Assignment: Social and Cultural Diversity

Assignment: Social and Cultural Diversity

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Assignment: SOCIETY AND CULTURE DIVERSITY.

Social and Cultural Diversity Ronna Coffman-Cordis Grand Canyon University: PCN-509 Kendra Stewart May 16, 2018 Introduction As a counselor there are various persons one is expected to interact with at working station. These persons are from various backgrounds that influence their manner of life. As a business code of ethics, the customer is always. To excellently handle a client in that you meet their satisfaction through the service offered it is necessary one to have a prior understanding of existing diversities. Respecting these differences helps people live and work harmoniously. It also implies that a client feels more connected with the counselor who has a clear understanding of who they are. The counselor is supposed to connect to every client’s depending on their cultural background. Counseling is not just a profession to earn money but also to make a positive impact on human life. For this to happen the counselor one should have a view life via the client’s eye . Definition of cultural diversity Cultural diversity is a system of norms, behavior, and beliefs that are very particular to a group of people but dissimilar from other people’s life style . These differences could be on religion or the origin of a person. Culture diversity includes race, beliefs, sexuality, age, gender, religion among others.

Assignment: Social and Cultural Diversity

This influences the dress code, language, eating habits, ways of worship among other daily activities. If positively embraced, cultural diversity is resourceful as it helps people inputting several ideas and thoughts on any issue. The conclusion generated from various mindsets is often unbiased and accommodative. Another significance of cultural diversity is that it stimulates creativity that consequently drives innovation. It also makes room for any institution to employ and retain the best talents and abilities. However, it can be a barricade to teamwork and cooperation towards achieving a set objective. This is brought by dysfunctional adaptation behaviors and miscommunication. Cultural biasness In my early tears as a counselor I often missed impacting on my clients as affected. This was brought about by my cultural biasness. I grew up in a family where we were only two children. My parents were staunch Christian who taught us to read the Bible every day. We dutifully followed these doctrines to the letter. My parents believed in monogamy and respect of each person’s decision including us children. Our opinions become weightier when we were 18 years and over. On the contrary I happened to interact with several clients who were mainly Muslims. I was initially ignorant of some of their norm in greeting like the men not shaking hands with the female gender. I took it as rude gesture when I reached out to greet him, just for him to turn me down. I was disappointed and mishandled him in my responses. The client left dissatisfied as a result of my cultural biasness. Scheduling the time and day for an appointment with him was a challenge as my normal routine conflicted with his due to his strict religious practices that dictate their time of worship.

Assignment: Social and Cultural Diversity

At some point through the sessions I would not imagine that he was a father to twelve. The children who in one session accompanied him resonated with their father’s thoughts and not even the wives objected his points. He often could make reference to the Quran in which I had no idea of its content. This forced me to simply agree with him as I had no bases of a different opinion. Their values though similar to those of Christianity, theirs felt harsher. They embrace male chauvinism and marring up to four wives. I made a negative remark toward these practices and even hinted it as a cause of the problems they were facing. In this I missed the point and my words prompted a sense of biased discrimination and misunderstanding. I based everything according to my background culture. I have in the past been a victim of cultural discrimination. This happened to me when I visited the Bahamas Island for my vacation. Instead of feeling welcome and relax, the people were cold and very unfriendly. I spoke English with an accent from my upbringing here in the west. Their language was different and they could gossip about me openly. They would burst out laughing while pointing fingers at me, making it obvious I was their subject of discussion. The worst was when I asked for cutlery while eating. It was interpreted as pride as they eat using their bare hands. Were it not for the cultural ignorance amongst us we would have lived peacefully, leaving everyone feeling better off after the visit. These two experiences have changed my way of thinking when it comes to handling people. I take time to understand their culture and remain open minded .I have also learned to be slow on judging people by their actions since I felt the pain of being discriminated due to my cultural activities practiced in a foreign land. It has also diversified my view of the right answer. There could be multiple answers besides mine. Racism Racism is another form of discrimination based on one’s skin color. One race feels that it is superior to others .

