This new addition to the Controversial Issues series focuses on issues that arise in preparing students for practice with multicultural populations. These debate-style essays, written by well-known instructors in social work, feature issues such as whether programs and services in social work should be culture-specific to better meet clients' needs, whether professional social workers should support affirmative action as a means of securing equity for their clients, and whether the therapy process can be effective when the helping professional and the client are of different ethnic groups. This book will help students and instructors at every level to think through current issues in multicultural education; the format stimulates discussion and critical thinking, and will help students appreciate the complexity of the concept of “multiculturalism.”

Table of Contents:
Forward. Introduction. I.  DEBATES ON THE IMPACT OF MULTICULTURALISM. 1.  Is a Pluralist Multicultural Approach to Practice Preferable to Acculturation or Assimilation Approaches? YES: Mitchell T. Maki. NO: John Longres. 2.  Has the Emphasis on Multicultural Practice Resulted in More Effective and Appropriate Services for Ethnic Minority Clients? YES: Sherlon P. Brown. NO: John Longres. 3.  Does the Focus on Multiculturalism Emphasize Differences and Foster Racial/Ethnic Stereotypes? YES: Duane Champagne. NO: Maria Zuniga. 4.  Has the Focus on Multiculturalism Resulted in Inadequate Attention to Factors such as Gender, Social Class, and Sexual Orientation? YES: Wynetta Devore. NO: Rhea Almeida. 5.  Should Programs and Service Delivery Systems be Culture-Specific in their Design? YES: Doman Lum. NO: Charles Guzzetta. 6.  Should Professionals in Multicultural Practice Support Affirmative Action as a Means of Securing Equity for their Clients? YES: Rita Takahashi. NO: John Oliver. 7.  Does Multicultural Education Have an Adequate Conceptual and Theoretical Foundation? YES: Carl Grant. NO: Yehudi Webster. II.  DEBATES REGARDING RESEARCH WITH MULTICULTURAL POPULATIONS. 8.  Can Valid Research on Ethnic Minority Populations Only be Conducted by Researchers from the Same Ethnic Group? YES: Rosina M. Becerra. NO: Rosina M. Becerra. REJOINDERS: Diane de Anda. 9.  Do Methods of Evaluating Practice Need to be Adapted for Multicultural Populations? YES: Kevin Gorey. and Donald Leslie. NO: Todd Franke. 10.  Do Research Methods Need to be Adapted for Valid Research to be Conducted in Ethnic Minority Communities? YES: Pyong Gap Min. NO: Joyce Tang. III.  DEBATES ON DIRECT PRACTICE WITH MULTICULTURAL POPULATIONS. 11.  Are There Theories that are Sufficiently “Culture-Free” to be Appropriate and Useful for Practice with Multicultural Clients? YES: Diane de Anda. NO: Diane de Anda. 12.  Is There an Inherent Bias in the Tradition of the Helping Professions that Can Negatively Impact Multicultural Clients? YES: Kevin Fitzsimmons. NO: Eileen Gambrill. 13.  Do Therapeutic Methods, Techniques, and Modalities Need to be Tailored to Specific Ethnic/Cultural Populations? YES: Karin Elliott Brown. and Mary Kay Oliveri. NO: Mary Kay Oliveri, and Karin Elliott Brown. 14.  Is the Therapeutic Process More Effective if the Client and the Helping Professional are of the Same Ethnic/Cultural Group? YES: Fariyal Ross-Sheriff and Norma S.C. Jones. NO: Farah Ibrahim. 15.  Are There Circumstances Under which the Helping Professional Must be of the Same Ethnicity and Gender? YES: Jorja Prover. NO: Elfriede Schlesinger. 16.  Should Facilitating Acculturation be a Goal in Working with Immigrant Populations? YES: Phillip Fellin. NO: Pauline-Irit Erera. 17.  Can Ethnic Agencies More Effectively Serve Communities than Mainstream Agencies? YES: Alfreda P. Iglehart. NO: Paul Abels.