PS311 Unit 5 Multicultural Competence Paper Example

Reviewed by Romilly Dunmore, MEd Ethical Practice in a Diverse World Purdue University Global Free custom sample in 24 to 48h

A 24-year-old client whose Mexican American family expects a part in his recovery, and a program built on individual confidentiality, frame this PS311 Unit 5 multicultural competence paper. A trainee declines to speak with his grandmother without consent and worries she has offended them. Sue and colleagues' awareness, knowledge and skills explain her own assumption, familismo explains what to ask, and Hook and colleagues' cultural humility explains why only the client can answer. He chooses a consent covering his plan but not his history for his grandmother, and Ratts and colleagues' social justice lens prompts Spanish family materials. Purdue Global PS 311, Ethical Practice in a Diverse World, assigns this paper in the BS in Psychology course.

CoursePS311 Ethical Practice in a Diverse World
UnitUnit 5
Paper typeMulticultural competence paper
LengthAbout 500 words, 4 pages double-spaced
FormatAPA 7 student paper
SchoolPurdue University Global
ProgramBS in Psychology
UpdatedOctober 2026

Free sample paper for PS311 Unit 5

1

A Grandmother, a Family Meeting and a Treatment Plan: A PS311 Unit 5 Multicultural Competence Paper

[Student Name]

Purdue University Global

PS311: Ethical Practice in a Diverse World

Unit 5 Multicultural Competence Paper

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The client, his family and the program are composite; the frameworks and sources cited are real.

What this part is doingStating the cultural tension and the practical resolution in the lead shows the paper applies frameworks to a decision.
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The Situation

Mr. G., 24, entered the program for opioid use after an overdose. He lives with his parents and grandmother in a close Mexican American family in Tucson. At his second session, his grandmother came with him and asked to speak with Elena, the case manager trainee, about how to help him. The program's routine is individual treatment with family contact only on the client's request. Elena politely declined to talk with the grandmother without consent, and afterward worried she had offended the family and the client.

Awareness: The Counselor's Own Culture

Sue et al. (1992) framed multicultural competence as first knowing one's own cultural assumptions and blind spots, knowledge of the client's worldview and culturally appropriate intervention skills. Elena's own family is small and private, and she had assumed that adults in treatment want their families kept at a distance. That assumption, natural from her background, is not universal. Recognizing it was the first step.

Knowledge: The Client's Worldview

Many Mexican American families value familismo, a strong orientation toward family loyalty and mutual support, and family involvement can be a resource in recovery. Knowledge of a cultural pattern, however, is not knowledge of a particular person. Mr. G. might welcome his grandmother's involvement or feel watched by it.

Knowing what many families value told Elena what to ask; only Mr. G. could tell her the answer.

Cultural Humility

Hook et al. (2013) define cultural humility as turning attention toward the client with curiosity and without assuming one's own cultural views are better, and found that clients' perceptions of their therapists' humility were associated with a stronger working relationship. Humility here meant asking rather than assuming in either direction.

What this part is doingContrasting cultural knowledge with cultural humility shows why a generalization cannot replace the client's own view.
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The Decision

At the next session, Elena asked Mr. G. how he wanted his family involved. He said his grandmother had raised him while his parents worked, that he wanted her to understand his treatment, but that he did not want his parents told about his drug use history in detail. Together they completed a consent allowing the program to share his treatment plan and progress, but not his history, with his grandmother, and scheduled a family meeting with a bilingual staff member.

Social Justice

Ratts et al. (2016) extend multicultural competence to social justice, asking counselors to notice systemic barriers. Elena learned that the program had no Spanish-language family materials and raised it with her supervisor, who added translated handouts to the intake packet.

What the Case Shows

Ethical practice did not require choosing between confidentiality and culture. Asking the client, documenting his choice in a consent and adjusting program materials respected both his autonomy and his family's role.

