Cultural Competency

Running head: CULTURAL COMPETENCY

Cultural Competency Paper

Ashleigh White

Western Kentucky University

Cultural Competency Paper

In the social work field I with be faced with many different dilemmas, including cultural dilemmas. Some of these so-called dilemmas will be difficult to resolve without allowing myself to absorb other cultures beliefs. I must clear my mind of any stereotypes I may have previously had concerning certain religious and cultural aspects. Social workers should obtain education about and seek to understand the nature of social diversity and oppression with respect to race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, political belief, religion, immigration status, and mental or physical disability (Sheafor, B.W., & Horejsi, C.R., 2015). Being culturally competent is a very important aspect of becoming a well-rounded and more beneficial social worker. Cultural competency plays a huge role in my participation at the Islamic Center. Within this paper I will describe my experience at the Islamic Center in Bowling Green, I will choose one group and/or issue with which I am are uncomfortable or anticipate being challenged in working with in my practice and explain why, and I will attach an “ism” log in order to show the daily forms of “ism’s” that we overlook everyday.

On Tuesday February 23rd, 2016 I took a tour of the Islamic Center in Bowling Green, Kentucky. This experience fit the criteria for this assignment because Islamic culture is a culture I truly knew nothing about prior to volunteering and in order to learn/understand more I realized that I must interact with individuals from that culture and get hands on experience. The center had a library full of incredible tools to help me better my understanding of the Islamic faith, they have worship services, they have a Muslim cemetery, and they also provide schooling for children there. In the Muslim culture many of their rituals and beliefs in general differ from mine. I chose to visit and participate in the Islamic center because I thought that it would be a great opportunity for me to use their resources to educate myself on the Islamic culture and become more culturally competent with that specific religion. Later in life I may have a client whom is Muslim, this experience helped me to know the proper way to engage with the individual from that particular culture as well as separating the cultural and religious aspects of that religion. I had my mind opened when speaking to the individuals at this church because my whole life I had a stereotype on Muslim individuals as to what the media wanted me to believe.

        Putting my stereotype of the Muslim culture aside, I wanted to keep an open mind when entering the center to obtain as much knowledge as possible. When I first walked into the Islamic Center, I was instructed to take my shoes off in a room made specifically for those whom enter shoes to be placed. This caught me off guard at first so I made a mental note to ask the reasoning behind going in barefoot. As I walked to the dressing room a bathroom was connected. The bathroom was different from what I was used to. Foot washing stations were along the wall and bidet toilets were within the restroom stalls. Bidet’s, which are used to wash the perineum, and genitalia, are not that common yet here in the United States. Within my travels to Europe I was introduced to these specific typed of toilets so I was aware with what they represented but the fact that the Islamic culture used these as well was new information. I made mental notes to discuss the bathroom and it’s importance to the Islamic culture later within my interview.

        After the ritual of washing up in the restroom and taking my shoes off, I went into a conference room and spoke with Imam, Sedin Agic. Mr. Agic asked if I had any particular questions and when I began to ask he explained the reason behind taking your shoes off and washing your body. He simply stated that they perdorm these rituals to keep the ground they pray on clean. In their prayer stance one must place their face on the ground and they want that ground to be sanitary for that reason. He then explained that their was a major difference between culture and religion when considering Islamic faith. He explained that most people get the Muslim’s cultural beliefs and relgious beliefs intertwined.  He explained that there could be an individual that is of Islamic culture that does not participate in the Muslim faith. He put it into perspective when he explained a person of Christian religion who does not go to church or practice their faith every day. I asked him the question concerning a stereotype that I had. I asked him “Why do the Islamic women allow their husbands to control what they wear or how they act? He explained that ccording to The Qur’an and Sunnah, “And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands…” (Quran 2:31, Oxford World's Classics edition). He explained that the media had this all wrong. He stated that women choose modesty. They have a choice to obey and follow their lord’s commands or not to obey. He then called me out insisting that I must not believe what everyone says about the Muslim faith. He stated “You shouldn’t believe everythin you see on social media or the news.” (Agic, Sedin (2016, February 23rd). Personal Interview.) .The main challenge I was confronted with was trying to bury the sterotype I had previously conformed of the Islamic culture. The information he was reaying to me turned my negative thoughts into positive thoughts about the Islamic faith. I relaized that you must have to love “Allah” in order ot praise him five times a day and devote your life to worshipping him. I had to separate my prior personal opinions and take into consideration everything he was explaining to me (Sedin 2016). In order to be culturally competent you must erase the negative bias you have pre-consumed in your mind and you must take into consideration their side of the story.

Sensitivity Discussion

A group that I have anticipated being challenged with within my future career is those whom are drug addicts. The lack of knowledge is not the reason I feel discomfort when discussing this group of individuals. I feel as if I am most uncomfortable because I can’t relate to this group of people as well as I can other groups that I have worked with before. This has been a challenge for me my whole life.  I know this is a challenge for me because I have dealt with individuals’ in my family who do in fact use drugs. I was never able to wrap my mind around how an individual even began using drugs. Negative thoughts always entered my mind and a judgment always appeared. I have always tried to be sympathetic, but I feel as if the individual is choosing that option. They are ruining their own life by participating in this activity.  My mother has played a huge impact on my feelings toward this particular subject. I was always raised to stay away from drugs and was warned that drugs were not okay to take or participate in under any circumstance. I have always been a strong willed individual and no peer-pressure could even get me to attempt to participate in any kind of drug consumption. I think learning this from an early age really put that bias in my head. Seeing news articles and broadcasts about those who have committed crimes and other ignorant actions due to them being under the influence of drugs also play a vital role in my beliefs these days. Social media can really persuade an individual to have a certain mindset on these topics.