocate for systemic change within their own institutions and beyond.
Challenges in Maintaining Cultural Humility
We already established that cultural humility requires a commitment to lifelong learning—especially if social workers want to overcome the common obstacles that come along with it.
Overcoming Personal Discomfort
Reflecting upon your own biases and the stereotypes you hold about others can be an uncomfortable experience. However, this discomfort is necessary for social workers who truly want to change their way of thinking and better service their communities. Not shying away from this challenge initially can help professionals overcome their discomfort sooner as they grow accustomed to confronting and deconstructing personal biases.
Balancing Cultural Humility With Professional Expertise
Despite the importance of cultural humility, social workers must still strike that balance between fostering humility and the authority of their professional expertise, education, and training. This is a skill that comes with practice and constant self-reflection as social workers strive to facilitate the most impactful interventions for clients while remaining cognizant of their backgrounds and sensitivities.
The Future of Cultural Humility in Social Work
Only time will tell what the future of cultural humility will look like in social work, but below are a couple of emerging trends:
Expanding Cultural Humility in Social Work Education
While much of the narrative has been focused on cultural competence in social work education, there is a need to shift toward this idea of cultural humility as a more effective means of addressing power imbalances and other privileges within the field. As more research is performed regarding cultural humility, we'll likely see the concept taught more in social work degree programs and other training initiatives.
Cultural Humility as a Social Justice Imperative
Although cultural humility is critical in the field of social work for numerous reasons, we're also beginning to realize just how widely applicable this concept is not just in other fields but also as a standalone imperative in the context of social justice in social work. Perhaps if more people acted through a lens of cultural humility, we could better understand our inherent biases and how they affect our worldviews in order to create a more accepting society.
Learn More at Indiana Wesleyan University
Clearly, there is quite a bit to unpack when it comes to understanding the differences between cultural competence versus cultural humility in social work. However, with a focus on cultural responsiveness and developing cultural humility, social workers can improve their self-awareness and make a real difference in their communities.
Looking to learn more about the field of social work and the skills you need to succeed in this type of role? Explore the various programs offered through the Division of Behavioral Health Sciences at Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU), including both online and hybrid options to suit your needs. Get in touch today to learn more about pursuing an undergraduate degree at IWU, or start your online application with a few clicks.
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