MA Leadership and Management

Nathalie Congo-Poottaren

Week 6 Multicultural and diversity issues impacting school counselling

• Content:

• Culture• MAJOR ELEMENTS OF MULTICULTURALISM

• Cultural encapsulation• Culturally competent counsellors

• Counselling refers to the method of helping people through person-oriented listening (Tschudin, 1981). A more comprehensive definition by Sue and Sue (1990, p. 30) refers to counselling as interpersonal interaction and communication; that is, both counselor and client must be able to exchange effectively both verbal and non-verbal messages.

• Culture is defined as the sum total of an individual's experience and knowledge gained as a member of society; this affects the attitude, perception and behaviour of the individual as a member of that society (Selvarajah 2006).

• Culture can be defined as an abstract concept that referred to learned and shared patterns of perceiving and adapting to the world. Culture is reflected in its products: the learned, the shared beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviours that are characteristic of a society or population

• Culture controls our lives and defines reality foe each of us, with or without our permission and/or intentional awareness. ‘A culture-centered approach to counselling recognises culture as central and not marginal, fundamental and not exotic, for all appropriate counselling interventions.

• All behaviours are learned and displayed in a cultural context. Behaviours can be measured more accurately, personal identify becomes more clearly defined, the consequences of problems are better understood and counselling interviews become more meaningful in their cultural context

• Multiculturalism, in the context of this assignment, refers to the bridging and forging of cooperation between more than two identifiable cultural groups.

MAJOR ELEMENTS OF MULTICULTURALISM• All human beings are products of their own culture.• Multiculturalism is not a political credo.• Each culture has its own uniquely acquired ways of

construing its own world(s), which give meaning to their lives. • Within each culture there exist a plurality of values and

traditions. • The ‘plasticity’ of human behaviour enables persons to

transcend (within certain limitations) their own culturally embedded boundaries.

• Each culture is in some ways flawed because no culture has all the answers to the Socratic question of what constitutes the good life and how it should be lived (Parekh, 2000).

• Each culture has something of value to offer to another culture and equally importantly something of value to learn and imbibe from another culture.

• A mixture of cultures is more likely to lead to an enrichment of one’s intellectual, emotional, artistic, spiritual, humanitarian and moral visions.

• Cross-cultural counselling was referred to by McFadden (1996, p. 5) as “a speciality that embraced individual and group counselling interactions across cultures with a focus on narrowly defined therapeutic areas”.

• Smith (1985) supported the need for

• cross-cultural counselling services in a multicultural society when she described the ‘‘myth of sameness’’ and criticized counselors who ‘‘bury their heads in the sand’’ and who protest that the only essential attitude required in counselling is one that contains empathy. She explained that, although empathy is necessary for counsellors, it would certainly not be sufficient for effective cross-cultural counselling.

• Walsh (2004, p. 30) defined cultural competence as “a set of congruent behaviours /attitudes and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals and enables that system, agency or those professionals to work effectively in cross-cultural situations”.

• Effective multicultural counselling requires that the counselor understand concepts related to culturally diverse populations (Baruth & Manning, 1991)

• Cultural encapsulation is the process of working with clients from an ethnocentric perspective, where one does not effectively understand the world view and culture of origin of the client, nor do they integrate this knowledge into the counselling process. Thus, cultural encapsulation is problematic in therapy and can negatively impact the therapeutic alliance.

• The characteristics of counselling and psychotherapy, according to Sue and Sue (1990),have been influenced by Western European cultural values, which are reflected in the therapeutic processes. For example, when Truax and Carkhuff (1967) published Towards Effective Counselling and Psychotherapy, no mention was made of culture,race or ethnic origin. This was because, at the time, multicultural counselling was not perceived to be significant enough for separate consideration., 1994).

