Cultural Intelligence for Clinical Social Work Practice

Abstract

The concept of cultural competence has long been promoted as a key educational practice priority in the profession of social work. However, assuming uniformity in a given culture and its values and beliefs without allowing for within-group diversity and the consideration of the intercultural interaction is problematic. This article delineates the dynamics of tapping into “cultural intelligence”, which uses a different approach to understanding cultural diversity and cross-cultural interactions by focusing on the interactional field that operates in cross-cultural clinical encounters.