In an increasingly diverse social environment, misunderstandings often arise between practitioners in the helping professions and clients from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. This book investigates the culturally specific beliefs and child-rearing practices of five major racial/ethnic groups: African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and European Americans. Analyses of case vignettes illustrate the book's dual focus on the practitioners' own views in addition to those of their culturally diverse clients. Guidelines offer suggestions for effective engagement and work with culturally diverse families.

CULTURALLY COMPETENT PRACTICE: A FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING DIVERSE GROUPS & JUSTICE ISSUES will help you become a more informed helping professional through its strong tradition of presenting a model for understanding, measuring, and evaluating cultural competence. Author Doman Lum explains how clients and workers can become culturally competent and proficient by working through culturally based problems together. This text emphasizes cultural competence as a dialogical process and challenges students and professors to continue the conversation to achieve greater mutual understanding and social justice.