Much ado is being made these days in the world of social work education about culturally competent practice, and, at least among academics in the field, a great deal of emphasis is being placed on embracing cultural diversity in all it's forms. However I fear based on the texts chosen by, and the lectures given by some of my social work professors that the pendulum is starting to swing too far the other way. It appears that the old analogy of a 'melting pot' as a descriptor of America has fallen out of favor, and been replaced with the "tossed salad" metaphor. I understand the reason for the pendulum swing: certain members of the dominant culture (a culture predominantly of western European roots) are concerned that they are potentially destroying the minority cultures (i.e. the non-dominant cultures) that exist within the borders of the United States.
What I think many of these academics fail to appreciate is the very vital need for all of the diverse groups within the borders of a particular nation state to assimilate into and adopt one unifying national culture--at least in the public sphere; however I would encourage culturally diverse groups in the United States to continue to practice and maintain their own unique cultural heritage in their private spheres. In the most extreme case, without a single unifying American culture with which all groups can indentify and call their own, we risk descending into factionalism and becoming little more than a continent populated by countless tribal groups delineated by culture, and who just happen to all be living within the borders of the former United States. However less extreme cases of factionalism can still tear this country apart, even if it doesn't destroy it outright. Cultural competence is essential for both the generalist and clinical practicioner, but an over-emphasis on diversity may lead to a mindset whereby members and groups of society focus on how they are different from one another, rather than how they are the same. In my estimation focusing on our differences, rather than on our similarities is a recipe for more the social strife we have seen for the last one hundred years--and beyond.
Greetings and salutations! :P My name is Chris. I am social work graduate student at a university in Florida, and this is my blog. I created this blog as a dedicated space to discuss social work and mental health issues and practice. It may not be exclusively social work all the time, but I'll try to keep the theme going. I will be writing of my experiences and the issues I confront as I progress through graduate school and beyond.
Show us the best picture you took in 2006.
Submitted by Captured Moments.2006 was a really eventful year for us.
When looking through all my photos I realised how much had happened, so instead of showing my best picture I have decided to show the highlights of my year.2006 was a really eventful year. When looking through all my photos I realised how much had happened, so instead of showing my best picture I have decided to show the highlights of my year.
2006 was definitely the year of babies!
This photo shows Sam at 1 month old. Sam is was the first child born within our group of friends, he's Derek and Estelle's son and he was born a few weeks early on 21 Feb 2006.
We had a very mild winter at the end of 2005 and thought that we were into spring when at the beginning of March we had the most amazing snow storm with 75cm of snow falling within 24hours. A record amount of snow in Basel!
A few weeks later, spring arrived and we attended a huge food festival nearby in Lörrach Germany, there were stalls selling everything a foodie could wish for. Stewart was drooling at the sight of all these olives!
The second baby of the year was Jake, he was born to Frank and Claire in May 2006. Unfortunately I don't have a picture here of the third baby who came 6 weeks early to Amanda and André. He's a happy healthy little boy also named Sam!
May was a very happy month which also saw the marriage of one of my closest friends - Kate she married her Swiss fiancé Sacha in the highlands of Scotland. It was the most incredible day!
June saw the arrival of the World Cup, held in our neighbouring country of Germany. The atmosphere was fabulous!! We went on vacation for a week to the Black Forest and my Uncle travelled over to join us. The weather was glorious and we also took a day trip to the beautiful city of Konstanz. Highly recommended.
July bought us more visitors this time in the shape of my Aunt, my cousin and her two daughters. We are all extremely close and had the best time! The weather was extremely hot!! We took the girls to the local Gartenbad (outdoor swimming pool), the nature park, the zoo and finally to Europa Park. This is a picture of Jenna who loved having her face painted as a little mouse.
In August it was my turn to get a surprise when we found out that we too were expecting our first child. This is my 12 week scan taken in October. Our little boy is due in May 2007.
Finally to round off 2006 we spent Christmas in Glasgow with family and friends. It was wonderful. As you can see I went a little crazy shopping for the baby in the sales!
What's the first image that comes up when you Google your name?
Not me..
Ever get away with saying somebody else did it?
Apparently I as a kid I always tried to blame my younger cousin for anything I had done which had been discovered. We are 1 year and 1 day apart and grew up pretty much like sisters. One story I've never been able to live down was when for some reason I had left a bite mark in my mothers new metal venetian blinds (it was back in the 70's and I was about 4 years old) and blamed poor Julie once again. She was however vindicated when my mum and my aunt stood conducted a little home forensics experiment by standing my cousin and next to said blinds. As if by magic the offending bite mark matched my mouth height exactly (Julie was a little smaller than me then)! Aparently I said that Julie must have stood on a chair to commit the act as it definately wasn't me!!
What a cheek!!!
How many bones have you broken? Yours or someone else's?
The nearest I've ever come to a real break was about 10 years ago when I fractured my wrist. Pretty luck really since I'm incredibly clumsy and always tripping over, into and under things..
Show us something that you really treasure.
Submitted by An Olympic Dream.
Our unborn baby, this was taken about 10 weeks ago but is still my clearest scan. He's due in May this year.
Do you have any phobas?
Submied by Amirul B Ruslan.
Pidgeons, I hate them, they make my skin crawl and give me the heebie jeebies... To be honest I'm not really a fan of most flying things...
Show us something from the 80's.
This was a joint birthday party held for my cousin pictured in the center who was 5 years old and me on my 6th birthday. Our birthdays are 1 days apart so we always had joint parties growing up. They were great fun. This was taken in 1981 . I'm the one with the dark hair in the middle and the girl behind me is my best friend Natalie (we're still best friends today) and the girl at the front right was called Shirley Anne she lived down stairs from my grandmother who you can just see in the background.
