How can social workers become skilled at detecting occasions when systems are oppressive and nonresponsive? How can a direct service worker, such as Carla, become engaged in macro-level advocacy? What may be obstacles to such advocacy?

Question

Carla Hudson, a Black social worker with the Women’s Resource Center (WRC), had worked with Maria Velasquez, a Mexican immigrant and mother of two children, for several years as she struggled to escape a violent home situation. Maria was Carla’s first Spanish-speaking client. Maria’s spoken English was easily understandable, but she could not read or write English well. As Carla assisted Maria in acquiring mainstream services, including Head Start, TANF, Food Stamps, and WIC, she noticed barriers to services that she began to suspect were related to discrimination against Spanish-speaking clients. When two White Head Start caseworkers refused to help Maria attain educational support that she needed in order to gain English literacy, Carla faced the challenge of addressing discrimination issues in another agency and perhaps throughout the service delivery system in Jasper, Alabama.

Answer 1

The NASW Code of Ethics requires that social workers be knowledgeable about their clients’ cultures and able to demonstrate competence in providing services to various cultures. Social workers know the reality of oppression and should be prepared to assess appropriately the nature of oppressive structures. They should be prepared to address systems of inequity so that all their clients have equal access to resources and services.
Becoming culturally competent requires that social workers understand their own culture and life experiences that have shaped their values and perceptions. As a Black woman in the town of Jasper, Carla has her own experiences that have shaped her thinking. As a social worker, she needs to work to gain understanding of other culture groups who are at risk, including Mexican immigrants like Maria’s. Learning how to communicate cross-culturally and recognizing barriers to communication are important aspects of cultural competence. Finally, knowing how to overcome barriers and solve problems on all system levels are important social work skills.
Carla can employ community organizing and development skills in order to address the macro-level issues at stake in this case. She needs to secure the support of her supervisor and organization in order to do this because of the time it will take to engage in this work. She should then explore whether the service community of Jasper has attempted to organize on behalf of Latino people. She can begin to network with other service providers who have a concern about this population and eventually plan a meeting to discuss the concerns. She can also network within the Mexican community, preferably with Maria’s help. This could serve to empower Maria as well as the Mexican community.