SWTP634: Analysis of Cross Cultural Social Work Challenges

This report analyzes the challenges faced by a project officer in a non-government welfare service in a rural town, focusing on providing services to the Yazidi and Italian communities. The report examines the unique needs of each group, including the Yazidi refugees from Northern Iraq and the Italian migrants. It explores barriers to accessing services, such as language, cultural differences, and trauma. The report discusses the importance of cultural responsiveness, self-determination theory, and liberal theory in addressing these challenges. It also identifies potential issues for community workers and proposes strategies to improve service delivery, considering communication challenges and the need for culturally sensitive approaches. The report also emphasizes the importance of understanding the historical context of migration and the need for tailored healthcare and social services to meet the diverse needs of these communities.

Running head: CROSS CULTURAL SOCIAL WORK
Cross Cultural Social Work
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1CROSS CULTURAL SOCIAL WORK
Question One
The first question deals with the ethnic communities that are present in the region. These
ethnic communities that have been described here are the Yazidi communities and Italian
communities within the region. It has been described in the case study that both the Yazidi and
Italian communities have not been given access to different social work policies of this
organization (George, 2012). It will be a big responsibility of the project officer to identify all the
potential challenges among those communities. As per the case study, it has been said that
Yazidi communities have arrived in this region for around 2 to 3 years as refugees from the
region of Northern Iraq. The reckless tortures on the Yazidi people by Islamic State terrorists.
Therefore, people have been harassed and killed time and again. It has also been reported that
both the communities are yet to receive the CALD community services properly. Two distinct
features are very prominent among these two groups. One is the fact that Yazidi communities are
comprised of young families and they mostly need child health care facilities. On the other hand,
Italian communities have older people in their communities and they are in need age related
treatments including disabilities (George, 2012).
The Yazidis used to live in the Northern Part of Iraq and lots of controversies have been
there regarding their lifestyle and religion. This Yazidism has been considered as a major ethnic
identity as considered by all Yazidis (Green, Bennett & Betteridge, 2016). It is also a religious
identity for them. Many Yazidis believe that they migrated to Europe mainly in the 1930s
especially in Germany. There are some additional communities that are the part of Yazidism as
well. These communities belong to countries like Armenia, Georgia, Iran, Syria and Turkey. The
Yazidi people believe in monotheism. They believe that God is the creator if this world and He
has sent Melek Taus to take care of His people as the chief angel. The languages they speak are

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Kurmanji and Arabic. It has also been reported that these Yazidi communities are escaping Iraq
and they are taking shelter in some regions of Australia. More than 100 young families have
arrived to Australia and social community services are providing them with refugee services with
healthcare, food and shelter (Green, Bennett & Betteridge, 2016). The Yazidi communities are
very united and stand with each other in most of the cases. This is why they have struggled their
way so far to be recognized as an ethno religious group in the society. They will face some
challenges because of their languages and religious preferences in communities mainly based on
Christian principles. These people believe their identity as separate from that of Kurdish people
that could lead to inner conflicts within the region (Usborne & de la Sablonnière, 2014).
The second community to be mentioned here is that of Italian community. The CALD
services have not been received properly by these people. These Italian communities arrived
earlier in this region than the Yazidi communities. Therefore, they gave been able to set up local
business and work in local farms. The CALD services have not impacted fruitfully here since old
people with disabilities have not received proper medical care. So, this has been a big challenge
for them (Usborne & de la Sablonnière, 2014). The Italian community people came to know that
they would get higher wages and more benefits into this matter. Around 4.6% of total Australian
population belongs to Italians. The Italo-Australian dialect became one of the most important
languages spoken by Italian people in Australia. These Italians mainly live in the city of Victoria
as compared to other cities.
The Yazidis have always been regarded as ethnic minorities in Australia. Many social
work policies have been implemented in Australia regarding the welfare of these people. The
healthcare policies have been the most crucial policies among themv (Usborne & de la
Sablonnière, 2014). One of the main customs of these Yazidi people was to be buried together.

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This is why they had to find a common burial place. Due to this demand, the Wagga Wagga
monumental cemetery had been created. This is why this settlement experience was a big
challenge for those people (Mattsson, 2014). It has also been reported that CALD services. In
Tasmania, there are many areas where older people could be assisted for their betterment of
health. A proper arrangement to provide them with these opportunities will have to be made so
all these people could be provided with best facilities in this concern. The Yazidis have settled in
Toowoomba region has faced some challenges as funds have dropped down in this region.
Question two
There are some serious barriers that are there for both the communities so they are unable
to access all the community services that are addressed for them. During the last few years,
numbers of Yazidi settlers is on the increase since thousands of people have settled down from
Iraq and Syria. Often times it has been recorded that these people go through traumatized
moments in their lives because of immense torture and bloodshed they have witnessed in front of
them courtesy of Islamic State terrorists (Mattsson, 2014). They have seen many of their own
people get killed by those mercenaries. This is why they would need best care by social workers
and community developers. The cultural responsiveness is one of the basic things that would
have to be addressed in this scenario. Many times conflicts have arisen between native people of
Australia and these Yazidis (Nelson, Price & Zubrzycki, 2017).
Cultural diversity is one of the most important issues in Australia for generations. This is
people from regions in Europe and Asia has come to live in Australia and earn their livelihoods.
In this scenario, it will be of great importance to identify potential threats why they have not
been able to access the community services. Ethnic and cultural diversities in Australia have

