The aim of this study has been to analyze how society is constructed in the workbook Möte med människor från andra kulturer, a popular material within the “cultural competency” industry. The analysis has largely been carried out from the perspective of a pedagogy against oppression as it has been outlined by Kevin Kumashiro. I have found that the material combines discursive movements, which in complex and hybrid ways deconstruct, decenter, recenter and reproduce stereotypes and norms, through its normative language and pedagogy. A language constructing culture as cleanly demarcated, static and homogenous. Cultures are made mutually exclusive and cultural patterns dominant within Sweden are placed in a dichotomous relationship with the “immigrant” other, naturalizing the privileges of the former and the marginalization of the latter. The material attempts to structure a reflexive process encouraging the reader to develop a critical self-awareness. However, the material, more often than not, fails to move this beyond an individual level, other than to inscribe a static and excluding notion of “Swedish” culture and identity onto the reader. The material teems with critical potential but I argue that its ambition is mired by normative language and staging. This is not to say that it cannot encourage critical awareness, but inarguably, its ability to do so has been lessened.

<p> </p><p>The aim of this study has been to analyze how society is constructed in the workbook <em>Möte med människor från andra <em>kulturer</em>, a popular material within the “cultural competency” industry. The analysis has largely been carried out from the perspective of a pedagogy against oppression as it has been outlined by Kevin Kumashiro. </em></p><p>I have found that the material combines discursive movements, which in complex and hybrid ways deconstruct, decenter, recenter and reproduce stereotypes and norms, through its normative language and pedagogy. A language constructing culture as cleanly demarcated, static and homogenous. Cultures are made mutually exclusive and cultural patterns dominant within Sweden are placed in a dichotomous relationship with the “immigrant” other, naturalizing the privileges of the former and the marginalization of the latter.</p><p>The material attempts to structure a reflexive process encouraging the reader to develop a critical self-awareness. However, the material, more often than not, fails to move this beyond an individual level, other than to inscribe a static and excluding notion of “Swedish” culture and identity onto the reader. The material teems with critical potential but I argue that its ambition is mired by normative language and staging. This is not to say that it cannot encourage critical awareness, but inarguably, its ability to do so has been lessened.</p><p> </p>

Social work can be perceived as a global profession, built upon a certain foundation of global values and ethical principles - like human rights, social justice, equity and empowerment - that are applicable everywhere regardless of context. In contrast, it can also be perceived as a locally based profession that needs to take local-specific conditions – such as culture and indigenous traditions – into account. Regardless, it is a profession that exists all over the world, due to globalization having spread both social issues and profession itself across national borders. From a postcolonial perspective, contemporary international social work is equivalent to a new form of imperialism, i.e. that what started out as a western profession has now spread its values and methods to non-western contexts where they are not as well suited. This puts the profession in an almost paradoxical situation, as social work’s aim is to help socially vulnerable people improve their living situations and inspire them to self-actualization and empowerment, but by advocating this in the non-western world, western social work imposes ideas and methods onto contexts where they do not occur naturally. This brings a dilemma for social work regarding how to deal with global issues. One option is to acknowledge social workers’ role as ‘helpers’ and strive to help people regardless of context, using existing methods and values. Another option is to acknowledge the West’s historic role as imperialists trying to take over the world, and thus let the third World solve their own issues without further involvement in order to avoid contemporary colonialism. By interviewing Swedish social work students - whom all have completed educational field placements in non-western countries - this study strives to analyse how social work students that have experienced social work in non-western contexts relate to international social work and issues that come with it. This includes theoretical understanding, the role of social work education and their own roles as future professionals. The results show that the students found it frustrating to simultaneously want to help out and not be perceived as imperialistic. The conclusion was that the most important contributions western social workers can make in non-western contexts is to be aware of historical events and the contemporary part they play in global power structures, as well as try to humbly adapt to foreign cultures and accept differences rather than assume your own culture as automatically normative.

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a complex issue among African American children, who experience significantly higher rates of CSA (Sedlak et al., 2012). Despite this, a dearth of research has examined CSA prevention among African American children. Moreover, there are no established culturally sensitive prevention programs targeted at addressing CSA among this demographic. This study addressed a significant gap in the literature by developing and evaluating the Speak7 African American Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Program (Speak7). Speak7 is a culturally sensitive, adult-focused CSA prevention program that aims to enhance the CSA prevention competence of adults who provide for African American children. Speak7 was developed by the principal investigator of this study using the National Standards for the Primary Prevention of Sexual Assault through Education (Carmody et al., 2009). Speak7 was evaluated using a formative approach to assess and enhance the acceptability of this intervention for African American adults. A qualitative design consisting of a pilot intervention with a focus group and key informant interviews was adopted to enable a detailed exploration of African American adults’ perceptions of Speak7’s program design, strengths, weaknesses, cultural congruence, and value. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic content analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Nine themes emerged from the data: (1) acceptable design, (2) identified strengths, (3) identified weaknesses, (4) culturally appropriate, (5) valued by targets, (6) recommendations, (7) appropriate for targets, (8) dynamic engagement, and (9) views of CSA. Findings reveal critical insights into participants’ perspectives regarding the acceptability of Speak7 and inform program revisions.

