Application: Cultural Competency and Treatment

You know by now that forensic treatment settings serve culturally diverse populations. In this course and academic program, the terms diversity and culture are broadly defined to include not only race and ethnicity but also religion, gender, physical ability, socioeconomic status, and age. You need to take all aspects of culture into consideration when you select treatment outcomes and approaches. Because culture is so ingrained, cultural-related issues may not be readily apparent to the treatment provider or the offender. However, culture impacts the treatment process whether recognized or not. In order to treat forensic populations effectively, the treatment provider must be aware of the impact of cultural considerations and bring cultural competencies to the treatment process.

To prepare for this assignment:

•Review Chapter 16 in the course text Handbook of Forensic Mental Health with Victims and Offenders: Assessment, Treatment, and Research. Reflect on potential cultural considerations and challenges related to working with diverse forensic populations.

•Review the APA Guidelines for Providers of Psychological Services to Ethnic, Linguistic, and Culturally Diverse Populations. Consider the importance of applying these guidelines to the treatment of forensic populations. Focus on specific guidelines that relate to treating diverse forensic populations.

•Review the article “The Place of Culture in Forensic Psychiatry” in this week’s Learning Resources. Focus on how culture may impact the treatment of forensic populations.

•Review the article “Ethics and Multiculturalism: Advancing Cultural and Clinical Responsiveness” in this week’s Learning Resources. Think about the importance of diversity awareness as it relates to ethical standards in forensic treatment settings.

•Identify a culturally diverse forensic population that is of particular interest to you.

NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN

•Conduct an academic literature search in the Walden Library and select at least one scholarly article from a peer-reviewed journal that discusses the unique characteristics, considerations, and/or challenges related to working with this population in a forensic setting.

•Consider the unique characteristics of your selected forensic population and reflect on what you should consider when treating members of this population.

•Consider the challenges that you might encounter when working with a client from your selected population and how you would address these challenges.

The assignment (1–2 pages):

•Cite the research article and state the specific diversity population that you researched.

•Briefly summarize the research article and explain how the role of culture is addressed in the treatment of the specific forensic population in the study.

•Analyze the role of culture in the treatment of forensic populations, in general. Use specifics from your selected research article to support your analysis.

•Explain the challenges you might encounter when working with a client from this population and state how you would address these challenges.

(Note: Be sure to protect the identity of any persons you may refer to.)

Support your Application Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. You are asked to provide a reference list only for those resources not included in the Learning Resources for this course.