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been very much crucial for social change. As social work organizations have not reached these
people. The Italian migrants to Australia belonged mainly to peasant families and they came to
an industrialized society. They faced several serious health hazards but they were left unattended
due to linguistic problems mainly (Nelson, Price & Zubrzycki, 2017). This had caused a huge
shift in their professional fields. Therefore, they faced many cultural challenges as well.
Demographic of these Italian settlers was based on their ideologies on life. However, major shift
through emergence of technology had been one of the main reasons for their problems. They
were not acquainted with this technology and therefore they had to face these drawbacks.
On the other hand, the Yazidis also faced some troubles in getting access to these social
work programs. The Yazidi people used to live in one of the most unhygienic of the places that
was completely destroyed by civil war and mass killing by Islamic State terrorists (Joseph &
Murphy, 2014). Racism and multiculturalism were two important things that restricted them
from getting all necessary services within the region where they lived. Mostly young people
lived in Yazidi families and they were in dire need of proper healthcare. The linguistic and
cultural differences between Yazidi and native communities paved the way for these issues. The
members of this community faced these troubles and this gave them pretty bad experiences.
Many people lost their lives as community workers were not able to make them understand the
utility of hygiene within the society.
Therefore, Yazidi people faced lot of issues in this discourse. Afterwards, they were not
able to adjust with the industrialized Australian society. Though the adults of this community
went on to attend English classes in the local technical college, they faced communication
problems. The need for professional development in pedagogical issues was needed very badly
indeed (Joseph & Murphy, 2014). Some of these people have also gained the employment as

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cleaners and gardeners. In this case they have also faced some problems of communication with
native people that have hampered their cultural growth. Cultural clashes had become very regular
but community workers were not able to handle this situation since Yazidi people were already
very traumatized. They were not able to earn the trust of these people (Vromans et al. 2017).
Some theories or frameworks are there that could be associated with this context. One of
those things is self-determination theory. The people belonging to Yazidi community did not
have proper self-determination that could lead to welfare of these people. The amount of self-
confidence that should be there was not present. As a part of cultural responsiveness theory,
Australian community workers must understand the fact that providing rights and justice to
minority people would lead to proper nation building (Vromans et al. 2017). Thus it is a very
crucial fact for making the right decisions for community workers to provide liberty and cultural
benefits to both Yazidi and Italian settlers. Due to migration, they had to leave their own soil and
they should be provided with comfort (Banks & Nøhr, 2013). Positive cultural responses will
surely upgrade their confidence and they will feel to be a part of Australian native society. If
there are scopes for providing minority rights, it should be used properly based on liberal theory.
Similar rights should be given to both Italian families since they are in need of NDIS services for
older people (Hugman, 2012).
Question Three
Thee community workers would face several problems when they go on to provide better
access to social services within the community. These social services would be based on their
approach to culturally responsive strategies (Ow, 2014). The project officer will face some major
potential challenges when he would have to provide best facilities to all these people. These new

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challenges will have to be met properly by social workers. There might be some challenges and
problems that should be overcome by these people. In order to make the new Italian and Yazidi
settlers understand their needs in the society they will have to indulge in making proper
responses catering to the implementation of such strategies (Ow, 2014). Some potential delivery
issues have been identified on the part of these people. Therefore, it would be of utmost
importance to make things clear that community workers are only there to make them feel
comfortable (Berman & Paradies, 2010). Other than that, they have identified that parent-child
relation among these people is not at its proper place. Even the adults are in fear of getting
bullied within the society by native people of the country.
Social workers have also discovered the fact medical challenges are quite important in
this scenario. Very few medical help is available that can be provided to these people. The Italian
settlers have come from their native Italy more than 50 years ago. Still they have some European
customs that they follow. In terms of this, some native people have objected these customs to be
observed by those migrants (Fozdar & Hartley, 2013). This is why they will be required to make
some positive cultural responsive strategies and link with multiculturalism theories so they could
achieve their objectives. These people belonging to Yazidi and Italian communities are
minorities in Australia and there are some serious structural barriers that would be a huge
problem for them to provide better privileges and facilities to people. The first problem is
communication challenge (Grigg & Manderson, 2015). Both Italian and Arabic languages are
very rarely used in Australia. Therefore, native Australians will not be able to interpret what
these people are trying to express (Hutchinson & Dorsett, 2012). In this scenario, a gap would be
created and they will not be able to communicate their needs. These people are ethnic minorities

