Culturally sensitive social work education with Latinos

Abstract

This study examines the attitudes of social work education faculty about the breadth of content offered to MSW students to prepare them for culturally sensitive practice with Latinos. The overreaching issue with which this study is concerned is the extent to which social workers are prepared for culturally sensitive practice with Latinos in a manner and scope responsive to the service needs of this population. This quantitative study with a qualitative component was both exploratory and explanatory in nature, studying the perceptions of faculty around three main research questions: (1) What curriculum on culturally sensitive social work is being taught by faculty in Master of Social Work programs in the United States? (2) What are the attitudes of social work faculty regarding the curriculum in preparing students for culturally sensitive practice? and (3) What do faculty think is lacking in the curriculum regarding culturally sensitive social work practice with Latinos?;Overall, faculty perceive that their programs are doing a better job of preparing students for culturally sensitive social work in general than they are preparing students for social work with Latinos. Programs that implement the infusion model of teaching culturally sensitive social work with Latinos are more likely to utilize more teaching material pertaining Latinos than programs that implement a course specific model.;Implications of this research are discussed as the relate to: (1) shifting demographics that will lead to an increasing representation of Latinos in the United States; (2) the social service needs of Latinos; (3) the need and mandate for culturally sensitive social work practice; (4) the current lack of clarity regarding culturally sensitive social work; and (5) the globalization of social and economic institutions. Each of these points, in conjunction with the findings of this research, point to the need for MSW programs to assess their ability to train students for culturally sensitive social work practice with Latinos.