SUPPORTING MINORITY ETHNIC FAMILIES:

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SUPPORTING MINORITY ETHNIC FAMILIES THE CULTURAL
COMPETENCE JOURNEY
The National Family and Parenting
Institute Fatima Husain husain_at_nfpi.org
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Background and UK Context

• Historical
• Demographic
• Consequences of plurality
• Legal framework
• Social care developments
• Research and practice

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Historical Background Rapid economic growth after
WWII meant an increase in immigration Migrant
workers drawn in from former colonies Family
reunifications lead to settlement in Britain
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Demographic Profile Today 7.9 of the population
is of minority ethnic (non white European origin)
(4.6 million) 53 growth between 1991 and 2001
of ethnic minority population (non-white) Asians
Indians, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Asian
Other Black/African Black-Caribbean, Black
African, Black Other
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Religious Affiliation 71.6 identified as
Christian (over 42 million people) Majority of
Black Caribbean and Black African identify
themselves as Christian Islam the second largest
religion 2.7 (nearly 1.6 million people
majority of Pakistani origin) 1 Hindus 0.5 Jews
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Settlement Patterns Concentrated in larger urban
areas 45 of minority ethnic population lives in
London 78 of Black Africans 61 of Black
Caribbeans 54 of Bangladeshis 40 of Pakistanis
in West Midlands (Birmingham) and Yorkshire
(Bradford) Most describe their national identity
as British
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Spatial and Social consequences of
Plurality Transformation of the social and
cultural fabric of British society visibility
factor Urban areas with high concentrations of
visibly different groups (ethnic
neighbourhoods) Differing cultural, religious
and linguistics traditions are unfamiliar and
easily dismissed High levels of exclusion easy
targets Racial discrimination
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• Other Consequences
• Issues in public service delivery social care
  and other family support professionals, police,
  healthcare staff
• who, beyond the superficial, know very little
  about the ethnic, cultural and linguistic
  backgrounds of their client
• who have been taught very little about the
  domestic and personal issues affecting families
• who are often unable to provide services to the
  satisfaction of minority ethnic users

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The Legal Framework Race Relations Act 1976 as
amended in 2000 European Union Race Directive
incorporated into British legislation in 2003
encourages member states to take positive action
to correct situations of inequality Some have
argued that cultural difference is as much an
issue as racial difference
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Social Care Developments 1960s Cultural
Deficiency 1970s Cultural Pluralism/Structuralist
Perspective 1980s Anti-racism/Black
perspective Critique race dominates as a
marker of difference with equally relevant
ethnic and cultural factors considered less
significant.
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• National Mapping of Family Support Services in
  England and Wales (Henricson 2001)
• Very few family services targeted to BME
  communities and most do not have guidelines for
  working with BME families
• Need to develop support that is more culturally
  sensitive
• 2. South Asian Hindus and Muslims in Britain
  Developments in Family Support. (Becher and
  Husain 2003)

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• Some barriers to effective service provision
• Lack of policy directives for working with black
  and minority ethnic families
• Institutional racism leading to inappropriate
  service development
• Services often based on cultural stereotypes
  rather than client needs
• Lack of understanding of linguistic complexity
  and poor linguistic resources
• Access barriers
• Assumption that ethnic matching is the solution

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Some objections - these people with their
strange food - there are only few in our
area - they take care of their own - why
should they get special privileges? - why
dont we ask X to sort it out (only minority
worker) - we do our best, we cant be expected
to know everything - we are overworked as
it is
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Some Consequences - Using a Hindu social
worker for a Muslim client - Using a Serbian
interpreter for a Bosnian refugee -
Disregarding cultural and religious rituals
around childbirth - Not knowing when cultural
sensitivity may be inappropriate (forced
marriage/FGM) - Misdiagnosis of mental health
symptoms
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• Why is this happening?
• Assumption that practitioner and client are
  thinking, feeling and living within the same
  conceptual framework
• - services are developed with the idea that
  one size fits all
• - and that all clients are treated equally
• Little exploration of the universe we inhabit and
  the factors influencing lived experiences
• - assume that otherness is the problem
• Services developed for minority ethnic families
  assume sameness
• - one service for all minority ethnic
  communities
• - view cultures as fixed
• - no acknowledgement of individual agency

