CARE08071 2022 Respecting Diversity: Cross-cultural Perspectives and the Social Professions

General Details

Full Title
Respecting Diversity: Cross-cultural Perspectives and the Social Professions
Transcript Title
Respecting Diversity
Code
CARE08071
Attendance
N/A %
Subject Area
CARE - Social Studies
Department
SOCS - Social Sciences
Level
08 - NFQ Level 8
Credit
05 - 05 Credits
Duration
Semester
Fee
Start Term
2022 - Full Academic Year 2022-23
End Term
9999 - The End of Time
Author(s)
Karin White
Programme Membership
SG_HSOCI_H08 202200 Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Social Care Practice SG_HSOCP_H08 202300 Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Social Care Practice SG_HSOCI_H08 202300 Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Social Care Practice
Description

All relationships in the social professions constitute sites of cross-cultural exchanges. Based on social justice and anti-oppressive principles, this module will assist students in the development of awareness, values, knowledge and skills essential for working effectively across diverse social locations and intersectional identities. It will further support the integration of global perspectives in their practice and the development of cross-cultural sensitivity and responsivity. Accordingly,  module will apply the anthropological gaze to the field of Social Care. Margaret Mead already discussed the cultural influence on the psychoanalytic nature of human beings, as well as such influences on political conflicts. Consequently, she called for the study of the inventories and patterns of different cultures. M.I Teicher refers to Mead and the collaboration between Social Care Work and Social Anthropology when he writes: ‘It is on the level of theory, on the level of methodology, on the level of understanding ourselves and our cultural assumptions , on the level of seeing our class-structured nature of our own profession…’

Students will encounter case studies such as working with street children in Addis Ababa, shaping alternative economies  with Sinti/Roma in Italy, working with members of the Traveller Community in Ireland, supporting unaccompanied minors seeking asylum, diversity in Eastern Europe, the concept of culture in the Social Professions, interdisciplinary approaches in Spain, working in Cities and more.

This module will explore topics such as

  • documenting the background of migrants,  and its contribution to the understanding and the success of social care work in the European recipient countries  
  • interdisciplinary work in practice, i.e. working with other disciplines and public servants to facilitate alternative economic activities of members of nomadic minority groups
  • urban research, i.e. social inequality and democratic participation
  • working with traumatised asylum seekers, in particular unaccompanied minors, working with other disciplines and using  anthropological/ethnological approaches to understand backgrounds and to avoid reduced concepts of culture
  • Training and institutionalising of  students, i.e.reflecting on and critiquing  the culturally determined content of theories
  • Working in the social professions in a globalised world
  • Action research and critical  work in the social professions, ethics and practice
  • Perspectives of others, reflections on the relationship between the professional and participant, continuous critical development and the role of Social Anthropology/ethnology.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this module the learner will/should be able to;

1.

Reflect on and critique the culturally determined content of acquired theories.

2.

Integrate global perspectives in their practice and further develop cross-cultural sensitivity and responsitivity.

3.

Critically apply anthropological/ethnological approaches to understand backgrounds and to avoid reduced concepts of culture.

4.

Increase awareness of how one’s cultural orientation affects understanding of people's concerns

5.

Explore and critique relevant theories and contemporary issues pertaining to culture, context and comparison

Teaching and Learning Strategies

 

 

 

 

Accessible course material

Active Learning

Case studies

Debate

Discussions

Enquiry-based learning

Fieldtrips

Group work

Inclusive teaching

Integrate prior knowledge

Interactive

Lectures

Presentation

Problem Solving

Reading

Reflect

Research

Use of Moodle as a repository

Student-led seminars

Module Assessment Strategies

 

Case Studies

Reflection

Annotated Bibliography

Student-led seminar

 

 

 

 

 

Repeat Assessments

Essay as set by lecturer.

Indicative Syllabus

Reflect on and critique the culturally determined content of acquired theories.

