Cultural Competency: An Individual or Institutional Responsibility?

Abstract

AlTHOUGH the presence of African people in Nova Scotia dates back to the early 1600s (Pachai 1987), they continue to struggle for the most basic rights, including the right to culturally competent services (Etowa, Bernard, Clow & Oyinsan, in press). The recent recognition of Canada's multicultural reality is the result of significant demographic changes that have seen a substantial increase of various ethnic groups in cities and towns across the nation, changing the very fabric of Canadian society. The effects of these demographic changes are being felt throughout Canada and the Western world as a whole, as many organizations, including those that provide human services, are continually being challenged to deliver services that are appropriate and relevant to diverse groups. Schools of social work across the country have been challenged, encouraged, and supported in their efforts to address issues of culture, ethnicity, and race since the early 1990s (Christensen 1991; Zamparo, Bernard, Seebaran, Blum, Razack & DuBois, 2000). Providing culturally relevant and competent services continues to be one of the greatest challenges facing social workers in the 21st century. We posit that the need to become culturally competent in multicultural service delivery should not only focus on recent immigrants, however, but also on those people of African descent who have been here for centuries. Furthermore, we suggest that the definition of cultural competence must be expanded to include exploration of issues of oppression, power, and privilege and how these contribute to the helping relationship when culturally relevant and competent services are being delivered.

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