THE MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING INVENTORY: A MEASURE FOR EVALUATING SOCIAL WORK STUDENT AND PRACTITIONER SELF-PERCEPTIONS OF THEIR MULTICULTURAL COMPETENCIES

Abstract

The standards of the National Association of Social Workers (2001) for culturally competent practice and the Council on Social Work Education's (2001) accreditation standards require monitoring and evaluation of the multicultural competencies of students and professional social workers. The absence of assessment instruments impedes feedback about compliance and the effectiveness of multicultural practice. Results of the present study support the use of 2 self-report subscales of the Multicultural Competence Inventory (MCI) for evaluating worker self-perceptions of competency. The MCI will also help provide empirical feed-back about students' views of their own progress, particularly within programs emphasizing social justice and diversity.