Running head: CULTURAL IMMERSION OF WHITE TEEN CULTURE 1

Cultural Immersion of White Teen Culture

Melanie Haynes
Wilmington University
Guided Practicum
8100
Professor Linda Payne
August 14, 2014
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Cultural Immersion of White Teen Culture
Introduction
Culture. (Noun). The sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings and
transmitted from one generation to another. Caucasian of or relating to the Caucasus or its
inhabitants of, constituting, or characteristic of a race of humankind native to Europe, North
Africa, and southwest Asia and classified according to physical features used especially in
referring to persons of European descent having usually light skin pigmentation (Merriam-
Webster, 2014) . If we look at the current world with its terrorism, war, suffering, hunger and
inhumanity, I think we can see that there is an evil in all men. That evil must be controlled by
good government and men themselves. The first step is to recognize man's capacity for evil, and
then take steps to try to overcome it. Ignoring or placating it only leads to more evil, as our
society has now discovered. According to the National Gang Center:
Over the past decade, annual estimates of the number of gangs have averaged around
25,000 nationally, over 11 percent white gang members (NGC, 2014).
Following a yearly decline from 1996 to a low in 2003, annual estimates steadily
increased through 2011 (NGC, 2014).
The most recent estimate of nearly 30,000 gangs represents a 12 percent increase from
2006 and is the highest annual estimate since 1997. Over the past decade, annual
estimates of the number of gangs have averaged around 25,000 nationally (NGC, 2014).
Following a yearly decline from 1996 to a low in 2003, annual estimates steadily
increased through 2011 (NGC, 2014).
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The most recent estimate of nearly 30,000 gangs represents a 12 percent increase from
2006 and is the highest annual estimate since 1997 (NGC, 2014).


History and Milestones
A Euro-American, (also known as "European American", "Caucasian American", or "White
American") is a citizen or resident of the United States who has origins in any of the original
peoples of Europe. This includes people via African, North American, Caribbean, Central
American or South American and Oceanian nations which have a large European diaspora
("Caucasian Americans," n.d).

The Spanish were the first Europeans to establish a continuous presence in what is now the
United States. Martn de Argelles born 1566, San Agustn, La Florida, was the first person of
European descent born in what is now the United States. Twenty-one years later, Virginia Dare
born 1587 Roanoke Island in present-day North Carolina, was the first child born in the Thirteen
Colonies to English parents ("Caucasian Americans," n.d). In 2008, German Americans (16.5%),
Irish Americans (11.9%), and English Americans (9.0%) were the three largest self-reported
ancestry groups in the United States ("Caucasian Americans," n.d).
In 1977, it was proposed that the term "Euro-American" replace "white" as a racial label in the
U.S. Census; although this was not done. The term "Euro-American" is not in popular use in the
U.S. among the general public or in the mass media, and the terms "white" or "white American"
are commonly used instead. According to sociological studies, the term "Euro-American" has
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increased a little in use, especially among scholars, but "White American", "Caucasian
American", and "Anglo" continue to be generally preferred, depending on the descent of the
given individual(s) or group to which the term refers.

Overall, as the largest group, Euro-Americans have the lowest poverty rate and the second
highest educational attainment levels, median household income, and median personal income of
any racial demographic in the nation ("Caucasian Americans," n.d).

Movie Review:
Stereotypes and Racism in American History X, (1998) The Lord of the Flies and todays
Caucasian youth. In American History X and in our current situation there are many related
issues that tie into racism and stereotyping. The culture Caucasian teen males in these
situations enact hate crimes when they have been directly affected by other acts of violence. The
act of seeking out revenge by harming an entire classification of people due to stereotyping is
ignorance in its purest form and causes the vicious cycle of hatred to continue.

Edward Norton portrays Derek, a neo-Nazi reacting to influences and situations in his life that
parallel those of the tragedies and hate crimes since September 11th. Dereks first act of violence
in the film was self-defense, which mirrored the United States in their efforts of bombing
Afghanistan. Derek was trying to defend his family and his property, against an invasion on
while the United States protected national security by retaliating against terrorism on the World
Trade Center and the Pentagon. Dereks aggression ran much deeper than just basic protection
because it was rooted with racism. Due to the fact that his father was murdered by an African
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American, Derek began to view people with the same ethnicity as equal, if not lower to, the man
that killed his father. America now has a similar outlook on Muslims and Arabs solely because
of the few individuals that contributed to the acts of terrorism on Sept. 11th. Hate crimes against
people of Arab decent have massively increased and the justification for these actions are simply
out of revenge. The direct relation of why Derek began discriminating against blacks and why
the United States is presently stereotyping Arabs and Muslims is a reaction to lusting for
payback and revenge.