What this part is doingConcluding that confidentiality and culture were reconciled, not traded, gives the paper its central claim.
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References

Hook, J. N., Davis, D. E., Owen, J., Worthington, E. L., Jr., & Utsey, S. O. (2013). Cultural humility: Measuring openness to culturally diverse clients. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 60(3), 353-366. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032595

Ratts, M. J., Singh, A. A., Nassar-McMillan, S., Butler, S. K., & McCullough, J. R. (2016). Multicultural and social justice counseling competencies: Guidelines for the counseling profession. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 44(1), 28-48. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmcd.12035

Sue, D. W., Arredondo, P., & McDavis, R. J. (1992). Multicultural counseling competencies and standards: A call to the profession. Journal of Counseling & Development, 70(4), 477-486. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6676.1992.tb01642.x

PS311 Unit 5 instructions, in plain terms

Unit 5 of PS311 typically asks how multicultural competence and cultural humility shape ethical practice with a specific client or group. Describe a situation where cultural expectations and standard practice meet. Apply at least one competence framework, showing how the professional's own awareness, knowledge of the client's worldview and skills each matter. Explain cultural humility and how it differs from knowing facts about a group. Show how the ethical requirements, such as confidentiality and consent, can be met in a culturally responsive way. Consider systemic issues using a social justice perspective. Avoid treating cultural patterns as rules about individuals. Cite the frameworks' original sources and research on outcomes where available, and end with a decision the client helped shape.

How this PS311 Unit 5 example is built

The paper describes Mr. G., his family and the grandmother's request after the second session, and the trainee's discomfort with her refusal. The awareness section shows her assumption coming from her own small, private family, citing Sue and colleagues. The knowledge section explains familismo while warning that a pattern is not a person, under a highlighted line about knowing what to ask. Hook and colleagues' cultural humility and its link with the working relationship follow. The decision section records Mr. G.'s wishes, the limited consent and a bilingual family meeting. The social justice section adds translated materials, and the close reconciles confidentiality and culture. The client's own words about his grandmother are what move the case forward.

Where the points sit in the PS311 Unit 5 rubric

Multicultural competence papers earn credit when frameworks guide a concrete decision. Instructors look for the professional's own cultural assumptions examined honestly, cultural knowledge used to frame questions rather than to stereotype, and the client's own preferences driving the outcome. Explaining cultural humility as an ongoing stance, distinct from knowledge, shows depth. Meeting ethical requirements such as consent in a culturally responsive way demonstrates that culture and ethics are integrated, not traded off. A systemic observation and action adds the social justice dimension. Original frameworks and outcome research cited accurately complete the paper. Showing how a program, not only one worker, changed in response demonstrates the social justice dimension that recent frameworks add to older models.

PS311 Unit 5 help from the desk

The most common weakness describes a culture in general terms and assumes the client fits the description. Another treats confidentiality and family involvement as an either-or choice. Students often present cultural competence as a checklist of facts. The professional's own culture is frequently left out, though it is the first part of every framework. Systemic barriers are usually ignored. Before submitting, add a paragraph on your own cultural assumptions, replace any sentence that tells the reader what this client must believe with a question you would ask, show how consent or confidentiality was handled and name one change to the program, not only to the individual case.

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Send the client or group and the instructions with the rubric. A custom paper applies competence frameworks to practice decisions. The first one costs nothing, back within 24-48h. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.

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PS311 Unit 5 questions, answered

What is cultural humility?

An ongoing, other-oriented stance of curiosity and self-reflection about a client's culture.

What are the multicultural competencies?

Awareness of one's own culture and biases, knowledge of the client's worldview and culturally appropriate skills.

Is cultural competence an ethical requirement?

Major codes treat it as part of competent and nondiscriminatory practice.

Where can I find a free PS311 Unit 5 sample paper?

This page holds the complete PS311 Unit 5 paper on a composite client whose family wanted a role in his recovery, using cultural humility and consent.

How was family involvement handled in the PS311 Unit 5 sample?

The client chose to let his grandmother see his treatment plan and progress, but not his history, through a signed consent.