Introduction
This chapter discusses how to become more culturally aware and inclusive in our work. You will interact with clients who come from a myriad of backgrounds, so it is important to be knowledgeable about such differences. Physical challenges, educational backgrounds, criminal histories, as well as citizenship status, can also contribute to differences, which can make interactions between workers and clients more complex.
Key Words
- Cultural Diversity/Multiculturalism: The variety of different values, preferences, practices, and behaviors that exist between groups. Multiculturalism is an alternative, more inclusive term.
- Ethnocentric: A conscious or unconscious belief that one's own ethnic group or culture is inherently superior to another. An inclination toward viewing others from one's own cultural or ethnic perspective. Extreme forms include such things as believing that one's own group is better than others and acting on this position, such as in the case of racism.
- Self- Monitoring: The process by which an individual becomes sensitive to, reflects upon, and analyzes one's own behavior and actions. Involves self-awareness, introspection, and reflection or contemplation.
Developing Cultural Sensitivity in the Workplace
You will have an opportunity to interact with clients who have different cultural backgrounds and experiences. Consequently, it is important to be able to demonstrate culturally competent and appropriately inclusive behavior when interacting with people from cultures and backgrounds different from your own. Utilizing your work site to appreciate the types of diversity that are present in your community may help you determine what type of cultural skills you need to develop. Of course, knowing all the nuances of every culture is impossible. However, familiarizing yourself with those cultures you are most likely to encounter is a reasonable expectation for employers to have of you.
Keep in mind that you are still in a learning process, which means it is appropriate to ask the supervisor about suitable methods of interaction with various types of people or groups. The willingness to understand, appreciate, and experience cultural diversity will help you develop greater communication skills and cultural competency. Your job may even be a platform for expanding your cultural awareness and ability to work with people of different perspectives and orientations. Indeed, the experience may even help you identify personal biases. Becoming aware of them is often the first step in overcoming and preventing the types of countertransference that can arise based on such things as how one sees gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and so forth.
The Reality of Cultural Differences
Cultural diversity is a much broader concept than just differences based on race or ethnicity, as it may also include equally powerful and important differences in gender, religion, and socioeconomic status. Sometimes these differences are obvious and can even be expressed by the type of clothing that is worn. At other times, the differences may be far more subtle, such as in the way conversations are held, how frequently people touch others, or how much interpersonal space they prefer.
Example:
In Western culture, patting a child on the head can simply mean “Atta boy” or “What a sweetheart,” whereas, in some tribal cultures, touching a child’s head signifies that you have a negative or even evil wish for that child.
Preparing for and gaining knowledge of cultural norms prepares you to notice important differences, increases your understanding of those you work with, and helps you to communicate more effectively. Cultivating a culturally sensitive approach is vital to having a successful worker relationship and benefits both professionals as well as the clients they serve.
Developing Cultural Awareness
When experiencing cultural differences at work, you may come to have new or uncomfortable emotions. One way to prepare yourself for these new experiences is to become more aware of your own cultural preferences and habits, both positive and negative ones. Knowing your cultural practices better helps you assess whether they are appropriate in a situation and better enables you to adjust, if necessary. Otherwise, you may appear naive, underprepared, insensitive, or even ignorant.
Each one of us is a partial product of our biology, gender, age, and social class. If all we had to do in life is interact with people who have the same backgrounds, there would be little need for cultural awareness, sensitivity, and competence because we would all reflect similar environments and could take them for granted. However, that is hardly ever the case in the real world. Instead, one thing all of us can do is to become aware of, and learn how to recognize, our own culturally-based perceptions, expectations, and reactions and then make appropriate adjustments when dealing with others from different backgrounds.
Learning about the various cultural differences of the people you are likely to encounter or work with will assist you in becoming more culturally competent in your career. After all, consciously or unconsciously holding on to thoughts, ideas, jargon, or mannerisms that one’s culture is superior to another will certainly be noticeable to clients. Such narrow views may create unnecessary barriers in your work that only make it harder for both parties.
Self-Awareness
In order to appreciate cultural differences, it is often necessary to enhance your own self-awareness. To be effective you need to be aware of the dynamics of power that are associated with privileges that you may have based on your race, ethnicity, gender, age, or social class, including education and income. The first step in that process may be to recognize that historical inequality does exist in these areas. Every culture has a hierarchy of power and privilege. Awareness of your own biases, power, and preconceived ideas of various populations is essential to be an effective culturally competent worker. By recognizing your privileges, you can begin to understand the disadvantages other cultures experience.
Acceptance and Cultural Competence
Successful careers usually require developing some degree of skill in cultural competence. Each discipline, from social work to law enforcement, will require its own set of skills. However, some things are important for all of them. In general, the principle of acceptance is part of a foundation for building a working relationship between the client and the worker. Although it is not necessary to agree with any given practice, acceptance usually involves some degree of empathy or concern. Mutual respect is also established as a result of affirming someone’s individuality and recognizing the strengths of the person, including those of their cultural background.
Example:
In Western cultures, privilege is often given to people who are heterosexual, white, young, tall, Christian, wealthy, educated, healthy, and male. Conversely, any person who does not fall into one of the favored or privileged categories may suffer some type of social, emotional, or economic disadvantage.
Activity: At this point, it might be worth reflecting on what you have experienced that could be a privilege in your life, stemming from such things as your race, ethnicity, gender, or age. What about your socioeconomic status, including that of your family, your current social class, level of education, and so on might be important to know? Do you have any privilege based on these factors? What are your feelings about these factors in relation to others, especially the client population you are working with? Remember, you also can have unconscious feelings and beliefs about these things.
