As we grow up we take what we have learned from our families into our own lives as well as adapt to our own personal identity which is where we will use our morals and our values that we were taught growing up. Sometimes we may not have been brought up in the healthiest of environments but have the willingness to change. Growing up I really never had the chance to be around a diverse culture. In my small community we had an African American family move in when I was in middle school but that was not diverse enough to have the understanding of what it meant by white power or even their culture. When I moved to the bigger city to attend college it was then that I learned about diverse populations. At first I was very scared and had no trust for …show more content…
My parents always had this way of pushing me to do what I believed in, even now that I am 43 years old I am told to never give up and set out to reach your goals. As a child, my parents would empower me to go to church, do good in the community and make the best out of my life. Church was a huge factor in growing up in our household. It was every Sunday from 9-10:15 a.m. and then Sunday school following. As I grew within the church I was then confirmed and even taught Sunday school. The church not only taught me to be understanding of other cultures and religions but also to those who are oppressed in our society. It was all about giving; we should always be willing to help others in their time of …show more content…
Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman (2016) define ethnocentrism based on the belief that one’s own group is superior” (p. 255). Any minority groups that would have moved to our community would have had a hard time fitting in especially if they were not of the Christian faith. According to Newport (2011), “During the Christmas season, 78% of American adults identify with some form of Christian religion. Less than 2% are Jewish, less than 1% are Muslim, and 15% do not have a religious identity; that means that 95% of all Americans who have a religious identity are Christians” (para. 1). Today in our society people have to be more open minded in regards to other cultures and diverse populations as we are surrounded by them no matter where you go. By learning more about other cultures I believe it would cut down on some of the stigmatisms that many people face on a daily basis. Cultural competency is something that a social worker must take very seriously and do everything they can to learn about as many cultures as possible to effectively work with their clients. As a social worker we are bound to follow the Code of Ethics. These Code of Ethics has six core values that we are expected to