The aim of the study was to determine the impact of the application of a dynamic assessment technique of questioning with children, with projection testing. A qualitative research design were used within a postmodern epistomology, using three case studies in the quest for answering the research question. Possible cultural influences pertaining to the research situation, analysis and interpretation of responses has been taken into account. A test-training-test situation has been created during the generation of data, while assessment of projection was executed. Data analises and interpretation took place in two phases, the first phase being the projection analysis and the second phase the structural analysis of the stories. The main conclusions of the study points towards a deepening and broadening of projections as resulting influences of the utilisation of a dynamic assessment technique of questioning with children. / Dissertation (MEd (Educational Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

Although the incidence of breast cancer is almost the same for middle-aged African American and Caucasian women, the rate of patients' following breast cancer screening and following up recommendations differs. African American women are less likely to follow recommendations and have higher mortality rates when compared to Caucasian women. One factor thought to affect compliance with breast cancer screening and follow up is culturally sensitive communication. This purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to determine if the culturally sensitive communication of a medical center influenced compliance with breast cancer screening and follow up and if compliance has an effect on the stage of breast cancer when diagnosed for African American women between the ages of 50 and 74. The research questions were aligned with the theoretical pathways of the Patient-Centered Culturally Sensitive Healthcare Model. This quantitative cross-sectional study was based on secondary data of African American women aged 50-74 from electronic systems for each Southern California location of a national health maintenance organization between the years 2012-2016. The results of the regression analysis from averages of the scores from the Member Appraisal of Physician/Provider Services questionnaire, determined associations between the cultural sensitivity scores of the African American woman's medical center and their compliance with recommendations for breast cancer screening and follow up after screening. However, no association between the stage of cancer and medical center's cultural sensitivity was found. Results can be used to develop cultural sensitivity interventions at medical centers aimed to enhance African American women's compliance with breast cancer screening and follow-up recommendations.

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As the U.S. population diversifies, so do its higher education institutions. Leadership at these institutions should be prepared for this diversification of students, faculty, and staff. The purpose of this study was to gain greater knowledge about the leadership styles and cultural sensitivity of department chairs. Survey research was used to determine if department chairs’ leadership styles correlated with their cultural sensitivity. The target population was department chairs from public universities in the state of Texas. The survey was distributed to 406 randomly selected department chairs. The participants completed three measures: Leadership Behavior Description Questionnaire (LDBQ) for leadership style, the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS) for cultural sensitivity, and a demographic questionnaire (gender, age range, race/ethnicity, and years of service as department chair). The sample included 165 usable surveys (40% return rate). The department chairs were primarily male (72%), White (78%), and over 50 (71%) years of age. First, a statistically significant negative correlation (r = -.431, p < .0001) occurred between LBDQ overall scores and overall ISS scores: As chairs scored higher on leadership ability, they scored lower on intercultural sensitivity. Second, leadership style by demographic variable displayed mixed results. No significant difference was found for leadership style by age, gender, years of service, or region of service. For ethnicity, White participants scored significantly lower than Minority participants on the LBDQ scales of consideration (t [162] = -2.021, p = .045), structure (t [162] = -2.705, p = .008), and overall (t [162] = -2.864, p = .005). Minority participants might work more diligently to increase their leadership abilities based on their higher LDBQ scores. Third, findings on intercultural sensitivity by demographic variable were mixed. No statistical significance was observed between any of the ISS scales and age, gender, years of service, and region. For ethnicity, Minority participants’ scores showed significantly lower intercultural sensitivity than White participants scores on two of six ISS subscales: interaction enjoyment (t = -2.46, p = .015) and respect (t = 2.107, p = .037). It was concluded that the Minority and White department chairs’ leadership style and intercultural sensitivity differences could be due in part to differences in the chairs’ ethnic affiliations, associated cultural backgrounds, and views of dominant versus non-dominant cultures. Recommendations for study are included.

Since the start of the Syrian war, Jordan has received many Syrian refugees with around 650,000 Syrians now residing in the country. As the state has received a lot of help from the international community, funding refugee camps and providing basic necessities, a lot of international humanitarian practitioners have come to Jordan to work alongside Jordanian and Middle Eastern practitioners. The situation therefore has brought practitioners from different academic, professional and geographical backgrounds together to work with people of a different cultural background than their own. Syrians represent a vast diversity in terms of ethnic, religious, linguistic and socio-economic backgrounds. Research have addressed that practitioners’ sensitivity to how cultural complexities may influence social problems can facilitate a better understanding of the client’s path to recovery. The purpose of our study was to increase the knowledge of mental health and psychosocial support practitioners’ understanding and experience of a culturally sensitive social work in Amman, Jordan and discuss how this affects their practice with Syrian refugees. Through qualitative interviews we found that the practitioners’ perception of Arab culture as one and the same makes culture a non-issue in terms of cultural diversity, and that this perception influence the practice with Syrian refugees in a number of ways.