The rage that stems from senseless acts of violence in both cases is a result of the victim franticly
trying to make the culprit pay. Derek subconsciously decided that he needed to make up for his
feelings of loss and helplessness by going after anyone who, in his mind, was associated with his
fathers murderer.
I found Lord of the Flies, (1990) to be a very interesting book written by William
Golding and in 1990s motion picture directed by (H. Cook, 1998) to be more relevant to the
youth of 2014. It began with a wonderful adventure (freedom) a group of teenage boys encounter
when their plane crashes on a deserted island leaving them with their own military academy
skills to keep them alive. As time on the island got longer the mental stability of these otherwise
sane youth began to unravel. Brutal events start to happen as nature vs, nurture settles in. The
ultimate sacrifice involves piggy a cadet who was in the middle of a heart felt speech about the
savage behavior that they were now displaying, he was killed by his once group of friends turned
wild enemy hunter with a boulder crushing his skull. The sobering moment that put it all in
perspective was when they were found by the military academy and they were dressed like
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savages covered in dirt while hunting another youth. When they all saw the rescue team the
harsh reality of their previous actions they were in shock.
Personal Interview
Family and Social History:
Youth was born to an unmarried couple in 2003 in Maryland. His biological father currently
resides in Sykesville, Maryland and biological mother is in Westminster, Maryland. Contact with
biological parents is intermittent at this time. Youth currently resides with his maternal
grandmother and older sister since 2008. Youth has had several difficulties with his relationship
with his sister and has caused behavioral problems. Youth feels he was saved from his parents
who had a severe substance abuse which caused their life to be unstable. Youth recalls having to
find food and fend for himself and his parents would be gone for days at a time.
Substance Abuse History:
Youth reports that he has experimented with both alcohol and marijuana at the age of 10. He
stated that his 16yr old sister and her friends gave it to him. Youths biological parents were
abusing cocaine, heroin, Prescription pills and marijuana. Reports that youth as an infant would
be in bed while his mother would get high and would drug him with pain killers so he would
sleep through it all.
Psychiatric History:
Youth has been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, Oppositional Defiant
Disorder, Mood Disorder, and Adjustment Disorder, youth also has a learning disability. Youth
receives counseling weekly and is also on a Ritalin. He has made minimal progress in the area of
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respecting authority figures, following rules, and managing anger effectively. Youth exhibits
impulsive behaviors and makes decisions that are not well thought out, which led to his latest
troubles. Youth bought an air riffle to school and threatened to kill his classmate. Youth has gone
through the justice system and a decision was determined.