• Good counsellors were presumed to be effective with their clients, whether within or between cultures. The singular or dominant cultural emphasis then maintained that it was possible to be a good counselor by purely showing genuineness, non-possessive warmth and accurate and empathetic hearing, without having to understand the cultural background of the client (d’Ardenne and Mahtani

Cultural encapsulation• Wrenn (1962) assumptions• Reality is defined according to one set of cultural

assumptions• People become insensitive to cultural variations

among individuals and assume their own view is the only right one

• Assumptions are not dependent on reasonable proof or rational consistency but are believed true, regardless of evidence to the contrary

• Solutions are sought in technique-oriented strategies and quick or simple remedies

• Everyone is judged from the viewpoint of one’s self-reference criteria without regard for the other person’s separate cultural context.

• 1) All persons are measured according to the same hypothetical “normal” standard of behaviour, irrespective of their culturally different contexts.

• (2) Individualism is presumed to be more appropriate in all settings than a collectivist perspective.

• (3) Professional boundaries are narrowly defined, and interdisciplinary cooperation is discouraged.

• (4) Psychological health is described primarily in a “low-context” rather than a “high-context” perspective.

• (5) Dependency is always considered to be an undesirable or even neurotic condition.

• (6) The person’s support system is not normally considered relevant in analyzing the person’s psychological health.

• (7) Only linear-based “cause-effect” thinking is accepted as scientific and appropriate.

• (8) The individual is expected to adjust to fit the system, even when the system is wrong.

• (9) The historical roots of a person’s background are disregarded or minimalised.

• (10) The counsellor presumes herself or himself to be already free of racism and cultural bias

• Why do we need cultural competent counsellors?

Communication problems• Many health professionals noted that racial

factors may become barriers to counselling was there greater interest in pursuing cross-cultural counselling studies. As breakdown of communication is common between people of the same culture, the problem could become exacerbated between people of different cultural backgrounds. To overcome such barriers to counselling, they advocated different skills in cross-cultural counselling; that is to say, different cultural groups may be more receptive to certain communication styles because of cultural and socio-political factors. This is where multiculturalism intervenes.Multiculturalism has been referred to as psychology’s ‘fourth force’.

Quality of service• The need for multi/cross-cultural sensitivity in counselling

is grounded upon the notion that historically marginalised clients have been ill-served by counselling practitioners working from the framework of the socially and economically privileged. Other researchers found that there is underutilisation of service and little client persistence from ethnic minority. It was also noted that there were poor prognosis, lower empathy, and greater blunted affect associated with ethnic minority. Other patients were less satisfied and some even reported greater depression, hostility, and anxiety after four sessions of treatment. In fact we can say that when counsellors fail to take into account differences in worldwiew, they run the risk of being ineffective but also possibly of being harmful to their clients, thereby further their oppression.

Globalisation and migration• We have to acknowledge that today with

globalisation and migration there is an unprecedented movement and contact across boundaries of human communities. This movement across cultures has grown out of the development of the global village with the increased technology development, globalisation of the economy, widespread population migrations and the demise of the nation-state in favour of sub- and supranational identifications. Hence counsellors will find themselves more and more involved with people of different culture.

Socio-political influences

• It has to be noted that counselling does not occur in a vacuum. It occurs within a socio-political context and that both the counsellor and the client are influences by the present and historical experiences of their cultures and events that occur in society. Counsellors need to recognise and acknowledge these influences on the counselling session.

Client perceptions• It is acknowledged that clients may have

different cultural perceptions of their problems and treatments. When service providers decide what the problem is and the behaviours associated with that problem without sufficient feedback from the client, it leads to systematic inattention to the client’s perception of what is wrong and this can lead to noncompliance, dissatisfaction and poor treatment outcome. For example, normal and abnormal behaviour can be defined differently depending on the culture and it is important for counsellors to be aware of the different conceptualisations.

Style:• For years counsellors have been advised to

avoid using active, authoritative, directive approaches to counselling. However, it may happen that clients from some particular group may respond better to that kind of approach. It may also happen that elements that are essential for therapeutic progress may not be forthcoming. It is questionable whether client independence, responsibility and ability to resolve his problems are achieved.

