Culturally Responsive Social Work Practice with Kelly

1. If you were Kelly’s social worker, what would constitute culturally responsive social work practice when working with Kelly and her family?

   I believe it is important to demonstrate genuine empathy to Kelly’s situation by understanding her current cultural and emotional issues and addressing them with kindness.

   Introducing yourself as a professional and in a pleasant tone can contribute to building a rapour based on first impressions. This often has the additional effect of being the initial step towards establishment of a pleasant and effable environment under which fruitful conversations could be undertaken. Gross man Lee man states that first impressions are the initial process of formulation of a strong working relationship. Offering to be there as an individual to provide support can allow Kelly to have the confidence to speak to her dad and have a security network if the conversation became too difficult for Kelly to successfully articulate her thoughts (Gross man Lee man, 2018).

   

   Emotional intelligence is a skill that could be important when working with Kelly and her family, noticing nuances can be beneficial for creating safe space for the client and recognising client’s triggers or sensitivities that may arise during the session (Bailey & Hunt, 2012). Noticing and responding to nuances can support formulation of a culturally safe environment (Bailey & Hunt, 2012).

   Critical thinking skills: The possession of skills to think in a critical manner would be crucial since I believe it would support the relationship between me as the professional and Kelly and her family. This would enable one to think with cultural sensitivity regarding the issues that she is facing in regards to her dad and studies (Bailey & Hunt, 2012). The critical thinking measures are also significant from the perspective that one has to first perceive and then realise all of the dimensions of the cultural needs of Kelly. This could assist in determination of the implications of her culture on her modes of interaction. The critical thinking attributes could assist in such a task. Prior to establishing an in depth working relationship with Kelly, I think, it is important to consider whether the current service you are working at will be able to support Kelly’s cultural needs. This can be decided after the initial assessment with Kelly (Child Family Community Australia, 2019).

   “Culturally responsive care is about the ‘centrality’ of culture to people’s identity and working with them to determine what culturally safe care is for them as individuals. It goes far beyond the notions of cultural awareness and cultural respect.” Considering this statement, I believe, it would be appropriate to ask Kelly if she would like to do research to learn about her mob, as she does not know about them. As the social worker, you could also explore options of going out to the places where Kelly’s mob is with her so she has a chance to meet with some relatives or elders from her community (Saggers & Walter,2011). After supporting Kelly to discuss her stresses with her dad, the family may be able to link with a local elder to have a yarn and get some community support (Saggers & Walter, 2011).

   The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander principles I would like to abide by to create a safe working relationship with Kelly are;

   Respect: This includes respecting Kelly’s cultural heritage and background, allowing her to make informed decisions of how she would like to define the relationships with her mob and family members.

   Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Control: Research has informed me that it may be important in Kelly’s culture to follow the cultural protocols when connecting with family members.

   Interpretation and Integrity: When consulting with Kelly in regards to culturally sensitive matters, it is important to be aware of the customs and laws regarding those issues. One such example is permitting Kelly to find her families’ connections in her own time with me in the background supporting her.

   Secrecy and Confidentiality: It is important to maintain private information that is culturally sensitive and confidential. It is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander custom and this can include artworks and personal belongings. I would keep this in mind when working with Kelly and if I needed to share information I would ask her permission first, unless it was a situation where I needed to make a mandated report.

   Attribution: When working with Kelly, I would recognise and provide proper acknowledgements to her achievements and contributions, I would also be aware of doing this for any family or community member we could be working with throughout the therapeutic periods.

   Sharing of Benefits: I would like to get Kelly connected with organisations which may support her with her Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage. This would be especially a beneficial approach regarding the case of Kelly. This can allow people to share benefits, stories and culture which can foster and consistently support a sense of belonging within individuals such as Kelly.

   Legal recognition and protection: Engage with and protect policies that support the connection between counsellor and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

2. Identify and describe the knowledge, theories, skills and values which would inform your practice.

   A skill that may be beneficial to support Kelly’s situation is the ability to apply the problem solving model to the therapy sessions (Martin, 2003). This model would allow Kelly to learn problem solving skills to apply to her situation that she has going on with her dad (Martin, 2003).

   Active listening is a skill that I would like to use when working with Kelly. I would reflect back what she has stated and be engaged in the conversation. I hope to engage in a professional relationship that Kelly feels respected and heard (Martin, 2003). I would try and empower Kelly and promote dignity by encouraging her to speak with her dad, I would also encourage Kelly to describe to her dad how she has been feeling lately, I would also validate Kelly after she had spoken with her dad by recognising the parts of the conversation that she did well, I would ask her what she thought she did well (Martin, 2003).

   Setting professional boundaries in this situation is important as Kelly asked the social worker to speak to her dad. I liked how the social worker was able to set the boundaries by saying no to her request. In spite of this, the social worker still supported her dignity by offering to be there while she speaks to him herself (Baskin, 2006).

   It is important that whilst establishing this relationship with Kelly, I am being mindful of the social work values, ethical principles and standards to promote integrity for the relationship between Kelly and I.

   It is of great importance for me to be mindful of the social work values and ethical principles and standards while establishing this relationship with Kelly.

