Is Cultural Sensitivity Always a Good Thing? Arguments for a Universalist Social Work

Cowden, Stephen ORCID: 0000-0002-2549-8760 and Singh, Gurnam (2013) Is Cultural Sensitivity Always a Good Thing? Arguments for a Universalist Social Work. In: Practical Social Work Ethics. Ashgate, Abingdon, pp. 63-82. ISBN 9781409438250

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Abstract

The requirement for social workers to be sensitive to cultural difference has now become accepted as an essential component of best practice – indeed, social workers failing to display sensitivity to cultural differences would most likely be seen to be in contravention of most professional ethics frameworks. However, closer scrutiny as to exactly how and to what degree one should display cultural sensitivity in practice reveals a complex set of ethical and philosophical dilemmas for social workers. This chapter is concerned with a discussion of these. The chapter concludes with a call for the reconstruction of a universalist ethics in social work, and offers Nussbaum and Sen’s ‘Capability Framework’ as offering a way in which this could be done in Social Work practice.

Item Type: Book Section
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races
Divisions: Schools and Research Institutes > School of Health and Social Care
Research Priority Areas: Creative Practice and Theory
Depositing User: Stephen Cowden
Date Deposited: 05 Jul 2021 08:34
Last Modified: 27 Jul 2023 15:37
URI: https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/9871

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