Ethnicity and Family Therapy

Sexual orientation and gender identity are not commonly addressed in health and human service delivery, or in educational degree programs. Based on findings from Caring and Aging with Pride: The National Health, Aging and Sexuality Study (CAP), the first national federally-funded research project on LGBT health and aging, this article outlines 10 core competencies and aligns them with specific strategies to improve professional practice and service development to promote the well-being of LGBT older adults and their families. The articulation of key competencies is needed to provide a blueprint for action for addressing the growing needs of LGBT older adults, their families, and their communities.

Creating a Vision for the Future: Key Competencies and Strategies for Culturally Competent Practice With Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Older Adults in the Health and Human Services

This study reviews extant measures of cultural competence from many disciplines and evaluates their suitability for social work education based on 8 criteria: validity, reliability, relevance to so...

Review of multidisciplinary measures of cultural competence for use in social work education

Research on social work practice with gay and lesbian clients has historically focused on examining social workers' attitudes towards gay and lesbian individuals, however, no studies have examined the relationship between attitudes and practice using validated measures to assess practice. The focus of this study was therefore to examine the relationship between attitudes and practice with gays and lesbians using the recently developed and validated Gay Affirmative Practice Scale (GAP). Significant relationships were found with the GAP and two measures of homophobia as well as with measures that assessed feelings about lesbians and gay men, contact with gays and lesbians, attendance at workshops that focused on gay and lesbian issues, relationship status, sexual orientation, political party, and primary area of practice. Relationships with measures of attitudes were also examined. Implications for social work practice, education, and research are discussed.

Correlates of Homophobia and Use of Gay Affirmative Practice Among Social Workers

Social work educators are responsible for ensuring that future practitioners are culturally competent and have the ability to work effectively with people from different backgrounds. The purpose of this article is to address the current limitations in measuring cultural competence and to report the results of a qualitative study examining stakeholders’ conceptualizations of the definition, educational process, and evaluation of cultural competence in social work education. Findings support long-standing assumptions in the literature regarding the need for social workers to develop certain knowledge and attitudes as prerequisites of becoming culturally competent, and emphasize the need for further exploration of the way social workers define cultural competence, translate it into discrete practice behaviors, and assess how students demonstrate these behaviors.

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Cultural Competence and Social Work Education: Moving Toward Assessment of Practice Behaviors

The standards of the National Association of Social Workers (2001) for culturally competent practice and the Council on Social Work Education's (2001) accreditation standards require monitoring and evaluation of the multicultural competencies of students and professional social workers. The absence of assessment instruments impedes feedback about compliance and the effectiveness of multicultural practice. Results of the present study support the use of 2 self-report subscales of the Multicultural Competence Inventory (MCI) for evaluating worker self-perceptions of competency. The MCI will also help provide empirical feed-back about students' views of their own progress, particularly within programs emphasizing social justice and diversity.

The multicultural counseling inventory: a measure for evaluating social work student and practitioner self-perceptions of their multicultural competencies

Rebecca Claridge

Papers

The multicultural counseling inventory: a measure for evaluating social work student and practitioner self-perceptions of their multicultural competencies