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and social workers will not be able to understand their needs since they do not have enough
education in English.
As there are more young members in Yazidi families, the need for child care is very
crucial. On the other hand, some social work terms and some native expressions for child care
cannot be made understood by social workers to settlers of each community. Amidst this issue,
some misunderstandings could be created as well. The cultural differences might also cause
some serious problems among native social workers of Australia and ethnic minorities (Berry,
2005). Therefore, it would be a distressful situation when people will have to think of other ways
to take positive steps to combat these situations. Sometimes, social workers have also noticed the
gender role conflicts among those people since they do not understand the need for keeping
peace within the society (Colic‐Peisker & Walker, 2003). Some cultural responsive strategies
should be applied in order to cope up with these difficulties. The unequal economic structure for
these settlers will also result in their discontent (Westoby, 2009).
Some theories are very crucial for this issue to be highlighted. It must be mentioned that
service delivery systems have not yet worked effectively for benefits of settling migrants. The
condition of women has sometimes deteriorated in the society that should be looked after with
more focus (Chand, 2005). Collaborative practices should be practiced for better outcomes
among social workers. Many distress situations arise among asylum seekers and refugees. The
refugee crisis is considered as one of the biggest issues within Italian and Yazidi people. As they
face numerous challenges within this scenario, they tend to take the help of collaborative
practices with the help of Federal Government.

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It is quite evident that these migrants have lost their near and dear ones and they have
suffered many traumatic experiences. The anti-racist frameworks or theories will have to be
implemented so these people do not become victims of racism by their fellow natives. They must
be left to enjoy their good mental and physical health (Burke, 2017). Some group-based
interventions will also have to be implemented to ensure cultural competency among these
people. Some important leadership strategies or theories must be applied by social workers to
ensure all facilities are provided to these refugees and migrants in the light of effective service
delivery options. Thus their clients would be highly benefitted.
Question Four
The cultural responsive strategies will be very much helpful to deal with these challenges.
The social and community workers must be able to implement some strategies that will surely
make improvements in the condition. The refugee communities like Yazidis should be provided
with proper education so they can live better and in a healthier manner. Often times it has been
seen that immigrant children have been affected by poverty and discrimination among society.
Cultural discrimination within society is a curse for growth of the society (Nipperess & Clark,
2016). So, strict actions must be taken so those children can be provided with better healthcare
facilities within the region. The Italian communities will have to be looked after as well. One
thing must be cleared in this scenario. It is the fact that many social workers can also hail from
different cultural background and ethnicities (De Vido, 2018). There might be linguistic
differences as well. Amidst this problem, they should tend to work collaboratively based on
cultural responsiveness.

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In this scenario, the cultural responsiveness strategy that might be applied is the evidence
based intervention. Presumably this will be a very important factor for the well being of the
targeted community i.e. Italians and Yazidis. When the organization would go on to find the
needs for the important things for those communities, they will follow a proper approach. The
social work organizations will have to provide a range of services for diverse populations as
mentioned earlier (Bradley, 2014). Therefore, they have to make a proper research on their
needs. They have to search over different things like cultural identity, ethnic identity and
religious identity of those people. In this manner, they will collect enough background
information on how they can go on with their intervention work.
As a part of this cultural responsiveness strategy, they will have to work on several other
things like how recent those communities have migrated, language and communication barriers,
country of origin, political complications regarding their current conditions, socioeconomic
status and other factors (Kizilhan & Noll-Hussong, 2017). These steps should be effective as the
prior research works suggest. All cultural and linguistic needs of these people will have to be met
by community workers. If any discrepancy is recorded, it should be dealt with utmost priority.
The needs of those refugees should be matched with the effectiveness of those cultural
responsiveness programs. After a thorough research work, the social work organization
mentioned in the case study would be able to decide which program they will need to implement.
All the reliable information should be collected and necessary steps should be taken.
The social work communities or organizations must at first clarify that needs for Italians
and Yazidis will be different since their languages, cultures and ethnicities are different. The
healthcare services should be provided by CALD communities based on the age of their family
members (Kizilhan & Noll-Hussong, 2017). The CALD communities will have to play a major

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role in identify all the major resources in this scenario. Once they have identified all these
problems and needs, the social work communities will have to feature a system on which they
can make their propositions. They can recommend adapting several processes like language
translation, adaptation of culture, using several social resources and tools for the benefits of those
communities (Basci, 2016).
The need for proper healthcare will be needed for both young and old members like
Yazidis and Italians respectively. The religious conflicts will have to be mitigated as it has been
identified as a big problem for co-existing of these two communities. The behaviors of people of
those communities will have to be looked at with utmost importance (Basci, 2016). Only then
they will be able to provide best recommendations for their target communities. The cultural
responsiveness strategy can be successful when social workers can implement their plans
positively after gathering authentic information from those refugees. It is so very crucial for them
to make the situation better and ensure these two refugee communities can co-exist without any
further conflicts.

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Australia.
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refugees in Australia. Journal of community & applied social psychology, 13(5), 337-
360.
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