Interdisciplinary contributions to social work have supported the profession’s development as a helping profession. Indeed, drawing from other disciplines has been a way to hone intervention approaches. This article analyzes the history of social work’s use of anthropological theory about “culture” in order to critically examine the profession’s positioning as a “recipient” of theories. At a time when evidence-based practice is a dominant ideal, this paper offers an opportunity to step back and interrogate a key concept, culture, that is often evoked as interventions are tailored for various populations.
Findings
While social work has substantially debated and revised how it approaches culture difference, the core conceptualization of culture as a relatively static set of shared values and traits remains ill-suited to the complex negotiation of diversity in social work practice. The limitations of the culture concept are symptomatic of an exchange relationship with anthropology that positions social work practitioners primarily as recipients of concepts, rather than as interlocutors.
Application
By treating intervention as an opportunity for theory revision, anthropologists and social workers can better account for the hybridity, change, and contestation of difference in social work practice. As the social work profession expands globally, a more dialogical engagement with anthropological theories about culture and other key concepts may prove fruitful.
AbramsL. S.MoioJ. A. (2009).
Critical race theory and the cultural competence dilemma in social work education. Journal of Social Work Education,
45(2), 245–261. https://doi.org/10.5175/JSWE.2009.200700109
2.
Abu-LughodL. (1991). Writing against culture. Recapturing anthropology: Working in the present (Richard G. Fox, Ed., pp. 137–162). School of American Research Press.
3.
AlvarezA. R.GutiérrezL. M. (2001).
Choosing to do participatory research: An example and issues of fit to consider. Journal of Community Practice,
9(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1300/J125v09n01_01
AustinD. M. (1979).
Research and social work: Educational paradoxes and possibilities. Journal of Social Service Research,
2(2), 159–176. https://doi.org/10.1300/J079v02n02-02
6.
BabaM. L. (2000).
Theories of practice in anthropology: A critical appraisal.Annals of Anthropological Practice,
18(1), 17–44. https://doi.org/10.1525/napa.2000.18.1.17
7.
BeresfordP. (2000).
Service users’ knowledges and social work theory: Conflict or collaboration?The British Journal of Social Work,
30(4), 489–503. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/30.4.489
8.
BogoM. (2006).
Field instruction in social work: A review of the research literature.The Clinical Supervisor,
24(1–2), 163–193. https://doi.org/10.1300/J001v24n01_09
Briggs, C. L. (1986). Learning how to ask: A sociolinguistic appraisal of the role of the interview in social science research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
11.
BrillerS.SankarA. (2013).
Engaging opportunities in urban revitalization: Practicing Detroit anthropology. Annals of Anthropological Practice,
37(1), 156–178. https://doi.org/10.1111/napa.12022
12.
BrodwinP. (2013). Everyday ethics: Voices from the front line of community psychiatry.
University of California Press.
13.
BuchE. D. (2013).
Senses of care: Embodying inequality and sustaining personhood in the home care of older adults in Chicago.American Ethnologist,
40(4), 637–650. https://doi.org/10.1111/amet.12044
CarrE. S. (2010). Scripting addiction: The politics of therapeutic talk and American sobriety.
Princeton University Press.
16.
Chin, M. (2019). Sacrificial entrepreneurship: the political economy of queer and trans of color community arts under neoliberalism. Journal of Homosexuality. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2019.1698912
17.
ChuW. C.TsuiM. S. (2008).
The nature of practice wisdom in social work revisited. International Social Work,
51(1), 47–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872807083915
Clifford, J. (1986). Introduction: Partial Truths. In J. Clifford, & G. Marcus (Eds), Writing culture: the poetics and politics of ethnography (pp. 1–26). Berkeley: University of California Press.
20.
CohenJ. (1964).
Social work and the culture of poverty. Social Work, 9(1), 3–11.
21.
CollinsC. C.DresslerW. W. (2008).
Cultural models of domestic violence: Perspectives of social work and anthropology students. Journal of Social Work Education,
44(2), 53–74. https://doi.org/10.5175/JSWE.2008.200600101
22.
Curran, L. (2003). The culture of race, class and poverty: The emergence of a cultural discourse in early Cold War social work (1946-1963). The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, 30, 15–38.
23.
De LeónJ. (2015). The land of open graves: Living and dying on the migrant trail (Vol.
36).
University of California Press.
24.
DominelliL. (2014).
Internationalizing professional practices: The place of social work in the international arena. International Social Work,
57(3), 258–267. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872814522671
25.
