Research Guides: Dimensions of Diversity: Culture

What is Culture?

Definition from the Dictionary of Social Work:

n. Customs, beliefs, ideology, world-view, and values common to a group of people and which guide their individual and social behavior.

Definition from the American Psychological Association:

n. The values, beliefs, language, rituals, traditions, and other behaviors that are passed from one generation to another within any social group.
n. The characteristic attitudes and behaviors of a particular group within society, such as profession, social class, or age group.

Social Work Context:

Culture shapes how people understand themselves, others, and the world around them, influencing their worldviews, coping mechanisms, and responses to life’s challenges. Social workers must understand and appreciate clients' cultural backgrounds, acknowledging the role that culture plays in shaping individuals’ experiences and needs. It is also critical for social workers to recognize and address cultural stereotypes, biases, and systemic inequalities that may affect marginalized communities.

Readings on Culture

The Encyclopedia of Social Work

International Social Work and Social Welfare: Middle East and North Africa Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) nations have a 90-year history with social work, based on colonial, imported models of practice. There is some success in localizing social work to immediate communities. Social welfare tends to be instrumental, selective, and not comprehensive. Colonialism has hurt political institutions; and geopolitical conflicts, socioeconomic inequality, poverty, and political repression also influence parameters of social work and social change.
Cultural Sensitivity in the Context of Cultural Humility In social work practice, our ability to demonstrate culturally responsive service delivery has become a perennial challenge. The rapidly changing landscape in the context of cultural and linguistic diversity makes the urgency of establishing culturally inclusive professional practice more necessary. Evidence of its importance can be found in federal directives, state mandates and professional best practice guidelines that are undergirded by a recognition that responsive practice requires an awareness of cultural influences and manifest differences.
Social Work Education: Multiculturalism Despite many debates about the meaning and implications of multiculturalism, it remains an important concept within social work and other professional and academic disciplines. The basic idea of multiculturalism in social work education is that social work students need to learn to work effectively with people from many different cultures, and that this will have a positive impact on their social work practice and on outcomes for those with whom they work. It has been linked to issues of power, oppression, and social change. Future directions include focus on intersectionality and continued development of the implementation and implications of multiculturalism within social work education.
Culture and Identity in Generic Social Work The notion of culture, while vast, is often conceptualized through an examination of gender, race, and ethnicity; class and economics; religion; sexual orientation; and even age. Social work assessments and related interventions rest on a fundamental understanding of a client’s history, environment, and current conditions. This article provides an examination of how particular sociocultural influences and identity development shape behavior and how social work practitioners—whether at the micro, mezzo, or macro level—use this understanding to effect change in individuals or environments.

Videos on Culture

Training Culturally Competent Social Workers

Social workers trained at UCF are taught to understand different cultures of the people they serve.

The Importance of Cultural Humility

This video defines the concept of cultural humility and highlights related components. Cultural humility is defined as an ongoing process of self- reflection and self-critique. It entails working collaboratively with clients, and embracing difference. Students, faculty and practitioners reflect on the role of cultural humility in their work and share their insights.