Week One Discussion Questions
• Why it is important for human services workers to study and understand diversity and differences?
It is extremely important for a human service professional to study and understand diversity and differences in groups to be an effective worker when working with different groups than one’s own. This allows you to be more sensitive to their culture, attitudes, and beliefs and to come up with effect ways of helping people of diverse groups. It is important to mold a therapy session according to the individual and not to impose your own personal beliefs.
• Have you used language in a hurtful way without meaning to? How do you propose to become more self-aware of the language you use?
I think we all have at some point in time used language and or body language in a hurtful way maybe without even noticing or realizing we did it. At times when we see something we aren’t used to seeing especially in our culture we may give that person a strange look or say something hurtful without even thinking or filtering our opinions. It is important to be sensitive to cultural diversity and being aware that not everyone is alike; some groups of people do things differently or have different viewpoints than I may have and it is important for me not to criticize their ways and not impose my beliefs on them.
• Review the concept of White privilege. What is one example where you have experienced privilege and one example where you have been the victim of an institutionalized “ism”? Although I am not White decent there have been a few situations where I have experience privilege. At my current job at the Department of Public Social Services for Riverside I applied and passed the required tests, I also took a Spanish test which put me on the top of the list to be hired. Because of my high score and of course successful interview I was hired on