[DOWNLOAD] "Cultural Considerations for Social Service Agencies Working with Muslim Clients (Report)" by Social Work * Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Cultural Considerations for Social Service Agencies Working with Muslim Clients (Report)
- Author : Social Work
- Release Date : January 01, 2010
- Genre: Social Science,Books,Nonfiction,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 212 KB
Description
Social work is just beginning to adapt its knowledge base and practices to operate in a culturally diverse world. We refer to culture here as one aspect for consideration when understanding ethnoracial differences (Al-Krenawi & Graham, 2003):"the totality of ideas, beliefs, values, knowledge, and way of life of a group of people who share a certain historical, religious, racial, linguistic, ethnic, or social background" (Henry, Tator, Mattis, & Rees, 1995, p. 326). By definition, culture is very complex, making it even more necessary to understand it in relation to the social realities of an increasingly diverse and multiethnic North American continent. Culture is likewise fluid, intersecting with all other positionalities of gender, race, geography, class, and range of abilities; and culture changes over time and place, varying within and between people, communities, and circumstances. One of the most exciting multicultural initiatives in the social work profession is a localization movement that calls for developing a different social work knowledge base for each cultural encounter. This article considers Islam as a basis for localizing social work knowledge. The Muslim population in North America has been steadily increasing in recent years, adding urgency for such an exploratory study. In 2001, the population of Muslim people in Canada was approximately 2 percent of the entire population (Statistics Canada, 2001). Although the exact number of Muslims residing in the United States is uncertain, the PEW Research Center (2007) estimated that Muslims constitute 0.6 percent of the U.S. adult population. These figures project to approximately 1.4 million Muslims over the age of 18 currently living in the United States. Furthermore, within and between some Muslim communities there exists a substantial amount of diversity, and therefore one needs a variety of approaches when working with Muslim clients. This diversity is based on geographic background, level of acculturation in North America, and Sunni versus Shi'ia versus Ismaili traditions along with differences in religiosity, socioeconomic status, gender, and other social constructs that intersect with faith. As for any community, work with second- and third-generations of Muslim immigrants to North America may require different types of cultural considerations. This article limits itself to consideration of first-generation Muslim communities.