What is it and how do I utilize it?

CULTURAL COMPETENCY

Guidelines • Training only works if you are honest with yourself

and those around you! • EVERYONE has prejudices • Please respect the opinions and truth of those in the

room, no matter how “different” • Please feel free to express yourself freely without

judgment, as this is the ONLY way to understand your truth (culture) and comprehend the truths (cultures) of those in your life

What is Cultural Competency? •Ability to interact effectively and respectfully with people of different cultures and socio-economic backgrounds

•4 Components • 1) Awareness of your own cultural worldview •2) Attitude towards cultural differences •3) Knowledge of different cultural practices and

worldviews •4) Cross-cultural skills

Awareness of your own cultural worldview • 5 Parts

• Cultural Self-Assessment • What’s Your Worldview? • Appreciating Your Own Multiple Identities • Acknowledging Assumptions and Biases • Accepting Responsibility and Tolerating Ambiguity

Cultural Self Assessment • Think of yourself as a cultural being whose life has been influenced by various historical, social, political, economic, and

geographical circumstances • Where were you born? • When were you born? • Where did you grow up? • Where did your parent grow up? • Where did your grandparents grow up? • Where did your great grandparents grow up? • What is your earliest memory as a family? • What is your earliest school memory? • As a family, what events did you celebrate? • Have you traveled or moved as a child? • Have you traveled or moved as an adult? • Recall an international event that happened before you turned 18.

• Who was involved?

• What was the event?

• Where did it happen?

• How did it happen?

• Why did it happen?

• Recall an event that happened in the country where you born, before you turned 18. • What is your earliest recollection as a member of a group? • What was your first job? • As an adult, what events or holidays do you currently celebrate?

What is your worldview? • Learned through socialization, from childhood to adulthood, and

constantly reinforced by the culture in which you live • Taken-for-granted view of “the way things are”; unquestionable and

invisible • Example: “I am the captain of my soul” vs. “God will provide”

• Someone blind to their own culture cannot see the differences in value between cultures; leads to dehumanizing others with different values

Aspects of Worldview What is your worldview?

Time

Space between you and the next person

Relationships

Technology

Religion or spirituality

Honesty

Appreciating your own Multiple Identities • EVERYONE lives and identifies with multiple identities; most claim

different identities related to gender, age, religion, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, profession, national original, educational level

• When working with clients from other cultures, examine the differences and similarities between you and the client

• By recognizing multiple identities, you’re less likely to stereotype others based on minimal information about another person’s historical, social, and cultural backgrounds

• “I Am Exercise”

Acknowledging Assumptions and Biases • Social workers are expected to be aware of their own cultural

identifications in order to control their personal biases that could interfere in their relationship with a client; involves examining one’s own culture AND perceptions and assumptions about client’s culture

• Through self-reflective assessment of personal values, attitudes, and assumptions about other cultures, and articulating them, you can gain the ability to sort out or “bracket” influences of your own cultural background to provide respectful and unbiased help

• Self Assessment • What racial group do you identify with? • What ethnic group(s) do you identify with? • What is your earliest memory of belonging in a group (other than your family)? • What socioeconomic class do you identify with? • What is your earliest memory of being excluded from a group? • What is your earliest memory of excluding someone from a group?

Accepting Responsibility and Tolerating Ambiguity

• Ethnocentrism = tendency to think that your ways of thinking, acting, and believing are the only right, proper, and natural ways and that beliefs, values and practices that differ from yours are wrong

• Unexplored assumptions about our biases and preconceived ideas about others blind us to our ethnocentric behaviors—this deters us from relationship-building

• Indicate the degree to which you agree with the following: • People are responsible for their own actions • The outcome of events is beyond our control • It is dishonest to give vague and tentative answers • It is best to avoid direct and honest answers in order not to hurt or embarrass someone • Intelligent, efficient people use time wisely and are always punctual • Being punctual to work or meetings is not as important as spending time with family or close friends • Stoicism is the appropriate way to grieve • Loudly crying and moaning is the appropriate way to grieve • The best way to gain information is to ask direct questions • It is rude and intrusive to ask direct questions • It is proper to call people by their first names to show that you are friendly • It is disrespectful to call people by their first names unless they give you permission to do so • It is rude not to look at a person who is speaking to you • It is rude to engage in direct eye contact with persons of higher status

Attitude Towards Cultural Differences • 6 Stages of attitude

• ETHNOCENTRISM • Stage 1: Denial don’t really believe in cultural differences; they think people

who are behaving differently don’t know any better

• Stage 2: Defense have had an indication that their value system may not be absolute and they’re unhappy about it; believe in cultural difference and have accepted the reality of it, but they are deeply threatened by it and believe that other cultures are inferior

• Stage 3: Minimization still threated by difference, but they don’t think those who are different are inferior/misguided/unfortunate; believe that differences are real but not especially deep or significant, that people are still more similar than dissimilar

