Cultural competency in social work scholarship and research on Latinos in the United States: A content analysis of peer-reviewed social work journals

In the mid-1990s, following years of dramatic growth in many ethnic minority populations in the United States---particularly in the Latino population---many helping professions were compelled to develop and implement culturally competent policies, practices, and standards to better meet the unique needs of the increasingly diverse population. Cultural competency standards and guidelines became an integral part of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics and a key component in the accreditation standards required by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Social work literature is replete with demands for direct practice social workers who are working with Latino individuals, families and communities to increase their level of cultural competency, yet the literature calling for social work researchers and scholars working with Latinos to account for and demonstrate cultural competency during scholarly inquiry is limited and relatively unexplored. This study used a content analysis approach to evaluate social work journal articles published from 1990 through 2012 that examine Latino populations. A content analysis approach was used to determine whether and to what degree social work researchers and scholars were applying culturally competent research practices in their work with Latino populations in the United States. The content analysis used an analytical framework based on Meleis's eight criteria for culturally competent scholarship as well as additional cultural competency measures developed for this study. This study advanced the knowledge base of cultural competency in social work research and scholarship on Latino populations in the United States and provided an assessment framework to examine the cultural competency of future social work research practices and scholarly efforts on Latinos.