   This process is specifically critical from the perspective of addressing any trust deficit. Such trust deficits might exist in between me and Kelly. The promotion of integrity would assist further in the process of the therapy through psychological suitability establishment. This is considered to be particularly significant for cases such as that of Kelly. Here, an empathy based approach is necessary to be instituted. This approach could ensure that existing issues could be resolved without any inconvenience for Kelly.

   It is also important that I contribute to empowering dignity Kelly by allowing her to have choices of how and when she would like to speak to her dad, how involved she would like me to be (Baskin, 2006).

   I would hope to uphold the social work values whilst working with Kelly. These would be respect for persons such as fosters, individual wellbeing, autonomy, justice and personal/ social responsibility, with due consideration for the rights of others (Australian Social Workers Association, 2010). The ethical responsibility which I would like to uphold is freedom from discrimination in the workplace.

   5.1.2 Culturally competent, safe and sensitive practice: Social workers will develop culturally sensitive practices by acknowledging the significance of culture in their practices, recognising the impact which their own ethnic and cultural identities, views and biases can have on their practice and on culturally different clients and colleagues (AASW, 2010).

   Systems theory would be the theory that I would like to explore and utilise with Kelly. Systems theory explores individual issues, families, organizations, societies and other systems (Loraine, 2014). Systems theory connects all the systems together to consider how it is impacting the individual (Loraine, 2014). I believe this theory would be able to consider what sections of Kelly’s life may be impacting on her wellness (Loraine, 2014). With this theory in mind, I would like to see if Kelly would like to connect with a tutor from the university and would also look at getting some extensions for the assignments which are adding stress to Kelly’s current situation. I would also like to put some strategies in place in regards to Kelly’s study schedule to allow Kelly the time to go home and see her grandfather and other family members. An idea to support Kelly with her stress levels is discussing how many hours in a week she needs to work for financial stability and creating a work study schedule. Another of such ideas of support could be the exploring of services which may be able to look after the children when Kelly is working such as after school care (Saggers & Walter, 2011).

3. Critically reflect on the personal and professional values and ethical issues that are highlighted in this case study.

   My initial feeling was an anxious nervous feeling in my stomach as I have not had a lot of exposure to working with people who have Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people. This apparent lack of experience on my part was viewed by me to be a serious hurdle for me in holistically comprehending the implications of my work. I was worried I may do something or say something that may offend someone, recognising that I have been socialised from conservative English heritage family upbringing. I cannot identify ethical issues at present although there are a few potential ethical issues which may occur as the working relationship develops. I am noticing that Kelly’s concerns are quite broad in nature. These include such generalised apprehensions such as stress from university, finances and family related problems. The social worker at the university may be limited by constraints regarding her ability to supply support for Kelly’s needs. Appropriate action may be Referrals to Centrelink for financial support, Referral to Aboriginal case manager for support with connection of family and finding a tutor within the university. These actions may cause an ethical dilemma for Kelly as there is potential of service burn out or personal dilemmas with the people she may be working with. Considering this, I believe the ethical dilemma may be the fact that the university has constraints in terms of broadening the scope of support involving people who have multiple systemic issues in their lives. Also an ethical issue could be the lack of connection the counsellor can build with Kelly as she does not have a deep understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture.

References

• AASW.asn.au. (2010). Professional Resources - AASW - Australian Association of Social Workers. [online] Available at: https://www.aasw.asn.au/practitioner-resources/culturally-responsive-and-inclusive-practice-in-australia [Accessed 5 Apr. 2019].
• Bailey S, Hunt J. Successful partnerships are the key to improving Aboriginal health. N S W Public Health Bull. 2012;23:48–51. doi: 10.1071/NB11057. [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
• Baskin, C. (2006). Aboriginal world views as challenges and possibilities in social work education. Critical Social Work, 7(2). Retrieved from http://www1.uwindsor.ca/criticalsocialwork/aboriginal-world-views-as-challenges-and-possibilities-in-social-work-education
• Child Family Community Australia. (2019). Working with Indigenous children, families, and communities: Lessons from practice. [online] Available at: https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/working-indigenous-children-families-and-communities [Accessed 5 Apr. 2019].
• Gross man Lee man, D. (2018). What Skills Are Required To Be a Social Worker?. [online] Socialwork.simmons.edu. Available at: https://socialwork.simmons.edu/skills-required-social-worker/ [Accessed 5 Apr. 2019].
• Loraine, M. (2014). A Theory for Indigenous Australian Health and Human Service Work - ResearchOnline@JCU. [online] Researchonline.jcu.edu.au. Available at: https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/31565/ [Accessed 5 Apr. 2019].
• Martin, K. L. (2003). Ways of knowing, ways of being and ways of doing: A theoretical framework and methods for Indigenous re-search and Indigenist research. Journal of Australian Studies, 27, 203–214. doi:10.1080/14443050309387838
• Saggers, S. and Walter, M. (2011). Culture, history and health. In R. Thackrah, K. Scott and J. Winch, ed., Indigenous Australian health and cultures: An introduction for health professionals, 1st ed. Frenchs Forest: Pearson Australia.