Social work and the Indiana Native American : an honors thesis (HONRS 499)

Abstract

Social work has been, for a long time, focused mainly on micro or counseling skills. In the last decade, much research on related to social work has pointed out this limitation, especially in the context of working with minority cultures. One such cultural group, the Native Americans, have a variety of needs which may be met through the macro, or more activist skills a social worker needs.This thesis begins with an analysis of the Native American community in Indiana; including the social problems, values and conflict, cultural differences, oppression, barriers, and sources of power all relevant to the experience of an Indiana Native American. Using this analysis as a point of reference, both macro and micro practice concerns are discussed being the implications of becoming a more ethnic-sensitive social worker, particularly in working with Native Americans. Ideally, this research will lead to social work becoming more a multicultural practice.