Cultural Competence in Advanced Clinical Practice Case Study 2022

Running Head: CULTURAL COMPETENCE IN ADVANCED CLINICAL PRACTICE
CULTURAL COMPETENCE IN ADVANCED CLINICAL PRACTICE
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1CULTURAL COMPETENCE IN ADVANCED CLINICAL PRACTICE
Abstract:
. Exhibiting a dedication to learning about a client’s culture, history, and current
environmental factors exemplify a social worker’s desire to build that client–worker bond.
The paper below discusses the case study of Claudia and her family, where she faces adverse
experiences of mugging in her neighbourhood, leading to her anxiety disorder that only got
better with the involvement of the social worker.

2CULTURAL COMPETENCE IN ADVANCED CLINICAL PRACTICE
Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................3
Discussion:.................................................................................................................................3
Background of the case study:...................................................................................................3
Two social issues described in the case study:.......................................................................4
Cultural Competent Strategies Used to Understand the Needs of the Children:...................4
Data Collected from the Case Study of Claudia in order to serve them better:.....................5
Other Resources that may offer further Information about Claudia:.....................................5
Eco-map to represent Claudia’s situation:.............................................................................6
Assessment of how the Ecological Perspective Influenced the Interaction between
Claudia and the Social Worker:.........................................................................................7
Usage of strengths perspective and multiple tools to assess Claudia’s case:.........................7
Contribution to therapeutic relationship:...........................................................................7
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................8
References:.................................................................................................................................9

3CULTURAL COMPETENCE IN ADVANCED CLINICAL PRACTICE
Introduction:
Cultural competence is essential as well as very necessary while engaging and
assessing a child’s concerns in the process of all areas of social work. The criteria of being
culturally competent to include an understanding of the specific needs of a client and thereby,
seeking ways to fulfil the needs of those particular clients. Using of empowerment
perspective, while treating the clients proves to be useful. The paper below discusses the case
of Claudia and her family (Garralda and Flament, 2006), and discusses the social issues and
the adverse childhood experiences that affect her and the family (Cdc.gov, 2019). Lastly, the
paper assesses the ecological perspectives that influence the interaction of the social worker
and states the way these factors contribute to the growth of the therapeutic relationship in
between them and Claudia.
Discussion:
Background of the case study:
The case of Claudia suggests that she is aged xsix, Hispanic girl who resided with her
own parents in an urban area. It has been stated, that Claudia was given birth in the United
States, six months post her parents moved from Nicaragua. Claudia’s parents even though
they had no other family members present in the neighbourhood; they had made friends in the
community. With daily struggle to survive economically and fight to win legal residency on
their new land, Claudia’s father started working for physical labour. Additionally Paula,
Claudia’s mother woked three nights per week at a nail salon. Growing up, Claudia joined the
public school to complete her kindergarten,. The neighbourhood, where she resided was a
poor township, with an increasing rate in the criminal occurrences (Abrego & Lakhani,
2015). While returning from school one day, she witnessed an incident that involved

4CULTURAL COMPETENCE IN ADVANCED CLINICAL PRACTICE
mugging. This led her to develop an anxiety filled and needy state. Eventually her condition
worsened, as she gradually starts panicking by asking to lock the doors and making sure that
her parents recheck the locks.
Moreover, it can be observed that Claudia’s condition further worsened while she was in
school; asking her schoolteachers to lock down the school doors to forbid the entry of any
potential intruders. She was also displaying anxiety symptoms while walking in the
neighbourhood and asking her parents whether the people passing are right and whether they
would harm her. It can be stated from the case study (Garralda and Flament, 2006) that there
was a development of a specific characteristic in Claudia, by which she wanted to protect the
right people from the bad.
Two social issues described in the case study:
The new immigrants faced many difficulties while adjusting to life in the United
States. At the same time, the United States had faced the same level of problem with
absorbing the immigrants. As per the case study, like the maximum number of immigrants,
Claudia and her parents chose to settle in one of the busy American cities. The main two
social issues that they faced were, firstly fighting with poverty and developing their economic
condition. To establish their status of life, both of her parents started working day and night.
Secondly, one of the gravest issues that Claudia and their parents faced was their struggle to
obtain a permanent residentship in the country (Abrego, 2014). This is one of the most faced
issues that an immigrant faces post shifting to a new state.
Cultural Competent Strategies Used to Understand the Needs of the Children:
It has been observed that most of the immigration policies happen to work against
them. Moreover, the children face the problem of overcoming the language barrier, which in
turn makes it very difficult to survive. Understanding their background information of the
client and understanding the need of the client’s, along with their reason for immigration is

