Integration, kulturkompetens och socialt arbete : En studie av hur "invandrarsocialarbetare" reflekterar över integration och kulturkompetens i arbetet med "invandrarklienter"
(2010) SOAM11 20092School of Social Work
- Abstract
- The purpose of this study is to investigate and analyze terms such as integration, culture and cultural competence in relation to Social Work and Social Workers with migrant background. By Social Workers with migrant background, I mean persons who are born outside Sweden and who have immigrated to Sweden. I am interested to know how this group of people experiences and understands their cultural orientation when working with clients of foreign origins. It is also interesting to investigate how this group perceives obstacles for foreign national's integration processes within the Swedish community. It is also interesting to investigate how this group of foreign nationals perceives and applies ethnic sensitive social work in their job... (More)
- The purpose of this study is to investigate and analyze terms such as integration, culture and cultural competence in relation to Social Work and Social Workers with migrant background. By Social Workers with migrant background, I mean persons who are born outside Sweden and who have immigrated to Sweden. I am interested to know how this group of people experiences and understands their cultural orientation when working with clients of foreign origins. It is also interesting to investigate how this group perceives obstacles for foreign national's integration processes within the Swedish community. It is also interesting to investigate how this group of foreign nationals perceives and applies ethnic sensitive social work in their job assignments.
I am focusing on the following questions in my study:
- How do Social Workers with migrant background perceive the term "cultural competence"?
- How do Social Workers with migrant background perceive the Swedish community's views of ethnic minority group's culture?
- What roll does Ethnic Sensitivity play for Social Workers with migrant background in their work with clients of foreign origins?
My methodological approach of this study is a reflective interpretation and a critical analysis. The theories I use to analyze my empirical data focus on the social construction of "the other" and the ethnic sensitive perspective. The study is methodologically carried out through qualitative interviews. The empirical material is based on interviews with 12 respondents.
The main conclusion of the study based on the acconts of the interviewees is that integration (as a mutual process) in Sweden for people of foreign background (immigrants) will not be solved to the extent that they are defined as "the others" and win which social work practices either aim at assimilation or exclusion. This process of othering (racialisation) entails, according to the interviewed migrant social workers, a social construction of the Swedish community through a white, homogeneous and Eurocentric ideology. This type of thinking by making a distinction between "us" and "them" often leads to a stereotypical ethnicity and culture which is questioned when defining cultural identity. A secondary conclusion is that migrant social workers are caught in a position og "in between", in which they perceive themselves as used by Swedish social work as a mediator in enforcing a one way integration, at the same time as they see themselves as better capable of dealing with migrant clients through culturally competence and ethnic sensitive social work. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1690204
- author
- Kim, Sook-Hee LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SOAM11 20092
- year
- 2010
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- cultural competence, culture, integration, ethnicity, ethnic sensitive social work
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 1690204
- date added to LUP
- 2011-01-24 09:22:36
- date last changed
- 2011-01-24 09:22:36
@misc{1690204,
abstract = {{The purpose of this study is to investigate and analyze terms such as integration, culture and cultural competence in relation to Social Work and Social Workers with migrant background. By Social Workers with migrant background, I mean persons who are born outside Sweden and who have immigrated to Sweden. I am interested to know how this group of people experiences and understands their cultural orientation when working with clients of foreign origins. It is also interesting to investigate how this group perceives obstacles for foreign national's integration processes within the Swedish community. It is also interesting to investigate how this group of foreign nationals perceives and applies ethnic sensitive social work in their job assignments.
I am focusing on the following questions in my study:
- How do Social Workers with migrant background perceive the term "cultural competence"?
- How do Social Workers with migrant background perceive the Swedish community's views of ethnic minority group's culture?
- What roll does Ethnic Sensitivity play for Social Workers with migrant background in their work with clients of foreign origins?
My methodological approach of this study is a reflective interpretation and a critical analysis. The theories I use to analyze my empirical data focus on the social construction of "the other" and the ethnic sensitive perspective. The study is methodologically carried out through qualitative interviews. The empirical material is based on interviews with 12 respondents.
The main conclusion of the study based on the acconts of the interviewees is that integration (as a mutual process) in Sweden for people of foreign background (immigrants) will not be solved to the extent that they are defined as "the others" and win which social work practices either aim at assimilation or exclusion. This process of othering (racialisation) entails, according to the interviewed migrant social workers, a social construction of the Swedish community through a white, homogeneous and Eurocentric ideology. This type of thinking by making a distinction between "us" and "them" often leads to a stereotypical ethnicity and culture which is questioned when defining cultural identity. A secondary conclusion is that migrant social workers are caught in a position og "in between", in which they perceive themselves as used by Swedish social work as a mediator in enforcing a one way integration, at the same time as they see themselves as better capable of dealing with migrant clients through culturally competence and ethnic sensitive social work.}},
author = {{Kim, Sook-Hee}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Integration, kulturkompetens och socialt arbete : En studie av hur "invandrarsocialarbetare" reflekterar över integration och kulturkompetens i arbetet med "invandrarklienter"}},
year = {{2010}},
}