FabianJ. (1983). Time and the other: How anthropology makes its object.
Columbia University Press.
26.
FergusonH. (2014).
Researching social work practice close up: Using ethnographic and mobile methods to understand encounters between social workers, children and families. The British Journal of Social Work,
46(1), 153–168. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcu120
27.
Ferguson, H. (2016). What social workers do in performing child protection work: Evidence from research into face-to-face practice. Child & Family Social Work, 21(3), 283–294.
28.
Fisher-BorneM.CainJ. M.MartinS. L. (2015).
From mastery to accountability: Cultural humility as an alternative to cultural competence. Social Work Education,
34(2), 165–181. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2014.977244
FloerschJ.LonghoferJ.SuskewiczJ. (2014).
The use of ethnography in social work research. Qualitative Social Work,
13(1), 3–7. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325013510985
31.
FurmanR.NegiN. J.IwamotoD. K.RowanD.ShukraftA.GraggJ. (2009).
Social work practice with Latinos: Key issues for social workers.Social Work,
54(2), 167–174. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/54.2.167
32.
GilgunJ. F. (2005).
The four cornerstones of evidence-based practice in social work. Research on Social Work Practice,
15(1), 52–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731504269581
GoldsteinH. (1990).
The knowledge base of social work practice: Theory, wisdom, analogue, or art?Families in Society,
71(1), 32–43. https://doi.org/10.1177/104438949007100104
36.
GreenJ. W.LeighJ. W. (1989).
Teaching ethnographic methods to social service workers. Practicing Anthropology,
11(3), 8–10.
GrossD.PlattnerS. (2002).
Commentary: Anthropology as social work: Collaborative models of anthropological research. Anthropology News,
43(8), 4–4. https://doi.org/10.1111/an.2002.43.8.4.1
39.
GrossG. D. (2000).
Gatekeeping for cultural competence: Ready or not? Some post and modernist doubts. Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work,
5(2), 47–66. https://doi.org/10.18084/1084-7219.5.2.47
40.
GulbasL. E.ZayasL. H. (2015).
Examining the interplay among family, culture, and Latina teen suicidal behavior. Qualitative Health Research,
25(5), 689–699.
GuyerJ. I. (2013).
“The quickening of the unknown” Epistemologies of surprise in anthropology: The Munro Lecture, 2013. HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory,
3(3), 283–307. https://doi.org/10.14318/hau3.3.012
43.
HaightW. L.KayamaM.Korang-OkrahR. (2014).
Ethnography in social work practice and policy. Qualitative Social Work,
13(1), 127–143. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325013507303
44.
HaleC. R. (2006).
Activist research v. cultural critique: Indigenous land rights and the contradictions of politically engaged anthropology. Cultural Anthropology,
21(1), 96–120. https://doi.org/10.1525/can.2006.21.1.96
45.
HealyL. M. (2007).
Universalism and cultural relativism in social work ethics. International Social Work,
50(1), 11–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872807071479
46.
HillJ. H. (2008). The everyday language of white racism.
John Wiley & Sons.
47.
HopperK. (2003). Reckoning with homelessness.
Cornell University Press.
48.
JefferyD.NelsonJ. (2011). ‘
What are we to do about difference?’: Race, culture and the ethical encounter. Ethics and Social Welfare,
5(3), 247–265. https://doi.org/10.1080/17496535.2011.559359
49.
JohnsonY. M.MunchS. (2009).
Fundamental contradictions in cultural competence.Social Work,
54(3), 220–231. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/54.3.220
50.
KangH. K. (2015).
“We’re who we’ve been waiting for”: Intergenerational community organizing for a healthy community. Journal of Community Practice,
23(1), 126–140. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705422.2014.983214
51.
KeitaA. D.HannonL.BuysD.CasazzaK.ClayO. (2016).
Surrounding community residents’ expectations of HOPE VI for their community, health and physical activity. Journal of Community Practice, 26(1), 18–37. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705422.2015.1129005
52.
KentB. (1965).
The social worker’s cultural pattern as it affects casework with immigrants. Social Work (1939-1970),
22(4), 14–22.
53.
KirkS. A.ReidW. J. (2002). Science and social work: A critical appraisal.
Columbia University Press.
KirschS. (2018). Engaged anthropology: Politics beyond the text.
University of California Press.
56.
LassiterL.CookS.FieldL.JaarsmaS.PeacockJ.RoseD.StreetB.LassiterL. (2005).
