Discussion Forum-

Culturally Competent Helping

Chapter Nine

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Meeting with Diversity and Different Cultures in Our Day-to-Day Lives

 Just because we may know people of different ethnicities, races, and religions does not mean we understand their culture.

 Eating different food and listening to different music does not equal understanding a different culture.

 Avoid transferring your own values onto other people.

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The Changing Face of America

 More than one-third of Americans are now racial and ethnic

minorities, and this increase is expected to continue (see Figure 9.3).

 Such shifting demographics also changes the religious composition of

the country.

 Other diversities include different sex role identities, sexual

minorities, those who are HIV-positive, the homeless and poor, older

people, individuals with mental disorders, those with physical

challenges, and other indices of diversity.

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The Need for Cultural Competence

 Clients from diverse cultures are:

 Frequently misunderstood and misdiagnosed

 Often spoken down to and patronized

 Have the impact of negative social forces minimized by the

helper

 Find the helping relationship less helpful

 Seek mental health services at lower rates

 Terminate helping relationships earlier

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Sources of Helper Incompetence

 Helper incompetence stems from the following viewpoints:

1. The melting pot myth

2. Incongruent expectations about the helping relationship

3. De-emphasizing social forces

4. Ethnocentric worldview

5. Ignorance of one’s own racist attitudes and prejudices

6. Inability to understanding cultural differences in the expression of

symptomatology

7. Unreliability of assessment and research procedures

8. Institutional racism

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Defining Culturally Competent Helping

 Is “a consistent readiness to identify the cultural dimension of clients’ lives and a subsequent integration of cultures into counseling work” (McAuliffe, 2013b, p. 6).

 Sue and Torino (2004)  Uses modalities and defines goals consistent with life experiences and

cultural values of clients  Utilizes universal and culture-specific helping strategies and roles  Recognizes client identities to include individual, group, and universal

dimensions  Balances aspects of individualism and collectivism in assessment, diagnosis,

and treatment.  Understands three identities: individual, group, and universal  Determines if the client has an individualistic perspective or a collective

perspective  See Figure 9.4 and discuss

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Developing Cultural Competence

 Multicultural Counseling Competencies Model 1. Having appropriate attitudes and beliefs—being aware of

one’s own assumptions, values, and biases (See Reflection Exercise 9.1)

2. Knowledge about clients’ culture is needed to better understand them • Being aware of one’s own cultural heritage and how it

affects their relationship with clients • See Reflection Exercise 9.2

3. A repertoire of skills or tools that can be effectively applied to clients of diverse backgrounds (See Reflection Exercise 9.3)

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Advocacy Competencies and Social Justice Work

 Purpose of Social Justice Work  To broaden culturally competent helping by including a wide

range of activities that affect the client’s broader system. This ultimately creates a better life for the client.

 Advocacy Competencies  Acting with the client, community, and public

 Client empowerment  Community collaboration  Public information

 Acting on behalf of the client, community, and public  Client advocacy  Systems advocacy  Social/political advocacy

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Tripartite Model of Personal Identity (Sue and Sue, 2013)

 The Individual Level  Client’s unique genetics and distinctive experiences

 The Group Level  The various factors a person may have in common with other

people (e.g., race, gender, age, culture)

 The Universal Level  Shared experiences that define all of us as human

 Biological/physical similarities  Common life experiences (birth, death, love, sadness, etc.)  Self-awareness  Ability to use symbols, such as language

 See Figure 9.7

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RESPECTFUL Model (D’Andrea and Daniels, 2005)

 R: religious/spiritual identity  E: economic class background  S: sexual identity  P: level of psychology development  E: ethnic/racial identity  C: chronological/developmental challenges  T: various forms of trauma/threats to well-being  F: family background and history  U: unique physical characteristics  L: location of residence and language differences

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Becoming Culturally Sensitive: Knowledge and Words (slide 1 of 4)

 Culture — expressed through common values, habits, norms of behavior, symbols, artifacts, language, and customs

 Prejudice — judging a person or a group based on preconceived notions about the group

 Stereotypes — rigidly held beliefs that most or all members of a group share certain characteristics, behaviors, or beliefs

 Racism — a specific belief that one race is superior to another

 Discrimination — an active behavior that results in differential treatment of individuals within specific ethnic or cultural groups

 Microaggression — a subtle type of discrimination that is conscious or unconscious and includes brief, subtle, and common putdowns or indignities directed toward individuals from diverse cultures

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Becoming Culturally Sensitive: Knowledge and Words (slide 2 of 4)

 Ethnicity — a group of people who share a common ancestry, which may include specific cultural and social patterns such as a similar language, values, religion, foods, and artistic expressions (not based on genetic heritage)

 Minority (or nondominant group) — any person or group of people who are being singled out due to their cultural or physical characteristics and are being systematically oppressed by those individuals who are in a position of power

 Power Differentials — real or perceived power disparities between people  Race — traditionally defined as permanent physical differences as perceived

by an external authority. Used to be based on genetics; now issue is clouded and unclear, so better to avoid this term (see Reflection Exercise 9.4)

 Religion — an organized or unified set of practices and beliefs that have moral underpinnings and define a group’s way of understanding the world

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Becoming Culturally Sensitive: Knowledge and Words (slide 3 of 4)

 Spirituality — residing in a person, not a group. Defines the person’s understanding of self, self in relationship to others, and self in relationship to a self-defined higher power or lack thereof.

 Sexism — discrimination or stigmatization of another due to his or her gender

 Heterosexism — (formerly known as homophobia) discrimination, denigration, or stigmatization of a person for nonheterosexual behaviors

 Sexual Prejudice — a blanket term for negative attitudes targeted toward homosexual, bisexual, heterosexual, or transgender individuals

 Sexual Orientation — the predominant gender for which a person has consistent attachments, longings, and sexual fantasies (Szymanski, 2013).

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Becoming Culturally Sensitive: Knowledge and Words (slide 4 of 4)

 Social Class  The perceived ranking of an individual within a society and the

amount of power an individual wields  Based on factors such as education, income, and wealth  Even though individuals may share a similar culture, ethnicity, or

race, they may have little in common with one another due to differences in social class.

 Political Correctness —the identification of a universally nonoffensive group label is difficult.  Instructor read out loud: Italicized paragraph on top of p. 225  Students: What do you think?  Other words?

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Ethical, Professional, and Legal Issues/Effective Human Service Professional

 We are often unaware of our own prejudices and bias, and thus it is important to actively work on our knowledge and skills.

 Read out loud each statement from NOHS ethical code, found in Appendix B.

 The effective human service professional realizes that becoming culturally competent is a process with many stages.

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Summary

The range of diversity that exists in the U.S. and the world

The need for cultural competence

What is culturally competent helping?

The importance of social justice work

Basic definitions of common words and terms

Political correctness

Ethical code

The stages of becoming a culturally competent human service

professional