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Intersectionality & Professional Development Reflection

Monica Sharber

Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, USC

SOWK 630: Diversity, Social Justice, and Interculturally Competent Social Work Practice

Assignment 2

Liovardo Ochoa

February 24, 2024

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Part 1: Dimensions of Your Identity

The following are different and amazing dimensions of my identity:

I am 54 years old; my race/ethnicity is Black/African American and I Identify as

Black/African American, and I believe that most people assume or consider me to be

Black/African American. When describing my skin color, I would say very dark brown, others

may say black. My nationality is American, I was raised in Crofton, Kentucky, in the United

States and my primary language is English. I am a cisgender female, heterosexual, and I believe

that most people assume or consider me to be cisgender heterosexual female. I have no history of

physical, developmental/cognitive disability, but do have a history of mental/emotional

challenges. While growing up my family's socio-economic status was middle class, religious

affiliation was Southern Baptist Christian and political party affiliation was Democratic.

Currently, I would describe my socio-economic status as middle class, my religious affiliation as

Christian non-religious, and my political party affiliation as democratic. My relationship status is

single and my marital status is divorced.

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Part 2: Developing Your Professional Identity & Intercultural Competence

Question 1

I'm 54 years old, black, female, cisgender, heterosexual, non-religious, single,

Californian, born in Kentucky, and a recovering drug addict. These are the parts of me that have

influenced my sense of self, behavior, and development, shaping my perception of the world that

I live in. Looking at me as just a woman just African American, or just a recovering addict, will

not provide a complete picture of the whole self. When I meet a person who doesn't know me,

the first and often only thing they see is that I am black and that I am a woman. According to

Ferber, (2016), “intersectional theories argue that race and gender, as well as other salient social

identities, are intertwined and inseparable and cannot be fully comprehended on their own”.

Using an intersectional lens to view all the different and amazing dimensions of my

identity that have had the most significant impact on my sense of self would be the intersections

between my African American culture, spiritual beliefs, and geographically where I was raised.

Growing up in a small town in rural Kentucky with a population of 900 people influenced how I

view myself. I would like to say that having that kind of small-town experience was warm,

calm, inviting, and peaceful, but no that was not my experience. I was born June 15, 1969, to

teenage parents, my father was incarcerated for the majority of my life and my mother

experienced issues with drugs. I was cared for by my maternal grandmother a very religious

woman with 4 of my other cousins, the church was our second home attending services several

times in a week. My grandmother's only answer to adversity was "God will fix it". She always

made sure that I knew that I was black and that I should not be too smart or ask too many

questions, that I should only do what is asked and follow directions. Being female was

interesting as well, there were specific roles that were expected at specific ages. I learned to be
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quiet and not bring any attention to myself, I felt invisible. No one noticed me and I had learned

to be invisible. Everything that a person knows has to be taught, through either verbal or non-

verbal communication. Trevithick, (2017), suggests that early childhood relationships and

attachments form character, and these early childhood experiences influence who we are as

people and professionals, relationship experiences inform the assumptions and expectations we

make about ourselves, others, and the work we inhabit".

When I think about intersections of my identity and how they influence my behaviors, I

think about being an African-American, female with mental and emotional challenges, growing

up in this rural town in Kentucky with these distorted religious beliefs and drug addiction. At the

age of twelve, I was taken from a small town in Kentucky to Los Angeles, California (South

Central Los Angeles) this was in 1981. My new environment was a shock and I had to learn to

adapt. I begin to adapt to my new environment in the most negative way possible. I became my

environment, with no voice, no identity, having darker skin than most people that I knew, and an

internal desire to just fit in and be a part of something, I gravitated to gangs and drugs. For the

first time in my life I felt a part of something, I felt accepted and heard. I started doing all the

things a good gang member does and displaying all of the expected behaviors although they went

against what I was taught. I became addicted to drugs in my early twenties and experienced

many traumatic and what I now know to be oppressive situations and settings. According to

Cambraia Windsor et al., (2008), “oppression is understood as a multidimensional and complex

hegemonic system developed from social beliefs in group superiority that justify privilege”.

Before recovery and the wonderful community that I have the privilege of being a part of,

I lacked confidence in myself and my ability to accomplish the goals that I was afraid to set.

Looking at all the different and beautiful aspects of my identity and how they come together to
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influence my development as a social worker, I can say that the experiences with

marginalization, oppression, power, and privilege within my family environment, the

neighborhood/geographical location that I lived in, religious communities, and other

organizations that my unsuccessful attempts to gain assistance from have positively influenced

my development as a social worker. Having lived experience with racism, sexism, colorism, and

stereotyping places me in a position as a social worker to display sympathy, understand why a

person feels the way they do, be empathetic and feel their pain, and have the skill, knowledge,

and values to be compassionate enough to recognize their pain, feel their pain and assist in

alleviating their suffering. According to the National Association of Social Workers (NASW),

2021, “The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and

help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and

empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty”. Remembering

that am not just African American, just a woman, just a recovering addict, but that all three play a

part in how I view myself and how the world views me in all the different areas of my life, at

work, school, church, home with family and in my community.