5CULTURAL COMPETENCE IN ADVANCED CLINICAL PRACTICE
one of the vital criteria for the social worker to act on. The purposes of their arrival may vary
from economic rights to better prospects for having better education. Therefore, the strategies
followed by the social workers must include empathising with the client and making efforts
in understanding their social culture. This, in turn, will make the social work culturally
competent and act better in meeting the client’s needs. In the case study, it can be observed
that the social worker showed an exceptional level of cultural competence while dealing with
Claudia (Garralda and Flament, 2006). She took to translate the forms to Spanish for Claudia
and her mother to feel comfortable. Walking them through the agencies’ policies and ways on
confidentiality in Spanish, helped Claudia’s mother to have a better understanding and grow a
level of trust in the agency.
Data Collected from the Case Study of Claudia to serve them better:
Affirming Claudia’s mum concerns regarding her daughter Claudia and her
nervousness, the best way to start the process of serving them should begin with creating
connections within the community consisting of other Latinos families who can help Claudia
and her family in their needs. Speaking to her mother would also help me collect data
regarding family history and the reason for starting Claudia’s anxiety disorder. Post this,
using adequate engagement skill such as observation, showing empathy and practising active
listening can help me collect data regarding Claudia’s thought process. Asking concise and
unambiguous question would help me understand the purpose of her wanting security guards
at the school. One of the main trends for better assessment of a child is by the increase in the
use of quantitative survey instruments. Moreover, checking on and evaluating the results of
the effects of interventions may help in knowing the progress of the treatment. (Holosko,
Dulmus & Dulmus, 2012)

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Other Resources that may offer further Information about Claudia:
Building rapport with Claudia’s family, by making them feel comfortable and further
make them open up regarding their needs to the social worker can act as other resources that
might help Claudia. While establishing the foundation to provide family-centred services, the
family members need to understand the potential stress factors and convey them to the social
worker to provide appropriate services.
Eco-map to represent Claudia’s situation:
School
Extended
Family
Emotional stress
caused by mugging.
Mum
Paula
Dad
Jose
Claudia
Neighbourhood

7CULTURAL COMPETENCE IN ADVANCED CLINICAL PRACTICE
.
Assessment of how the Ecological Perspective Influenced the Interaction between
Claudia and the Social Worker:
Identifying the social, environmental factors, which affect Claudia and registering
them can help the social workers in analysing the potential risk and understand the resilience
perspective (Jackson, 2017). Speaking with Claudia’s mother and her family supported and
helped to understand the history of the family ,along with the reason for their migration.
Additionally, creating a safe and secure environment for Claudia helped her opening up to the
social worker. It made the social worker understand the reason for Claudia’s nervousness and
her tendency to save good people from the bad.
Usage of strengths perspective and multiple tools to assess Claudia’s case:
Using the strengths perspective approach happened of great aid in helping Claudia.
Being encouraging and displaying support to Claudia and her family, by validating their fears
also was seen to be helpful. Moreover, provoking Claudia to reflect on both her positive
thoughts to save good people and fear of getting harmed with using tools such as play therapy
helped better to counsel her.
Contribution to the therapeutic relationship:
Creating and providing a secured and safety filled environment helped the
development of the therapeutic relationship between them and the social worker. It allowed
the child to explore and play without the thought of anyone harming her or developing any
fear of her getting abused. Moreover, it helped Claudia’s mother relax and helped to create a
trusting relationship.

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Conclusion:
Creating competency culturally is mandatory while dealing with an adoloscent’s
needs. The paper and the case study confirms that need to understand the client’s
requirements and acquiring knowledge about their history, helps in treating and creating the
best type of treatment for the client’s recovery. Claudia’s case proves that with the social
worker’s commitment towards being culturally sensitive to be aware of her needs, helped in
developing a perfect therapeutic relationship.

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References:
Abrego, L. J. (2014). Latino Immigrants’ Diverse Experiences of ‘Illegality.’. Constructing
immigrant “illegality”: Critiques, experiences, and responses.
Abrego, L. J., & Lakhani, S. M. (2015). Incomplete inclusion: Legal violence and immigrants
in liminal legal statuses. Law & Policy, 37(4), 265-293.
Cdc.gov. (2019). Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). [online] Available at:
http://www.cdc.gov/ace
Garralda, M. and Flament, M. (2006). Working with children and adolescents. Lanham: Jason
Aronson, pp.15-17.
Gonzales, R. G., Suárez-Orozco, C., & Dedios-Sanguineti, M. C. (2013). No place to belong:
Contextualizing concepts of mental health among undocumented immigrant youth in
the United States. American behavioral scientist, 57(8), 1174-1199.
Holosko, M. J., Dulmus, C. N., & Sowers, K. M. (2012). Social work practice with
individuals and families: Evidence-informed assessments and interventions. John
Wiley & Sons.
Jackson, N. (2017). Lifewide Learning and Education: An Ecological Perspective.
Sibley, E., & Brabeck, K. (2017). Latino Immigrant Students' School Experiences in the
United States: The Importance of Family-School-Community Collaborations. School
Community Journal, 27(1), 137-157.
Tol, W. A., Jordans, M. J., Kohrt, B. A., Betancourt, T. S., & Komproe, I. H. (2013).
Promoting mental health and psychosocial well-being in children affected by political
violence: Part I–Current evidence for an ecological resilience approach. In Handbook
of resilience in children of war (pp. 11-27). Springer, New York, NY.
Valtonen, K. (2016). Social work and migration: Immigrant and refugee settlement and
integration. Routledge.

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Yeager, K., & Roberts, A. (Eds.). (2015). Crisis intervention handbook: Assessment,
treatment, and research. Oxford University Press.