Refugee Populations: A Case Study

Current statistics indicate that the immigrant and refugee populations in the United States are rapidly increasing. In fact, the United States has witnessed the greatest migration in its history with an increase of 44% since 1990 (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, n.d.). Estimates indicate that the foreign-born population is 28 million to 31 million (U.S. Census Bureau, 2002). This means that 1 out of every 10 people in the United States come from an immigrant or refugee background, with 1 in 5 born in another country or with at least one parent born in another nation (U.S. Census Bureau, 2002).
Working with immigrant populations raises important ethical questions. Counselors are increasingly likely to encounter immigrant clients whose cultural practices are contrary to society's norms and legal statutes. These situations require counselors to think carefully about their responses prior to implementing multicultural/social justice counseling interventions with immigrants. This requires significant flexibility and sometimes taking what many persons would consider being highly controversial positions by not strictly abiding by laws that conflict with the cultural worldviews, values, beliefs, and
The practice of coining is an Asian healing method that may leave bruises on an individual's body. Counselors working with Asian Americans have occasionally misinterpreted such bruises as being evidence of child and elder abuse and notified authorities when, in effect, the bruises actually resulted from the coining (Chung & Bemak, 2007a). Instead of leaping to such a conclusion and notifying legal agents, counselors should conduct a comprehensive cultural assessment of such cases to determine whether the bruises were actually the result of abuse, coining, or other cultural practices that would denote care rather than abuse (Chung, Ortiz, Sandoval-Perez,