Students will revisit previously acquired theories such as Bowlby. Ainsworth attachment theory, Erikson's life stages, child development etc and critique them through the anthropological lens (for example Levine, Briggs, Norman etc) and with the help of ethnographic examples.(LO1)

Integrate global perspectives in their practice and further develop cross-cultural sensitivity and responsitivity.

Students will critically analyse case studies such as discussing work with street children in Addis Abbeba, Roma and Sinti in Italy, City populations,Irish Travellers, Asylum Seekers, unaccompanied minors in Germany and others, and connect this learning to their own practice.(LO2)

Critically apply anthropological/ethnological approaches to understand backgrounds and to avoid reduced concepts of culture.

Students will develop an understanding of ethnological/ethnographic methods and use the case studies and theories encountered in this module to create awareness of 'reductionism' and of the dangers of 'essentialising' people and cultures.(LO3)

Increase awareness of how one’s cultural orientation affects understanding of people's concerns

Students will reflect on their own culturally relative attitudes towards the 'other' and explore and recognise their own prejudices, perceptions and imaginary of the 'other' whiles recognising their own alterity and acquiring cultural humility. (LO4)

Explore and critique relevant theories and contemporary issues pertaining to culture, context and comparison

Students will enter into a discourse with relevant reading during weekly student-led seminars. (LO5)

Coursework & Assessment Breakdown

Coursework & Continuous Assessment
100 %

Coursework Assessment

Title Type Form Percent Week Learning Outcomes Assessed
1 Student led seminar Coursework Assessment Assessment 20 % Week 5 1,5
2 Case Study with annotated bibliography and reflection Project Project 80 % Week 12 2,3,4
             

Full Time Mode Workload


Type Location Description Hours Frequency Avg Workload
Lecture Tiered Classroom lecture 2 Weekly 2.00
Workshop / Seminar Flat Classroom student-led seminar 1 Weekly 1.00
Independent Learning Not Specified Independent Learning 4 Weekly 4.00
Total Full Time Average Weekly Learner Contact Time 3.00 Hours

Required & Recommended Book List

Required Reading
20/07/2021 cultural Competence: an ethical requirement journal of ethnic and cultural diversity in Social Work

Required Reading
2018-03-15 Different Faces of Attachment Cambridge University Press
ISBN 131661798X ISBN-13 9781316617984

Attachment between an infant and his or her parents is a major topic within developmental psychology. An increasing number of psychologists, evolutionary biologists and anthropologists are articulating their doubts that attachment theory in its present form is applicable worldwide, without, however, denying that the development of attachment is a universal need. This book brings together leading scholars from psychology, anthropology and related fields to reformulate attachment theory in order to fit the cultural realities of our world. Contributions are based on empirical research and observation in a variety of cultural contexts. They are complemented by careful evaluation and deconstruction of many of the underlying premises and assumptions of attachment theory and of conventional research on the role of infant-parent attachment in human development. The book creates a contextual cultural understanding of attachment that will provide the basis for a groundbreaking reconceptualization of attachment theory.

Required Reading
1970 Never in Anger Harvard University Press
ISBN 0674608283 ISBN-13 9780674608283

Portrait of an eskimo family. Anthropologist Jean Briggs spent seventeen months living on a remote Arctic shore as the 'adopted daughter' of an Eskimo family. Through vignettes of daily life she unfold a warm and perceptive tale of the behavioral patterns of the Utku, their way of training children, and their handling of deviations from desired behavior.

Required Reading
2016-11-22 Parenting After the Century of the Child Routledge
ISBN 1138260606 ISBN-13 9781138260603

Bridging the gap between studies orientated around parenthood and those on the 'globalization' of childhood, Parenting After the Century of the Child provides a timely intervention to the scholarship. It explores in depth negotiations of travelling ideals on childhood, showing the power of institutional implementations that affect parenting practices. Drawing on the latest research conducted in Europe, North and South America, Africa, and South East Asia, this book examines ideas currently travelling across the globe within institutional settings, providing new insights into the dynamics and ambivalences involved in the simultaneous reframing of childhood and parenthood. This truly global volume will appeal to anthropologists and sociologists with interests in gender, childhood studies and the sociology of the family.