Assignment: Social and Cultural Diversity

This was common with persons from the west who looked down up the black people as less important. It being a global issue, most leaders have helped to reduce overt racism. However there is still prevalence of the subtle racism. Here a person may not be direct or expressed the discrimination publicly. However if you are keen enough you will distinguish the disguise. .An example of an unconscious expression of covert racism was experienced to my friend. She happens to have a Spanish accent due to her mother’s origin though she is a citizen by birth. She is also fluent in English though she is often asked where she is a legal American. Her hair too is blonde and she is brown. It is assumed that a full American is one who has her roots here and is supposed to be white not brown with dark hair. This annoying question keeps disturbing her and often spoils her mood which in turn affects her work performance. On the modern issue of racism, Xenophobia in South Africa has been an emerging concern Ethnicity describes people with a mutual ancestry and a common form of discrimination. However, it is interesting to note that besides their shared origin they still have differences in the perception and values. The values and attitudes that are passed from one generation to another are often affected by globalization; thus a change in values by the new era. There has also been a shift in the paradigm of culture that affects the perceptions of its diversity. Members of a similar ethnic group depending on their level of knowledge and open mindedness may selective pick up some ethnic practices while as dropping those that don’t make sense to them . A good example of this change is in the Nilotic group in Africa. This group was predominated by male chauvinism and female genital mutilation (FGM). Over the years the members have acknowledged that even women are entitle to an opinion. It has transgressed to the point that recently they elected a woman as their leader. She was the first in history from a community that lowly held women.

Assignment: Social and Cultural Diversity

Some members have also identified the negative effects of FGM and have stopped performing the act on their daughter besides being victims of it. Others have gone a notch higher to even protect the girls whose parents have not adopted this progress and at a risk of falling victim. They are also popularly known for pastoralism characterized by herds of cattle. With the change of climatic conditions and economy, they are gradually adopting more productive cattle farming. Some are keeping a few that they can manage throughout the seasons. A few others have even started valuing education as an economic resource to have. Definitely there will be differences in the two generations. Work codes of ethics ACA and NAADAC code of ethics spell out how a patient should be handled. These two principles dictate that I should serve my clienteles in an ethical and professional manner. I should be trustworthy, ensure a conducive working environment and comply with the national law among others. When faced with ethical issues, I should consult further to reduce the chances of discrimination and exploitation of my client. It will be my duty to be a person of integrity and use objectivity on clienteles instead of using my own values. . In my line of duty I will ensure that I got prior information of my patient’s cultural background as it will affect their response to treatment .Some patients believe on spiritual and or traditional healing. I will also engage my patient in the treatment process so as to eliminate any misunderstanding brought about by cultural differences. Research also shows that a counselor who is flexible enough to adopt different patient cultures prompts patients to be open to him or her as counselor may have to perform even psychological counseling before carrying out an operation. Communication and help seeking behavior differ across cultures. An example is the Americans feel that there is need to consult an expert or have academic support in any research. Contrary to those people from Spain who are more self-seeking and less concerned about academic support. Costa Rican prefers a physically present and intelligent teacher other than learning online . Similarly, strategies to build rapport are differentiated based on culture. To learn another language to decode the deeper expressions of words and feelings, while others, it’s simple and clear. Depending on one’s personal view it may require a lot of time before creating a rapport and also sharing a lot of personal issues with some as opposed to others. A potential counselor may be culturally biased by basing treatment on their level of understanding rather than the client’s. To eliminate this ignorance it is essential to interact with people from diverse cultures and get info on their cultural practices. One can also interact directly with different cultures or get secondary information on the same through books and other cultural materials.

References

Amy Ogan, E. W. (2015). Towards Understanding How to Assess Help Seeking Behavior AcrossCultures. Upenn.edu.

HY Liao, Y. H. (2016). Perception of Subtle Racism. The Counselling Psychologist.

Petkova, D. (2006). Cultural Diversity in People’s Attitudesand Perceptions. Bulgaria: Nota Di Lavoro.

Roskoski, J. (2017, June 05). Codes of Ethics for the ACA& NAADAC. Career Trend.

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