The United States historically has been a haven for immigrants and
refugees from almost every corner of the globe. As the result, social
workers have played a major role in helping the newcomers settle and
adjust into their newly found communities. Cross-cultural issues are not
new among those of us who are trained or identify ourselves as social
workers. The profession of social work has a long tradition of advocating
and serving clients from different cultural backgrounds (Lubove,
1965; Green, 1982). The question that remains to be answered is to
what extent social workers are concerned about the impact of cultural
differences in the implementation of services and the assessment of service
outcomes across different social, economic, racial, and national
groups. This small guide attempts to articulate the process of crosscultural
research instrument development in social work research and
evaluation.
People migrate from place to place for different reasons, including
the economy, political turmoil, religious persecution, war, and calamity.
Immigration researchers often classify migration into two groups: the
pulled and the pushed immigrants. Pulled immigrants migrate out
of their country of origin by choice, and pushed immigrants migrate
because of factors beyond their control.