Cultural Approach to Social Work: A Case Study of the 2011 Van Earthquake

In Turkey, social work has been institutionalized as a part of the modernization aim, and its relationship with society has been organized according to universalist assumptions of this modernizing effort. As a result, with various aspects of culture such as language, religions, customs, tradition and daily life practices, transformation of "non-universal" and "pre-modern" qualities have been accepted as the primary aim of social work. This resulted in ignorance and indifference regarding the "local", "cultural" and "traditional" qualities, and created some defects and deficiencies in terms of social services. In this article, the importance of culture in the field of social work is underlined drawing support from discussions held in other social sciences and social theory. Based on observations collected during social work in the region short after Van Earthquake in 2011, we present the mentioned deficiencies and their probable solutions. Accordingly, social workers have to know and respect the applicants' language, religion, customs, and needs, and to communicate with them as "helpful friends" rather than "modernizing outsiders". Without knowing the cultural codes of daily life in the region, none can contribute to the post-traumatic normalization process. Adapted from the source document.