Required Reading
2002 Purity and Danger Psychology Press
ISBN 0415289955 ISBN-13 9780415289955

In Purity and Danger Mary Douglas identifies the concern for purity as a key theme at the heart of every society. In lively and lucid prose she explains its relevance for every reader by revealing its wide-ranging impact on our attitudes to society, values, cosmology and knowledge. The book has been hugely influential in many areas of debate - from religion to social theory. But perhaps its most important role is to offer each reader a new explanation of why people behave in the way they do. With a specially commissioned introduction by the author which assesses the continuing significance of the work thirty-five years on, this Routledge Classics edition will ensure that Purity and Danger continues to challenge and question well into the new millennium.

Required Reading
2000-04-15 Steps to an Ecology of Mind University of Chicago Press
ISBN 0226039056 ISBN-13 9780226039053

Gregory Bateson was a philosopher, anthropologist, photographer, naturalist, and poet, as well as the husband and collaborator of Margaret Mead. This classic anthology of his major work includes a new Foreword by his daughter, Mary Katherine Bateson. 5 line drawings.

Required Reading
2013-12-04 Street Children and Homeless Youth Springer
ISBN 9400773552 ISBN-13 9789400773554

This book deals with street children who live in the developing world, and homeless youth who are from the developed world. They are referred to as children in street situations (CSS) to show that the problem is both in the children and in the situation they face. The book examines several aspects of the children and their street situations, including the families of origin and the homes they leave, the childrens social life, and mental health. Other aspects are the problems of published demographics, the construction of public opinion about these children and the, often violent, reactions from authorities. The book then discusses current research on children in street situations, as well as programs and policies. The book ends with recommendations about programs, policies and research.

Required Reading
1984-05-15 The City University of Chicago Press
ISBN 9780226646114 ISBN-13 0226646114

The City, first published in 1925 and reprinted here in its entirety, is a cross-section of concerns of the Chicago urban school during the period of its most intense activity. Park and Burgess realized that ecological and economic factors were converted into a social organization by the traditions and aspirations of city dwellers. In their efforts to achieve objectivity, these sociologists never lost sight of the values that propel human beings. "It is a classic which remains relevant largely because it poses questions still unresolved."Choice

Required Reading
2013-03-27 The Gang University of Chicago Press
ISBN 9780226799308 ISBN-13 0226799301

While gangs and gang culture have been around for countless centuries, The Gang is one of the first academic studies of the phenomenon. Originally published in 1927, Frederic Milton Thrashers magnum opus offers a profound and careful analysis of hundreds of gangs in Chicago in the early part of the twentieth century. With rich prose and an eye for detail, Thrasher looked specifically at the way in which urban geography shaped gangs, and posited the thesis that neighborhoods in flux were more likely to produce gangs. Moreover, he traced gang culture back to feudal and medieval power systems and linked tribal ethos in other societies to codes of honor and glory found in American gangs. Thrasher approaches his subject with empathy and insightfulness, and creates a multifaceted and textured portrait that still has much to offer to readers today. With handsome images that evoke the era, this unabridged edition of The Gang not only explores an important moment in the history of Chicago, but also is itself a landmark in the history of sociology and subcultural theory.

Required Reading
1990 The prison house of culture in the study of Turks in Germany Verlag Hans Schiler
ISBN 3923446721 ISBN-13 9783923446728
Required Reading
1983-02-24 The Traveller-Gypsies Cambridge University Press
ISBN 0521288703 ISBN-13 9780521288705

The first monograph to be published on Gypsies in Britain using the perspective of social anthropology.

Module Resources

Non ISBN Literary Resources
Updated Literary Resources
Journal Resources
URL Resources
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Additional Information