Summary and Synthesis
While we are identified by gender raced, creed, economic status and education levels, we still
face the same societal woes of our generations past, present and future. Youth of today are
creating their own rule and norms and color in some cases are not a factor as crime knows no
bounds. We all have at-risk populations and need more problem focused support groups to
provide mentioning programs to curb the negative outcomes stemming from idle time. Agencies
such as VisionQuest strive to fill that void for youth of any identifying gender or race between
the ages of 8 to 19 years of age and fit our criminogenic needs.
Agency Community
VisionQuest has been offering services in Delaware for nearly 16 years. Currently, VisionQuest
provides programs statewide. The HomeQuest program in Delaware is unique and highly
innovative. In a collaborative effort with the State, VisionQuest designed an umbrella program to
serve delinquent youth statewide. Probation Officers use Motivational Interviewing techniques to
assess each youth using the PACT assessment, which identifies criminogenic needs in a youths
life. VisionQuest offers a spectrum of services to address top risk factors for each youth,
providing customized and effective services to each youth referred. Services offered include:
Aggression Replacement Training (ART), Sanctuary Model, Cognitive Behavioral Self-
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Counseling Skills, Casey Life Skills, Accountability, Community Service, Guided Recreation,
Girls Self-Esteem, Family Meetings, and Street Smart. Along with the services listed above,
VisionQuest offers two evidence-based treatment models statewide with offices in Wilmington
and Dover Delaware.
Administration and Staff Training
Providing supervisory interventions that are flexible, creative or directive depending on
the need at the time is important in order to provide, document and ensure all standards are
maintained. Each staff member should have an exact idea of their performance, strengths and
weakness performing their specific job. It is the task of administrative team to designate time to
meet with each staff and express the overall performance of the team and to gain personal and
professional insight as to if their staff member is dealing with any issues. Being able to work
with staff and create unique and welcoming forms of communication is a great way to promote
positivity amongst the agency staff.
Having knowledge of best practices for this population is very important as you are the
clients lifeline and if you are lacking the proper skills needed for their care you can become a
great detriment instead of an asset. Policy and procedures are made to be followed and cover a
wide array of rules and regulations about dealing with specific situations. That agency staff must
also possess the common sense component of it that helps them identify the manner they
approach each situation.
Having program service boosters for the staff to ensure the fidelity is being kept up is
important and shows the willingness to improve the overall quality of services and stay abreast
of the newest trends in the field.
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Having experience providing treatment services to those individuals with behavioral
problems is important because it gives the agency an extra member of the treatment team who
has both practical and theoretical experience working in this setting. This also creates closeness
within the relationships between the staff and supervisor and between the supervisor and client.
If the clinical supervisor has never had any practical training as a Youth and Family Specialist
with clients to ensure high quality of care they must be trained in order to fully understand the
scope of their position.
Funding
VisionQuest is a state funded agency, while they apply for supplemental grant funding they are
primarily funded through the state contracts.
Staff Sensitivity
The small staff at this agency come from diverse backgrounds and cultures and with the training
provided, are best suited to tackle the issues of our youth.
Agency and Program Service Effort
Our out of the box customer service method is what sets us apart from the other agencies. Staff
go in to the homes, schools, detention centers and placement settings to provide services to the
youth. Youth and families are also get services through our other programs such as Functional
Family Therapy (FFT), Parenting with Love and Limits (PLL). VisionQuest is a full service
agency geared to helping rehabilitate todays youth for tomorrows future.
Quality
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VisionQuest abides by a strict moral and ethical code of conduct that each staff member agrees
to uphold while employed with the agency. The agency ensures all bases are covered in this area
by providing scales and surveys to the youth and staff periodically to ensure the quality of
provided treatment is kept above board.
Efficiency
VisionQuest acts as a beacon for collaborating with multiple agencies that also service at-risk
youth in various ways in order to ensure full support and rehabilitation.
NASW Standards for Cultural Competence Standard:
The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and help
meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and
empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. A historic and
defining feature of social work is the professions focus on individual well-being in a social
context and the well-being of society. Fundamental to social work is attention to the
environmental forces that create, contribute to, and address problems in living (NASW, 2014).
NASW, 2014 core values, embraced by social workers throughout the professions history, are
the foundation of social works unique purpose and perspective:
service
social justice
dignity and worth of the person
importance of human relationships
integrity
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competence.
1.05 Cultural Competence and Social Diversity
(c) Social workers should obtain education about and seek to understand the nature of social
diversity and oppression with respect to race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, sexual
orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, political belief, religion,
immigration status, and mental or physical disability (NASW, 2014).
National Organization of Human Services Standards
Standard 18 Human service professionals are knowledgeable about the cultures and communities
within which they practice. They are aware of multiculturalism in society and its impact on the
community as well as individuals within the community. They respect individuals and groups,
their cultures and beliefs (NOHS, 2014).
Standard 19 Human service professionals are aware of their own cultural backgrounds, beliefs,
and values, recognizing the potential for impact on their relationships with others (NOHS, 2014).
Personal Cultural Competence
In my own personal setting as a professional I believe that each individual I encounter must be
treated in a respectful manner regardless of their cultural beliefs, race gender etc.,. This is a
profession geared to empower people to achieve better for themselves and become productive
pillars of society. My personal feelings are irrelevant however my personal allegiance to educate
myself to the various groups I may encounter is imperative to our success. As a human services
professional both the NASW & NOHS are to be revered as the ("NASW," 2014) Holy Grail and
must be upheld to the best of our professional and personal abilities.
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Final Thoughts
I believe action and change starts with self if we work hard to become the change we want to see
in our communities, we can positively impact those groups at- risk to create their own reality.
We live in an ever changing society and fads, trends and cultural dynamics are never constant, by
equipping the Caucasian culture with tools to positively engage with neighboring cultures the
crime rates would fall and education rates would rise as all groups would become diverse and
supportive.

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References
Cook, H. (Director). (1990). Lord of the flies [Motion picture]. USA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Studios Inc.
Council for Standards in Human Service Education Adopted 1996 [Ethical Standards for Human
Service Professionals ]. (2014). NOHS . Retrieved from
http://www.nationalhumanservices.org/ethical-standards-for-hs-professionals#section_1
Euro- Americans. (n.d). Retrieved August 1, 2014, from http://euroamericans.org
Kaye, T. (Director). (1998). American history x [Motion picture]. USA: n.d.
Merriam- Webster (2014). Culture. In Culture. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/culture
NASW Code of Ethics [Official standards]. (2014). NASW Code of Ethics. Retrieved from
https://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/code/code.asp
National youth gang survey analysis. [Entire issue]. (n.d.). National Gang Center. Retrieved
from http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Survey-Analysis/Gang-Related-Offenses