Introduction
Human diversity is currently one of the most sought out issues enjoying massive
importance. Cultural diversity also focuses on understanding the similarities and differences
present among the diverse cultures, communities, and societies present among us. This paper
focuses on the different roles human service professionals are tasked with in defining and
creating opportunities for diverse clients, how they should appreciate and respect the differences
among different clients, and the importance of identifying the needs, rights, variations, and
growth of clients.
Understanding Client Diversity
We have all heard of the old golden rule: treat others the way you would like to be
treated. However, Fitzgerald, (2020) argues that in the modern world, treating clients with the
same dignity and courtesy is no longer considered enough. To truly succeed, we need to
understand clients in terms of their ethnic, economic, and social backgrounds. Skills like
flexibility, effective communication, and awareness are vital, especially for human service
professionals. Furthermore, understanding how to create opportunities and positive experiences
for different people doesn't cost a fortune. It becomes essential to make these clients aware that
you understand and are responding to their needs.
Creating job opportunities for clients from different backgrounds according to Meyer,
Appannah, McMillan, Browning, & Ogrin, (2020), can improve their chances of success. Hiring
employees from diverse backgrounds creates the opportunity to share different ideas from the
employees, hence providing massive innovative ideas and creativity. This is key to ensuring the
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long-term success of the business. Apart from business success, other benefits may include
improving social and cultural relations among different races.
Role of Human Service Professionals
According to Fitzgerald, (2020), proliferation has made it possible for people with
diverse backgrounds to meet and interact in all kinds of disciplines. The world is currently
considered a global village. It is currently straightforward for a person to transact, do business,
pursue education, or participate in international relations, and this has made interaction among
people of different cultures unavoidable. Due to this fact, human service professionals have seen
the value of their services significantly improve.
To clearly understand the importance of their roles, let us first consider an example
involving cultural diversity. From way back, (Meyer, Appannah, McMillan, Browning, & Ogrin,
2020) argue that Arabs and Westerns have always differed in many aspects. Starting from their
family set-ups to the way they conduct their businesses, these two races possess a massive gap
between them. Arabian countries are known to boast massive natural resources, while western
countries possess technological prowess. However, these differences do not prevent them from
interacting and trading with each other. This is just one example among very many of the
diversity that exists among us. How we successfully co-exist will heavily rely on the roles of our
human service professionals.
Some of the skills needed by human service professionals include teamwork,
understanding human needs, and being responsive. One of the basic fundamental human
principles we need to understand is that no culture, religion, or idea is superior to the other. HSPs
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understand these things very well; hence clients find it easy to interact and feel comfortable
around them (Chenoweth & McAuliffe,2017).
The fact that people come from diverse backgrounds means that people should learn to
respect clients' differences. Gender, customs, and language are some of the traits that
differentiate us. Some of the clients in foreign countries find it hard to communicate with the
natives due to the language barrier. As for gender, understanding a person's gender helps them
grow mentally and improve their well-being.
Roberto, Teaster, Lindber, & Blancato, (2020) argue that HSPs must learn to promote
inclusivity in their field. To achieve this, they must formulate a professional plan of how to
familiarize themselves with these cultures. However, it should be understood that for a person to
learn other people's cultures, they must first learn their own. Learning a new culture calls for
seeking out new perspectives and ideas, treating every culture according to how they like to be
treated. Right human service professionals, however, do not just learn. They borrow some of the
best practices from the different cultures and practice them from their workplaces to their daily
lives. With this principle in mind, it becomes easy for them to achieve inclusivity, cultural
competence, and diversity in their organizations.
One of the critical responsibilities of human service professionals according to (Roberto,
Teaster, Lindber, & Blancato, 2020) is to focus on and improve on a client's strengths. They
always try to build a client from a strengths-based perspective. A client's strengths can be
considered as the intense personal attributes each, and every client has. These attributes are
essential in helping a client to solve personal problems as well as overcoming life challenges.
However, this does not mean that HSPs ignore the client's potential weaknesses. They only try
and make the client improve and maximize their strengths to help them become more responsible
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in their lives. However, it mostly drains down to the clients to decide on whether to take action
and improve their situation.
Conclusion
It is practically impossible for the entire human race to belong to one community. With
this in mind, we should learn to appreciate the diversity among us. It is possible for the human
race to coexist without any form of human or client negligence in whatever discipline. What is
most is important is for us to try and understand one another. On top of what human service
professionals do, we must ensure that we treat each other equally.
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References
Roberto, K. A., Teaster, P. B., Lindberg, B. W., & Blancato, R. (2020). A First (and Disturbing) Look at the
Relationship Between the Opioid Epidemic and Elder Abuse: Insights of Human Service
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Avant, D. W., Houston, D., & Nesbitt, L. (2020). Educators as the Gatekeepers: Promoting a Race
Informed, Culturally Responsive Pedagogy for Human Service Professionals. In Cultural
Competence in Higher Education. Emerald Publishing Limited.
Meyer, C., Appannah, A., McMillan, S., Browning, C., & Ogrin, R. (2020). Diversity training evaluation for
community aged care: Tool development. Nurse Education in Practice, 102796.
Fitzgerald, J. K. (2020). Fostering Diversity in ADR: Lessons from the Mansfield Rule 1. American
Bankruptcy Institute Journal, 39(1), 36-68.