Author Description

As the U.S. population grows more and more diverse, how can professionals who work with young children and families deliver the best services while honoring different customs, beliefs, and values? The answers are in the fourth edition of this bestselling textbook, fully revised to reflect nearly a decade of population changes and best practices in culturally competent service delivery. The gold-standard text on cross-cultural competence, this book has been widely adopted by college faculty and trusted as a reference by in-service practitioners for almost 20 years. For this timely NEW edition, the highly regarded authors have carefully updated and expanded every chapter while retaining the basic approach and structure that made the previous editions so popular. Professionals will Get a primer on cultural competence. Readers will examine how their own cultural values and beliefs shape their professional practice, how the worldviews of diverse families may affect their perceptions of programs and services, and how providers can communicate more effectively with families from different cultural backgrounds. Deepen their understanding of cultural groups. Learn from in-depth chapters with nuanced, multifaceted explorations of nine different cultural backgrounds: Anglo-European, American Indian, African American, Latino, Asian, Filipino, Native Hawaiian and Samoan, Middle Eastern, and South Asian. Readers will get up-to-date insights on history, demographics, traditions, values, and family structure, and they'll examine the diverse ways each culture approaches child rearing, medical care, education, and disability. Discover better ways to serve families. Readers will get concrete recommendations for providing more effective, sensitive, and culturally competent services to children and families. They'll find practical guidance for every step in the service delivery process, from initiating contact with families to implementing and evaluating services. Vivid case stories and