Cultural Considerations - Research Paper Example

Cultural Considerations By Cultural Considerations Providing refugees with care, especially for the affected young children between the age of 9 and 13 can be challenging. Refugees and immigrants have different cultural backgrounds, and this is fundamental when dealing with the refugees. In this assignment, the case study will be managing the refugees from Central Nigeria. Different cultural beliefs may affect the feedback of the treatment and psychological therapy. These children have been exposed to murder, burning the house and witnessed or experienced sexual assault during the disruption of peace in the home country. Due to the congestion in the refugee camp in Nigeria, there were destitute conditions. The shelters were rudimentary, food was scarce and diseases were rampant. To make these situations better, some of the children aged between 9 and 13 years, both girls and boys, were migrated to a larger city where they will receive sufficient health care. Psychological effects of violence that the children may be experiencing These children suffer psychologically because of being exposed to violence and seeing their parents being killed in a helpless situation. It traumatizes them because children believe so much in their parents and when they are not able to save themselves, it becomes a psychological problem they have to deal with (Lerner, 2015). Children at the age of 9-13years are usually at a greater risk of having behavioral and emotional problems because of witnessing the death of parents or the loved ones. They are highly dependent because they are still in school, and they cannot get jobs because of their age and lack of skills. The children will suffer from food malnutrition because the population in the camps in Nigeria is over high. Most of the kids will be unable to compete with the adults, and they will depend on the mercy of people who will volunteer to get them food. They will be feeling lonely and neglected because their parents are gone. This feeling of helpless and lonely brings mental disturbance to the boys and girls who have no one to look up (Gitterman, 2014). The girls are vulnerable to sexual harassment, and they may suffer from sexual assaults in the camps due to the inadequate security measures. This sexual harassment will traumatize the children because they have no one to turn to for help. Due to the poor conditions in the Nigeria camps, they are vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases and other medical complications (Wolfe & Mash, 2008). For the mental health workers working in the program of salvaging the children affected by violence should ensure that they handle the children with fairness and justice (Association, 2015). Also, if the refugees have a disease, it should be treated with confidentiality so as to gain trust with the children. All these are a code of ethics that are practiced to ensure that the affected people get better and effective therapy to alleviate the suffering. These psychological problems the refugee children are facing in Nigeria made these young boys and girls to be migrated to a larger city where they will be taken care of by foster parents. This program is to ensure that their needs are directly addressed and they have guardians who will fill in the gap the biological parents left. It will help the children to have a sense of belonging and be accepted back in the society (Gitterman, 2014). Prevention program to foster resilience in the children from Nigeria For a prevention program to be effective, there are some of the elements that will need to be incorporated. The program should address mental health and disorders associated with the violence, exposure to the young ones. The children need to be psychologically counseled according to the code of ethics of the psychologists. The dignity and the rights of the children need to be respected and the cultural practices too. The dignity and respect should be based on the race, nationality origin, socioeconomic status, culture, religion, and gender (Association, 2015). The cultural specificity argues that the psychological treatment of the victims should be handled basing on the background of the individual. Whereas the cultural universality argues that the victims should be treated with a cross universality approach where multicultural is involved (Wolfe & Mash, 2008). Most psychologists use the cultural specificity approach in order to understand the background of the individuals and to recommend effective therapy (Association, 2015). It is because of the ethics that states that the origin and cultural practices of the individuals should be respected. Especially for the children who have no exposure to other cultural practices. Therefore, the program should involve the cultural understanding of the Nigerian refugees. For example, it is a common tradition for the youth to play soccer. Both female and male take part in playing soccer. Therefore, when coming up with the program, it is essential for the program to feature in soccer that will make the children participate as they were doing in the home country. This is a positive culture because games help with physical fitness and makes the children improve their emotion (Lerner, 2015). Another positive culture practiced in Nigeria is the staple food composed of African foods like the cassava, yam and soups made of vegetables and native green leaves. These foods are rich in carbohydrates and are body building foods that help the children to grow healthy. The program should involve these foods and see how to get the foods for the Nigerian children. The foster families should be supplied with such foods so that the children can blend well in the new society. There should be lessons for the children to address the problems they were facing in their home country. Bringing them in a new environment can affect their mind and concentration. The program should incorporate counseling and helping the boys and girls adjust to the new environment. Also, addressing the issues they faced due to the violence activities is essential. Those who are have been sexually harassed should undergo treatment that will help diagnose any disease and begin treatment early. Also, the male children should be diagnosed with any conditions so that they can be treated (Lerner, 2015). Health care is important to help the children alleviate the problems they were facing. Child psychologists should be assigned to these kids because they will address each problem professionally. Importance of considering cultural traditions So as to offer the best care for the refugees, it is important to have an understanding of the families if the refugees and the cultural background. It can be achieved if the mental worker reads materials that have details of the cultural origin of the citizens of Nigeria. Beginning with what the refugees know what is new gives a smooth transition, and they will be able to adopt the way of life in the new country. It is because it will be challenging to maintain the original cultures in a new town (Wolfe & Mash, 2008). From respecting their origin, they will be comfortable to share their experiences with the psychologists and will be given the best treatment and provision of basic needs available in the new town. A design for intervention program Adopted from, Advancing Excellence in Health Care 2015. References Association, A. P. (2015). Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. Retrieved May 12, 2015, from American Psychological Association: http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx Gitterman, A. (2014). Handbook of Social Work Practice with Vulnerable and Resilient Populations. New York: Columbia University Press. Lerner, R. M. (2015). Handbook of Child Psychology and Development Science: Ecological Settings and Processes. New York: John Wiley. Wolfe, D. A., & Mash, E. J. (2008). Behavioral and Emotion Disorders in Adolescents Nature, Assessment, and Treatment. New York: Guilford Press. Read More