Essay: Importance Of Strength-Based Approach In Cross-Cultural Practice With Diverse Families.

Discuss about the Working with Diverse Families for Cross-Cultural Practice.

Strength based practice promotes and supports a god family-centred practices within the diverse families. According to Hollinger (2007), the care workers should communicate with the members of the diverse families in order to help them to solve interpersonal problems and to enhance problem solving and parenting skills. This particular discourse will discuss the importance of cross-cultural practice, which is closely interlinked with the strength-based practices for working with the diverse families. The essential elements of cross-cultural practice involve engaging every family member in order to provide a direct assistance during the encounter of critical challenges. This specific discourse will explain the importance of strength-based approach for working with the diverse families and the policies of strength based practices. Even at the end of the discussion, there will be mention of any literature gap, which is required for further studies on this particular topic of cross-cultural practices to work with the diverse families. This particular study will explain the necessity of the modern technologies in order to strengthen the professional, interpersonal and personal knowledge for working with the diverse families. All of these skills are required for the care workers, as they have to deal with the care service users from diverse families. There are often contradictions and tensions among the members of the group in a care home of within the families.

Australia has a culturally diverse population; therefore, the care workers should understand the necessity of strength-based practice as it is closely associated with the policies or practices while working with the diverse families. Odom & Kaul (2003) have mentioned that the child protection in care homes is an instance that clearly supports the concept of strengths based practice in health care. The residential programmes, which work with the children and to maintain their safety within a particular care home or foster care, the particular requirements, should be addressed within a structured health care environment. Although the government of Australian has certain effective laws, regulations and legislations in order to maintain the safety of the children in foster care or home care. Even the cross-cultural practices involve the community based group homes in order to help the children to use the residential campus facilities under the juvenile justice systems both for the youth and for children to deal with the behavioural problems and mental health. The care workers should possess some unique and innovative process in order to deal with the members of an identified group of different socio-economic class, gender group, language o the ethnic group. There is a dichotomy and differences in between the family policies across the world and the country policies. It can be the societal, structural or the individual factors that may influence the behaviour of the members in diverse families. The care workers have to face several relevant issues within the diverse families and most of the confront issues involve regarding adolescence, ageing, birth and adulthoods.

Cross-cultural Practices for Child Protection Services

Among the existing strategies, which are directly enhancing the permanency, wellbeing and safety of the children for tailoring the services to the unique and interesting requirements by building upon existing strengths and regulations. As the child welfare, policy makers and agency administrators constantly strive for improving the services and the results for children in the care home. Australian government has established potential child welfare practices and policies, which facilitate and promote the strength-based and individualised approach. Brotherton (2011) has suggested that policy plays a crucial role for sustaining a strength-based practice as without it; there will be no development of children care in the care homes or foster care. The functions of the family practices are closely interconnected with the established values, norms and beliefs of own culture. There are numerous inquiries related to the child protection services in various locations of Australia and a large attributable part that rises a demand on the child protection services because the health care workforce often suffers from the practice of low-morale of the care workers, who are ill-equipped from the concerned roles and responsibilities of them (Emeraldinsight.com, 2016). This particular study reflects the intent underpinning of the current reforms for discussing a promise of public health approach and the appearance of not delivering the desired results. The care workers have to understand the basic culture of the diverse families in order to cope up with the mentality of the members regarding the concept of sexuality, partnering, parenting, gender, sustaining committed relationships and work pressures. In most of the cases, the fundamental structure of the society cares and nurtures the emotions of the children and the adult members of the diverse families. Every individual and the families are completely different from the other; therefore, the care workers should understand the existing culture of the diverse families and treat accordingly with providing adequate respect.

In Australia, the strength-based and individualised approach has been referred the practice methods and essential strategies to identify a drastic shift from deficit approach that emphasises the existing problems in the care homes in order to support a positive kind of partnership with the family. There are linguistically and culturally diverse, migrant and refugee children in the care home of Australia. Ife (2012) has referred that the cross-cultural practices play an important role to mitigate any kind of challenges within the care home. The department of communities and the government of Australia value the cultural diversity and guess on the existing challenges and issues, which should be resolved by the management of the care home. The care workers strictly follow the organisational policies and framework in order to control any kind of critical issues within a diverse environment of health care. As opined by Early & GlenMaye (2012), cross-cultural practices value the diversity in workplace and it values and respects the positive kind of parenting practices within the diverse families also in order to support the contribution of the care workers from diverse background. The Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) is member-funded and non-profitable organisation in order to advocate the ultimate future of the children of Australia (Australian Childcare Alliance, 2016). The management of this health care organisation operates the opportunities for providing the children adequate education in order to secure their future for their personal development. The cross-cultural practices are significant for the child protection according to the rues and regulation of Child Protection Act 1999 that clearly reflects that proper principle should be administrated for supporting the best interests within the care homes of Australia. Durgunoglu & Verhoeven (2013) have determined the fact that parenting across cultures can become challenges in certain times for developing a perfect sense of belonging and cultural identity.

Importance of Cross-cultural Practice and Strength-Based Approach

According to Greenfield & Cocking (2014), an institutional approach reviews the welfare of child protection in the residential and foster care as it can be applied to all of the healthcare organisations with the preventive concentration. Although at the initial view there can be hardly any similarities in between Strengths Based Practice and Cross-cultural practice for representing an alternative review of the welfare of the child protection in the residential and foster care. Miranda (2014) has mentioned that the child protection services can be reflected as a clear example of the residual approach and the welfare responses can be triggered with the suspects of an individual regarding the abuse, negligence and imminent risk. On the other hand, the suspicions to the child protection services can be assess, monitored the investigation, allegation, and intervene during the requirement. Even the cross-cultural practices help to reduce the adversity and violence within the residential and foster care as it clearly denotes the maltreatment (Unisa.edu.au, 2016). The child protection services are mandate in order to respond to the sexual abuse, physical abuse, and emotional abuse, witnessing family violence and experiencing neglect. As all of these abusive natures of the individual may influence the mental health and wellbeing of the children, therefore, the Australian Childcare Alliance truly, engage effective and trustworthy care workers, who promote and support the cross-cultural practices within the health care organisations. Child protection services incorporate the evidence-based approach of cross-cultural practices through the corresponding expansion of the existing possibilities and scope (Odom & Kaul, 2003). Various researches and studies actually help the care workers to understand the existing issues within the diverse families in order to cope up with the diverse situations. Even in the care homes, there are ethnic, regional conflicts, contradictions regarding racism, migration and poverty. However, there are certain instances that reveal the impact of globalisation in the activities of the diverse families.

The Australian Childcare Alliance adheres to the laws and legislations of Australia irrespective of the different culture, race, ethnicity, language and religion among the children. Even the Juvenile Justice Act 2000 provides an establishment of 24-hour residential shelters for the children with diverse cultural background. The concerned healthcare organisation ensures the protection and welfare of the children as it comes under the Child Rights Act 2005, which supports the shelter and care home for the children. According to Harper-Dorton (2012), cross-cultural practices are potential enough to create an inclusive environment that may strengthen a positive relationship with local community for bringing a completely new perspective to encourage individual from different background. Even the cross-cultural practise is closely interconnected with the strength-based approach, which helps to identify the basic culture of the children in home care or foster home. As opined by Lee (2013), the cultural identity is supportive for the gradual enhancement of the self-esteem, a perfect sense of belonging the community and identity of the children. Even all of these factors can be considered as protective factors for the wellbeing and mental health in early childhood. Cross-cultural practices can be developed with the process of storytelling, language, routine, traditions and relationship with the other children in the care home. The care workers of the Australian Childcare Alliance help the children of this particular care home to be connected with their own heritage with an effective procedure of sharing cultural practices and stories. On the other hand, the cross-cultural practices helps to build a strong and stable social networks both  for the children and their respective families as it truly helps to feel an essential segment of the community. Straussner (2012) has mentioned ethnocentrism can be considered as an effective term for judging and evaluating the culture of others with the established standards of an individual. On the other hand, cultural relativism helps to understand the basic aspects of the other cultures in order to gain an in-depth knowledge and empathetic understanding of another individual’s culture. The Australian Childcare Alliance has chosen the selective adoption procedure, which promotes certain practices that are valued and appreciated while the other healthcare organisations in Australia has rejected for further development in the health care industry of Australia. As opined by Kinloch & Metge (2014), various development models on the cross-cultural practices are required to move from the place of ethnocentrism to the social engagement and informed reflection for claiming and recognising an individual’s own ethnocentrism. Even the adopting position of the cultural relativism and the reflection on the ethical engagement actually denotes an initiation of the social changes (Australian Childcare Alliance, 2016).