Collaborative ethnography and public anthropology. Current Anthropology,
46(1), 83–106. https://doi.org/10.1086/425658
57.
LewisD.SchullerM. (2017).
Engagements with a productively unstable category: Anthropologists and non-governmental organizations. Current Anthropology,
58(5), 634-651. https://doi.org/10.1086/693897
58.
LowS. M.MerryS. E.GoodaleM.LutzC.PeacockJ.PriceD. H.SarisJ.SierraM.T.SingerM.SmithC.LowS. (2010).
Engaged anthropology: Diversity and dilemmas: An introduction to supplement 2. Current Anthropology,
51(S2), S203–S226. https://doi.org/10.1086/653837
59.
MathiasJ. (2017).
Scales of value: Insiders and outsiders in environmental organizing in South India. Social Service Review,
91(4), 621–651. https://doi.org/10.1086/695352
60.
MorgenS.MaskovskyJ. (2003).
The anthropology of welfare “reform”: New perspectives on US urban poverty in the post-welfare era.Annual Review of Anthropology,
32(1), 315–338. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.32.061002.093431
61.
MullaS. (2014). The violence of care: Rape victims, forensic nurses, and sexual assault intervention.
NYU Press.
62.
OrtegaR.Coulborn FallerK. (2011).
Cultural humility for child welfare professionals: A paradigm shift. Child Welfare,
90(5), 27–49.
63.
PadgettD. K. (1998).
Does the glove really fit? Qualitative research and clinical social work practice. Social Work,
43(4), 373–381. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/43.4.373
64.
PeirceC. S. (1877).
The fixation of belief. Popular Science Monthly,
12, 1–15.
65.
PeirceC. S. (1931). Collected papers of Charles Sanders Peirce.
Harvard University Press.
66.
PerryT. E. (2014).
The rite of relocation: Social and material transformations in the Midwest U.S.Signs and Society,
2(1), 28–55. https://doi.org/10.1086/675433
67.
PfeilstetterR. (2017).
Anthropology and social work: Engagement with humans, moral dilemmas and theories of difference. European Journal of Social Work,
20(2), 167–178. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691457.2015.1131148
68.
PsillosS. (2011). An explorer upon untrodden ground: Peirce on abduction. In D. Gabbay& J. Woods (Eds), Handbook of the history of logic (Vol. 10
, pp. 117–151). North-Holland. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-52936-7.50004-5
69.
ReamerF. G. (1999). Social work values and ethics.
Columbia University Press.
70.
RhodesL. A. (2004). Total confinement: Madness and reason in the maximum security prison (Vol.
7).
University of California Press.
SaidE. W. (1979). Orientalism (1st Vintage Books ed.).
Vintage Books.
73.
Scheper-HughesN. (1995).
The primacy of the ethical: Propositions for a militant anthropology. Current Anthropology,
36(3), 409–440. https://doi.org/10.1086/204378
SingerM. K. (2012).
Applying the concept of culture to reduce health disparities through health behavior research. Preventive Medicine,
55(5), 356–361. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2012.02.011
76.
SmithA. P. (2016).
Redeeming the rejected: Curious George and evidence-based approaches. Qualitative Social Work,
15(5–6), 671–681. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325016652675
77.
Stocking, G. W. (1995). Delimiting anthropology: historical reflections on the boundaries of a boundless discipline. Social Research, 62(4), 933–966.
78.
StockingG. W. (1968). Race, culture and evolution: Essays in the history of anthropology.
Free Press.
79.
SueD. W.SueD.NevilleH. A.SmithL. (2019). Counseling the culturally diverse: Theory and practice.
John Wiley & Sons.
TrouillotM. R. (2003). Adieu, culture: A new duty arises. In Global transformations (pp. 97–116). Palgrave Macmillan.
85.
TuckerD. J.GarvinC.SarriR. (1997).
Introduction: Evolution and change in the relationship between social work and social science. In D. J. Tucker, C. Garvin & R. Sarri (Eds), Integrating Knowledge and Practice: The Case of Social Work and Social Science, pp. 1–20.
86.
Waller, M. A., & Okamoto, S. K. (2003). Resiliency factors related to substance use/resistance: Perceptions of Native adolescents of the Southwest. The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, 30, 79–94.
87.
WebbS. A. (2001).
Some considerations on the validity of evidence-based practice in social work. British Journal of Social Work,
31(1), 57–79. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/31.1.57
