The Role of Social Work Practice in Cross - Cultural Interview

Abstract

In cross-cultural interview, difficulties often arise, and derive from the fact that, social workers and interviewees come from much different worlds, and some major sub-cultural differences- such as socio-economic group, race or ethnicity, gender, age and sexual orientation - may differentiate the interviewer from the interviewee, and consequently, increase social distance and limit understanding, between them. The purpose of this article is to point out the meaning of counseling, in social work practice, and in addition to isolate and clarify these differences that may be of crucial importance, on how the interview will be conducted between a social worker and an individual from a different race. During the interview, there is, however, a need for balance, in assessing the importance of these key- identifying characteristics. Despite the great number of books and articles referring to racial and ethnic data collection, social workers, rarely, discuss the explicit relevance of these information, in order to conduct an interview.