Policies of Strength-Based Practice

The strength-based practices with the diverse families help to gain an in-depth knowledge for understanding the policies and practices while providing care services to the members of diverse families (Kinloch & Metge, 2014). There are certain strengths and limitation of the implication of the strength-based practices. The strengths of this particular practice involve seeking support for adjusting with the other members within the family. It is noteworthy to mention here that it takes certain times to find appropriate care workers, as it is tough to find a suitable care worker, who efficiently works to maintain cross-cultural practices within health care organisations. According to Shiraev & Levy (2015), a cross-cultural practice within the Australia Childcare Alliance helps to adjust with the new children after migration that can encounter some serious kind of challenges for children and diverse families. In order to adjust with the new community in effective manner for instances, the young children requires different requirements for helping them to adjust in the new community rather than the adult individuals.

The literature gap of this particular discourse involves that there are hardly any scope or possibility of suggestions for the educators, which play an essential role for maintain the cross-cultural practices in the diverse families. The concerned literature while completing this study falls in between the necessity of role of educators for supporting both the families and the children from various culturally diverse backgrounds. Even there are hardly any mentions about the approachable nature of the educators or the care workers in order to understand the necessity of cross-cultural practices for dealing with the diverse families. The health care organisations of Australia should promote ideas for enhancing the process of cross-cultural suggestions within the care home. Even the management of the care home should arrange an effective and potential training session in order to help the care workers to mitigate any kind of challenges that they face while dealing with the diverse families and children in the residential or foster care.

Conclusion

Strengths Based Practice with the diverse families is an important aspect and in this particular study, cross-cultural practices, which is related to the Strengths Based Practice. This particular discourse clearly explains the importance of child protection n consideration to the Australia Childcare Alliance. Even at the end of this study, there are an identification and explanation of a literature gap. This particular discourse reveals differential response on the sensible and pragmatic addition to the existing child protection services as it does not resolve the existing problems of the concerned health care organisations in Australia. However, the effective recommendations can customise the responses that are solely depended upon the individual requirements and demands. Even there should be a proper collaboration for the child protection services of the Australian Childcare Alliance with the other community partners in the various locations of Australia.

References

Australian Childcare Alliance. (2016). Home Australianchildcarealliance.org.au. Retrieved 14 November 2016, from https://www.australianchildcarealliance.org.au/

Brotherton, G. (2011). Working with children, young people and families - the policy context. In G. Brotherton, H. Davies & G. McGillivray (Eds.), Working with children, young people and families (pp. 1-15). London: Sage.

Durgunoglu, A. Y., & Verhoeven, L. (2013). Literacy development in a multilingual context: Cross-cultural perspectives. Routledge.

Early, T. J., & GlenMaye, L. F. (2012). Valuing families: Social work practice with families from a strengths perspective. Social Work, 45(2), 118-130.

Emeraldinsight.com (2016) Barriers to inclusion and successful engagement of parents in mainstream services.  Retrieved from: https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/JCS-05-2014-0027?journalCode=jcs

Greenfield, P. M., & Cocking, R. R. (2014). Cross-cultural roots of minority child development. Psychology Press.

Harper-Dorton, K. V. (2012). Cross-cultural practice: Social work with diverse populations. Lyceum Books, Incorporated.

Hollinger, M. (2007). Chapter 14 Ethical Reflections for a globalized family curriculum: a developmental paradigm.  In Sherif-Trask, B. & Hamon, R. (eds.). Cultural Diversity and Families: Expanding Perspectives. Thousand Oaks. Sage Publications Inc.

Ife, J. (2012). Human rights and social work: Towards rights-based practice. Cambridge University Press.

Kinloch, P., & Metge, J. (2014). Talking past each other: problems of cross cultural communication. Victoria University Press.

Lee, J. A. (2013). The empowerment approach to social work practice. Columbia University Press.

Miranda, A. (2014). Best practices in increasing cross-cultural competency. Best practices in school psychology: Foundations, 9-20.

Odom, S.L., & Kaul, S. (2003). Early intervention themes and variations from around the world: Summary. In S. Odom, L (Ed.), Early intervention practices around the world.

Shiraev, E. B., & Levy, D. (2015). Cross-cultural psychology: Critical thinking and contemporary applications. Routledge.

Straussner, S. L. A. (Ed.). (2012). Ethnocultural factors in substance abuse treatment. Guilford Press.

Unisa.edu.au (2016) Contemporary issues in child protection intake, referral and family support. Retrieved from: https://search.ror.unisa.edu.au/media/researcharchive/open/9915910257901831/53108750520001831