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• Key notion in developing an appropriate support
  model
• Cultural Sensitivity
• Is there an over-arching framework that
  incorporates cultural sensitivity for all ethnic
  groups
• Can cultural sensitivity be measured?
• Can effective tools be developed for
  practitioners to work in a culturally sensitive
  manner?

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• Look at a combination of two existing models of
  competence
• Cultural Competence in Social Care
• Intercultural Communication Competence

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Cultural competence is a set of congruent
behaviours, attitudes, and polices that come
together in a system, agency, or amongst
professionals and enables that system, agency, or
those professionals to work effectively in
cross-cultural situations. (Cross, et
al. 1989)
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• Cultural Competence in Social Care
• at the level of professional-client interactions
• The capacity to provide effective support taking
  into account cultural beliefs, behaviours and
  needs of people. It is made up of
• cultural knowledge
• cultural awareness
• cultural sensitivity
• as well as the promotion of anti-oppressive and
  anti-discriminatory polices.

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Cultural knowledge familiarisation with cultural
characteristics, history, values, belief systems
and behaviour. Cultural awareness developing
sensitivity and understanding of another ethnic
or cultural group. Cultural sensitivity ability
to work with cultural differences as well as
similarities without assigning values
(good/bad,right/wrong). OR A workers attitude to
acceptance, respect and appreciation for each
clients cultural uniqueness.
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• Cultural awareness what is it ?
• Goes hand in hand with cultural knowledge and
  lead to cultural sensitivity
• Challenges the notion of static cultures
• Challenges practitioners own cultural
  assumptions
• Questions practitioners position during
  interventions (power and control)
• Requires practitioner to monitor their own
  actions and behaviour
• Practitioner and clients are both active
  subjects influencing the intervention process

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• Intercultural Communication Competence
• The ability of two individuals to interact
  effectively and behave appropriately in a
  cross-cultural setting.
• For practitioner-client interactions, it requires
  the practitioner to
• understand the dynamics of a communication event
  in a cross-cultural encounter
• behave effectively and appropriately

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Why are communication skills important? Communica
tion does not take place in a vacuum isolated
form the larger socio-political influences of
society. It mirrors the state of inter-racial
relationships in wider society (Robinson 1997)
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Intercultural/Cultural Sensitivity
Social Care
Communication
Effective Professional-Client Interactions
Ethno-relativism Positive Attitudes Effective
and Appropriate Verbal and Non-verbal Behaviour
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• Cultural competence requires
• The ability to develop an awareness of the
  complexity and contradictions inherent in
  peoples lives
• The ability to anticipate, understand and work
  positively with cultural differences
• The ability to change working practices
• The ability to relate to clients in a culturally
  relevant manner (work with client on their own
  terms)
• The willingness to let clients determine their
  own future in accordance with their belief and
  values

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• Possible outcomes of cultural competence
• Increase in client satisfaction (client feels
  respected and empowered)
• Decrease in client anxiety
• Increase in help-seeking from targeted
  communities
• Why is it a journey?
• Interventions are situational and contextual
• Practitioner and client are both active agents

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• Measuring Cultural Competence in Social Care
• Self-assessment checklists
• Values and Attitudes checklist
• Communication style checklist
• Self-assessment questionnaire for cultural
  competence
• Implementation guidelines

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• Measuring Intercultural Sensitivity
• Intercultural sensitivity scale (Chen and
  Starosta 2000) comprises six measurable
  elements
• Self-esteem
• Self-monitoring
• Open-mindedness
• Empathy
• Interaction Involvement
• Non-judgment

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