Attitudes Toward Cultural Difference Contd • ETHNORELATIVISM

• Stage 4: Acceptance accept differences as being deep and legitimate; they know other people are genuinely different from them and accept the inevitability of other value systems and behavioral norms

• Stages 5 & 6: Adaptation and Integration behavior as well as attitudes change; have gone from being neutral about difference to being positive

Important Immigration Terms • Alien Any person not a citizen or national of the United States • Asylee An alien in the US who is found to be unable or unwilling to

return to his or her country of nationality, or to seek the protection of that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution • Persecution must be based on the alien’s race, religion, nationality,

membership in a particular social group, or political opinion • Border Crosser An alien resident of the United States reentering the

country after an absence of less than 6 months in Canada or Mexico • Migrant A person who leaves his/her country of origin to seek

residence in another country • Parolee An alien, appearing to be inadmissible to the inspecting officer,

allowed into the US for urgent humanitarian reasons or when that alien’s entry is determined to be for significant public benefit

• Refugee Any person who is outside his or her country of nationality who is unable or unwilling to return to that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution

Knowledge of Different Cultures and Worldviews • Louisville has resettled individuals from the following countries in

the past quarter: • Afghanistan • Bhutan • Burma • Cuba • DR Congo • Eritrea • Ethiopia • Iraq • Pakistan • Somalia • Sudan

• We will be resettling Syrians in the coming year

Important to Keep in Mind • CULTURAL NORMS ARE RELATIVE; GET TO KNOW A PERSON

INDIVIDUALLY AND TRY NOT TO ASSUME THAT THE GENERAL EXPERIENCE IS THEIR EXPERIENCE

• Remember that each individual has a unique personal history, belief system, communication style and health status; what may be true about some or most individuals from a particular region or country may not be true of all individuals from that region or country • People from rural areas may have been living a more traditional lifestyle

than people who have emigrated to the U.S. from urban areas • Economic status and education can vary greatly among people from the

same country

• NO STEREOTYPING • TRUST IS MOST IMPORTANT

Sub-Saharan Africans • Many Africans conduct commercial, political, and educational

activities in English, French, Portuguese, German, Italian, and Arabic • Most speak two or three native languages, as well as one or more

European languages • Family is broadly defined and may encompass people from the

same village of origin, friends, and distant blood relatives; family ties may imply extensive monetary obligations

• Some women still practice female circumcision, but its prevalence is fading

• Louisville has resettled refugees in the past year from: Congo (Democratic Republic), Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Somalia

Hispanics/Latinos • Largest minority group in the US; covers an area of more than 40

countries • Maintaining eye contact is valued • Friendly physical contact, such as touching the shoulder or upper

arm, is common • Friendliness and respect are HIGHLY valued • Education, degrees, and titles are esteemed • Workers in the US may send money back home to support family

members (remittances) • Louisville resettles Cubans/Haitians (largest resettled group by

sheer numbers); Louisville has the third largest Cuban population in the country after Miami, FL and Dallas, TX

Western Asia/Middle East • Afghanistan has 19 ethnically distinct groups, and Iraq has more than 5; each group has

its own language • Most people from this region do not eat pork products • Concern for family pride and honor may be very high • Many people from this region do not like to be touched on the head • Many people use their left hand for toilet hygiene, and thus avoid using the left hand

to touch another person or to touch food • In some countries, women may be strictly secluded from men and may have little

contact outside of the home • Devout Muslims (the majority religion in this region) pray as many as five times a day,

starting before sunrise and ending at night; they also abstain from alcohol • Fasting is required of devout Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan, with no food

or drink consumed between sunrise and sunset; the ill are exempt, but fasting may extend to medications, including injections, during this important holy period

• Devout Muslims or those from rural areas may prefer to speak or deal with an individuals of the same sex

• Many from this region are wary of others from the same region • Louisville has resettled refugees in the past year from: Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan and

Pakistan; in 2015 we will begin resettling Syrian refugees

South Asian • Younger generations are taught to venerate older generations; rarely sit

at a higher level than their elders or pass in front of them unless unavoidable

• Parents are believed to be solely responsible for their children’s behavior • It is considered rude to touch a person’s head, because it is the “highest”

point of the body; it is considered taboo to touch another’s feet because the feet are considered the lowest

• In older generations, shoes are taken off before entering homes • Funerals last a week, in which family members are not permitted to work • Men and women work together in the home as partners, both taking on

domestic and vocational work • Louisville has resettled refugees in the past year from: Bhutan, Burma

Cross-Cultural Skills • Enjoy working with diverse populations • Outgoing individual, personable, able to develop close relationships

quickly • Able to adjust to and fit into different situations • Maintain composure under close public scrutiny and criticism • Good listening, clarifying, questioning and responding skills • Tolerant, curious and appreciative of different work patterns • Able to respond quickly to changing circumstances • Maintain composure in stressful situations or when under pressure

Questions?