28 Hr Deadline! 2 Cultural Psychology Assessments to be done!
shlynref
CAR4.docxInteracting with diversity
Concept
People require the chances to engage in “difficult dialogues” in order to rectify outlooks, inclinations, and behaviours that contribute to oppression (Watt, 2007). Still, these dialogues are dubbed “difficult” for a reason; people often react adversely to dialogues about social justice issues (Boatright-Horowitz, Marraccini, & Harps-Logan, 2012; Boatright-Horowitz & Soeung, 2009; Platt, 2013; Watt, 2007).
After all, as Pratto and Stewart (2012) observed, privileged individuals may not be able to empathise with impoverishment, intolerance, and bigotry that they have not endured themselves (McIntosh, 2012). Bramesfeld & Good (2015) created a poverty simulation board game which examined disparity across multiple areas, including access to social influence, education, health care, career opportunities and housing throughout the lifespan.
The game also examined the impact of inequity on health and well-being. A qualitative assessment of 25 students revealed that the simulation helped them to reflect on issues of marginalisation, privilege, and structural bias (Bramesfeld & Good, 2015). A broader focus on converging identities is important, as people frequently adopt an inadequate definition of equality focused primarily on ethnicity, nationality and culture, but not on special needs, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, and gender (Green, Callands, Radcliffe, Luebbe, & Klonoff, 2009; Littleford, 2013).
This role-playing tool may be pivotal for tackling social inequalities, as it enables people to exteriorize their experiences of privilege and prejudice in a safe environment, and subsequently contemplate these issues, re-evaluating them with a now increased awareness in their own lives (Patrick & Connolly, 2013).
Action
Initially, I was not sure what I wanted to do for this role-playing exercise. Then, coincidentally, my house’s water supply was suddenly cut off due to a faulty pump. This lasted for a good few hours before it was resolved.
This caused a number of problems and gave me multiple new experiences and challenges that I had never faced before. The biggest one was when I needed to have a shower to get ready for school.
I was at a loss as to what to do about it at first, and called HDB to see if they could get someone to come down and fix the issue promptly. However, after some time had gone by, I realized it would not be resolved quickly enough for me to make it to school on time.
After searching around the house for a solution, I eventually decided that I was going to have to resort to using a pitcher full of drinking water, and a half empty bottle of water that were in my kitchen to shower.
I was worried that there would not be enough water for me to both lather up and rinse soap off of myself, so I elected not to take that risk. Later on, I tried to compensate for any possible unpleasant odor by using extra amounts of deodorant and cologne.
Aside from this, other inconveniences arose. For example, I also had no means to have my usual morning coffee, and after styling my hair, had no water with which to wash the styling product off my hands.
Thankfully, I had brushed my teeth earlier that day, before the water supply was suddenly cut off. If it had not been for this, I would have been terribly self-conscious about my breath the entire day.
Reflection
This was certainly a wakeup call for me. I honestly cannot remember a time in my life when I have consciously felt appreciative and fortunate to have a regular supply of clean water. It was definitely something I have taken for granted all these years.
