Understanding the Client/Social Worker Relationship in a Multicultural Setting:

Abstract

As social work professionals, we need to be senstitive to the communication exchanges we engage in with our clients. At the best of times, cross-cultural communication has its difficulties and is even more problematic when interpreters are used. We need to understand the nature of these relationships and the lifetime of socialization that our clients have experienced which shape these relationships. The temptation of dismissing the difficulties as simply "a culture gap" reflects poorly on our individual practice and our profession as a whole. This paper examines the types of social bonding as they are applied to the client/social worker relationship. Two distinct forms of social bonding, interpersonal reciprocity and interdependency contract relationships, are examined and analyzed from a multicultural perspective in the social work setting. The role of interpreters is reviewed in relation to these communication patterns. The role of trustworthiness and the behaviors that enhance it are reviewed in light of the types of relationships professionals engage in with their clients. The paper then examines two classes of interventions, "changing" versus "supporting" the client, and how these intervention strategies relate to the ethno-cultural background of the client. The paper concludes with the suggestion that there are some very serious limitations on the professional's relationship in the cross-cultural setting. The professional may need to adjust his/her expectations of the relationship and adapt to more effective and realistic types of interventions.

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