Question 2

My decision to pursue a professional social work career has been directly influenced by

my desire to help other oppressed people and to do my part in dismantling structural inequality. I

have never thought of myself as having privilege, due to my limited knowledge of privilege and

intersections of my identity. I have held a very narrow perception of privilege as white.

According to Ferber, (2016), “privilege refers to the systemic favoring, valuing, validation, and
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including of certain social identities over others”. There are intersections of my life African

American, woman, my education, the power status of my professional position, and my ability to

attain and sustain long-term sobriety place me in a position of privilege. Active addiction is

isolating and shameful, my experience with drug addiction has influenced my social work career

choice and desire to work with African American women dealing with drug addiction and their

family system. I hope to pursue professional work in urban non-profit organizations that assist

and support this population by using my privileges to support this oppressed population.

Although I prefer working with African American women I believe that I will be culturally

sensitive enough to work with women of all cultures. I prefer not working with men because

there is a different dynamic when working with men and their gender roles that I professionally

chose not to consider currently, this could change in the future but for now, I prefer to not work

with men.

Question 3 (a)

With privilege comes power, the power to be heard and dispel stigmas. A stigma

according to Coston & Kimmel, (2012), is a characteristic that changes you "from a whole and

usual person to a tainted and discounted one". The strengths that I possess to engage anti-racism,

diversity, equity, and inclusion in practice are my ability to view people through an intersectional

lens, understanding that there are several layers to people that intersect, being mindful and

increasing my awareness of implicit biases, and how they show up in me, and my understanding

of the different forms of racism and the impact on people. Being culturally competent in the field

of social work requires knowledge, skill, and values, on the micro, mezzo, and macro levels. One

passion that I have is to be an influence on removing the stigma of drug addiction providing new

light on addiction as a family issue, not a personal one, and normalizing mental health.
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Question 3 (b)

My preference to work with African American women with substance addictions has

been shaped by my personal experiences with addiction and the levels of oppression that I

experienced during that time. I prefer not working with men because of the oppression that I

have endured in my life with family, addiction, and being a woman. I feel that my commitment

to the field of social work would best serve African American women dealing with drug and

alcohol addiction. I am aware of my biases concerning men and feel that I can work with this

population but I prefer the African American female population. This assignment has heightened

my awareness of my personal biases towards men. I can see how my personal biases are rooted

in my experiences with men in my family, in my community, and within my home. According to

Cambraia Windsor et al., (2008), “Oppression is rooted in the lack of value placed on Black

women’s welfare as evidenced by sexual exploitation, physical abuse and inadequate legal

protection”.

Question 4

Goal 1

My first goal is to address and increase my awareness of my unconscious biases toward men and

be open to working with men by the time I graduate from the Master of Social Work program

within the next 18 months. The strategies that I will use to achieve this goal are, I will identify

and attend one training either in person or virtual specific to unconscious bias monthly for the

next six months, and I will identify one male client each month to work with one time weekly for

the next six months. Indicators of progress towards achieving this goal are the completion

certificates of each training session on unconscious biases and having six male clients on my

caseload at the end of the six months.

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Goal 2

My second goal is to become a member of a professional social work association within one to

three years post-graduation from my Master of Social Work program. The strategies that I will

use to achieve this goal are, research the available social worker associations that are available to

me using the internet to gain information and other social workers that are members at least one

time a month and use the pros and cons list after each engagement on internet and meeting with

other social workers to determine the best fit. Indicators of progress towards achieving this goal

are my knowledge of all available professional associations to me and my list of pros and cons.

Accomplishing this goal will help to enhance my knowledge in intercultural competency by

gaining new information and insight about the field of social work building a community of

other social workers and gaining further education as the field of social work is always changing.

Goal 3

My third goal is to build strong community connections within three to five years post-

graduation from my Master of Social Work program. The strategies that I will use to achieve this

goal are personal and professional engagement in the community by attending at least two

community events every three months for a year and introducing myself and what I do to at least

two people at the events. Indicators of progress toward achieving this goal are having attended

eight community events and having a list of people that I have engaged with at each event.

Accomplishing this goal will help to enhance my skills in intercultural competence by practicing

promoting social justice and learning to interact in my diverse community.

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References

About. NASW, National Association of Social Workers. (n.d.).

https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English

Bender, K., Negi, N. and Fowler, D.N. (2010) ‘Exploring the relationship between self-
awareness and student commitment and understanding of culturally responsive Social
Work Practice’, Journal of Ethnic And Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 19(1), pp. 34–53.
doi:10.1080/15313200903531990.

Cambraia Windsor, L., Benoit, E., & Dunlap, E. (2008). Dimensions of oppression in the lives of
impoverished Black Women Who Use Drugs. Journal of Black Studies, 41(1), 21–39.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934708326875

Coston, B. M., & Kimmel, M. (2012). Seeing privilege where it isn’t: Marginalized masculinities
and the intersectionality of privilege. Journal of Social Issues, 68(1), 97–111.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2011.01738.x

Ferber, A. L. (2016). White Supremacy and gender. The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of
Gender and Sexuality Studies, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118663219.wbegss615

Trevithick, P. (2017). The ‘self’ and ‘use of self’ in social work: A contribution to the
development of a coherent theoretical framework. The British Journal of Social Work,
48(7), 1836–1854. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcx133