Culturally competent protection of children's mental health

Abstract

The protection of the mental health of black and other ethnic minority children and young people has not received adequate attention in the literature. This paper considers, describes and discusses the concept of culturally competent practice. Ways in which practitioners can better understand the needs of children in a multicultural, diverse society and intervene in more effective ways are assessed. Finally, the components of a culturally competent practice to support families in the protection of children's mental health are summarized, together with the implications for practice. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Culturally Appropriate Interventions in Social Work

“…However, integration requires consideration of fair and useful service outcomes delivered through systems and structures that allow user-led identification of need and intervention methods. The relationship between ideas such as integration and the delivery and outcome of public sector services has received little attention in social work research and literature particularly in areas such as children's mental health (Walker, 2002).…”

“…Organizational assumptions and interpretations need to be considered alongside those provided by global and national bodies and checked against evidence-based practice. Service interventions can then better relate to particular circumstances and matched to individual and group capacity, strengths, and resilience (Walker, 2002).…”

“…Many countries have developed statutory instruments, which allow individual challenges against discriminatory actions and behaviors. Societies like these are more likely to acknowledge racism as a social construct and have people living together in multiracial communities that demonstrate a clear commitment to improving relations and sharing cultural, religious, and other practices (Aveling, 2007;Walker, 2002).…”

“…Such ideas are used to develop professional practice through organizations such as the International Federation of Social Workers, European Federation of Social Workers, International Association of Schools of Social Work, and national organizations such as the British Association of Social Workers in the United Kingdom. Although standard setting is important in social work (Gray et al, 2008), using global yardsticks to interpret individual cultural interventions can be contextually problematic, that is, it may lead to a professional focus on appropriate behavior rather than on the more politicized, institutional effects of race and racism (Dominelli and Thomas Bernard, 2003;Walker, 2002).…”

“…Professional interventions may be defined as context-dependent expert interactions used to meet the specific social, health, or psychological needs of individuals, groups, and communities. The aim is to maximize understanding, minimize risk, and take full account of behavior and emotion (Walker, 2002). Cultural competence should be based on advanced knowledge of factors (such as class, race, sex, and income) that intersect to advantage or disadvantage service users (Law, 2010).…”