From cultural competence to structural competency
An anthropological reorientation of social work education and practice
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21496273 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Emrah Tuncer (0000-0001-9120-2270, İstanbul Gelişim Üniversitesi, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-9 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-12 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Work Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0261-5479 • E-ISSN: 1470-1227 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/02615479.2026.2645060 |
| OpenAlex | W7135050710 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 28 |
The discipline of social work operates within a persistent ontological tension between defending universal human rights and respecting local cultures. Traditionally managed through cultural competence, this approach risks reducing deeply structural problems—such as poverty and institutional racism—into static cultural codes, inadvertently reproducing an Orientalist binary that obscures structural violence in Western democracies. To revitalize social work’s foundational commitment to social justice and genuine solidarity, this conceptual article proposes a paradigm shift toward a dual framework: cultural humility as an ethical stance and structural competency as an analytical mandate. Drawing on ethnographic sensibility, the paper explores how practitioners can interpret client resistance not as cultural deficits, but as rational survival strategies forged under institutional duress. Furthermore, the neoliberal bureaucratization of the Turkish welfare system is examined as an analytical illustration of global audit cultures to highlight the limitations of purely theoretical education. Bridging theoretical critique and concrete pedagogical action, the article presents actionable mechanisms for curricular restructuring, including structural vulnerability assessments, mobile supervision (walking classrooms), university-community legal coalitions, and explicit ECTS integration. Ultimately, these pedagogical interventions equip future practitioners to actively dismantle systemic barriers rather than merely manage cultural symptoms
Cultural competence · Appreciative Inquiry and Organizational Change · Cultural Competency in Health Care · Social Work Education and Practice · Social Work
Cultural Humility Versus Cultural Competence
Social work and anthropology
“Austerity Surveillance” in Greece under the Austerity Regime (2010−2014)
Uygulamalı antropoloji ve sosyal hizmet
Professional helping as negotiation in motion
From Experience to Text
Anthropology and Social Work
Introduction to the Special Issue on Structural Competency
Structurally Competent Social Work Research
Social Workers’ Experiences of Bureaucracy
I cannot transform myself into a pay slip’
Structural competency
Critical Empowerment Frameworks Paramount to Social Justice Work
The Influence of Social Science Theories on the Conceptualization of Poverty in Social Welfare
Integrating anthropology and social work education to address contemporary social issues
Institutional Racism and Health
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |