From Cultural Competence to Cultural Consciousness: Transitioning to a Critical Approach to Working Across Differences in Social Work

Driven by increasing cultural diversity and growing inequities in health and social outcomes, cross-cultural competence has become a fundamental dimension of effective and ethical social work practice. It has assumed a prominent discourse in social work education, scholarship, professional practice, codes of ethics, and organizational policy; however, how one defines, acquires, applies, and evaluates cultural competencies continue to be issues...