Date of Award

6-2018

Document Type

Project

Degree Name

Master of Social Work

Department

School of Social Work

First Reader/Committee Chair

Deirdre Lanesskog

Abstract

The Masters in Social Work (MSW) program at California State University of San Bernardino utilizes a substantial portion of lecture hours bringing attention to areas in which racial disparities exist, as well as the negative impact that these racial disparities have on certain cultures and communities. This project focuses on the disparities involving African-American families in the public child welfare system and how cultural competence trainings may impact this overrepresentation. This research project consists of the exploration of past research relevant to this project, which pertains to cultural competence, the overrepresentation of African-American, and trainings on cultural competence. In addition, a 5-point Likert-scale survey focused on the need and effectiveness of cultural competency trainings from a student’s perspective, was completed by CSUSB MSW students. The data was then analyzed using SPSS statistics software employing tests that included frequencies, ANOVA, and a t-test. This project hypothesized that perspectives on cultural competence and cultural competence trainings differed along racial lines, and that there was no significant difference in response based on year in MSW program. Only the latter was support according to the data. This could also be interpreted to mean that students are not receiving much curriculum on cultural competence, which the curriculum is not meaningful enough to change their perceptions, or that students enter the program with fairly favorable perceptions of the importance of cultural competency.

Included in

Social Work Commons

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