Culture has been defined as “the shared values, traditions, norms, customs, arts, history, folklore, and institutions of a group of people.” Why should we even be concerned about culture? First, understanding culture helps us to understand how others interpret their environment. We know that culture shapes how people see their world and how they function within that world. Culture shapes personal and group values and attitudes, including perceptions about what works and what doesn’t work, what is helpful and what is not, what makes sense and what does not. Secondly, understanding culture helps counselors avoid stereotypes and biases that can undermine their efforts.
It promotes a focus on the positive characteristics of a particular group and reflects an appreciation of cultural differences. Finally, culture plays a complex role in the development of health and human service delivery programs. While we know that cultural influences shape how individuals and groups create identifiable values, norms, symbols, and ways of living that are transferred from one generation to another, it is important for us to distinguish the differences created by such factors as age, gender, geographic location, and lifestyle. Race and ethnicity are commonly thought to be dominant elements of culture, but a true definition of culture is actually much broader than this.
Culture shapes how people experience their world. It is a vital component of how services are both delivered and received. Cultural competence begins with an awareness of your own cultural beliefs and practices, and recognition that people from other cultures may not share them. This means more than speaking another language or recognizing the cultural icons of a people. It means changing prejudgments or biases you may have of a people’s cultural beliefs and customs. Cultural competence is rooted in respect, validation, and openness towards someone with different social and cultural perceptions and expectations than your own. People tend to have an “ethnocentric” view in which they see their own culture as the best. Some clients may be threatened by, or defensive about, cultural differences.
Moving toward culturally appropriate service delivery means being: knowledgeable about cultural differences and their impact on attitudes and behaviors; sensitive, understanding, non-judgmental, and respectful in dealings with people whose culture is different from your own; and flexible and skillful in responding and adapting to different cultural contexts and circumstances. Also, it means recognizing that acculturation occurs differently for everyone. This means more than different rates among different families from the same cultural background; it means different rates among members of the same family as well.
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