• What does it imply to be culturally competent counsellors?

• To improve counselling outcomes, d’Ardenne and Mahtani (1994) suggested crosscultural counselling that encompassed the following components relating to counsellors:

• grasp of cultural knowledge of clients• sensitivity to cultural variations and the cultural

bias of their own approach• ability and commitment to develop an approach

to counselling that reflects the cultural needs of clients

• ability to face increased complexity in working across cultures

• ability to reflect the cultural needs of clients.

1. Awareness of own assumptions, values and biases

• The beliefs held by culturally skilled helpers include being sensitive to their own cultural heritage, being comfortable with the differences of clients from other cultures and races, and recognizing the limitations of their competence and expertise. Helpers should know about their cul tural and racial heritage and how this affects the therapeutic process, understand how oppression, racism and discrimination may affect them personally and in their work, and know about the impact of how they communicate on culturally different clients. Skills include seeking out relevant educational and training experiences, actively understand ing oneself as a cultural and racial being, and seeking an identity that transcends race.

2. Understanding the worldview of the culturally different client

• Beliefs and attitudes for culturally skilled helpers include being aware of their negative emotional reactions and of the stereotypes and precon ceived notions that they may hold towards culturally and racially dif ferent groups. Helpers should know about the cultural experiences, cultural heritage and historical backgrounds of any particular group with whom they work, acknowledge how culture and race can affect help-seeking behaviour, know how culture and race can influence assessment and the selection and implementation of counselling inter ventions, and know about the oppressive political and environmental influences impinging on the lives of ethnic and racial minorities. Skills include keeping up-to-date on research findings relevant to the psycho logical well-being of various ethnic and racial groups as well as being actively involved with minorities outside of work settings to gain deeper insight into their perspectives.

3. Developing appropriate intervention strategies and techniques

• Culturally skilled helpers' attitudes and beliefs include respecting clients' religious and spiritual beliefs about physical and mental functioning, respecting indigenous helping practices and valuing bilingualism. Their knowledge base includes understanding how the culture-bound, class-bound and monolingual characteristics of counselling clash with the cultural values of various minority groups, being aware of institutional barriers to minority groups using helping services, knowing about the potential for bias in assessment instruments, and understanding minor ity group family structures, hierarchies, and community characteristics and resources. Skills include the ability to send and receive verbal and non-verbal communication accurately, interacting in the language requested by clients or making appropriate referrals, tailoring the coun selling relationship and interventions to the clients' stage of cultural and racial identity development, and engaging in a variety of helping roles beyond those perceived as conventional for counsellors. Such roles include adviser, advocate, change agent and facilitator of indigenous healing and support systems.

• SHOULD CROSS-CULTURAL COUNSELLING BE APPLIED WITH CAUTION?

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES:• There is always the danger of stereotyping clients and of

confusing other influences, especially race and socioeconomic status, with cultural influences. The most obvious danger in counselling is to oversimplify the client's social system by emphasizing the most obvious aspects of their background. While universal categories are necessary to understand human experience, losing sight of specific individual factors would lead to ethical violations. Individual clients are influenced by race, ethnicity, national origin, life stage, educational level, social class, and sex roles. Counsellors must view the identity and development of culturally diverse people in terms of multiple, interactive factors, rather than a strictly cultural framework. A pluralistic counsellor considers all facets of the client's personal history, family history, and social and cultural orientation.

RACE V/S CULTURE:• One of the most important differences for multicultural

counselling is the difference between race and culture. Differences exist among racial groups as well as within each group. Various ethnic identifications exist .Even though these ethnic groups may share the physical characteristics of race, they may not necessarily share the value and belief structures of a common culture. Counsellors must be cautious in assuming, for instance, that all Blacks or all Asians have similar cultural backgrounds. West Indian American clients do not have the same cultural experience of Afro-American Blacks and are culturally different from other Black subculture groups. Counsellors who can understand West Indian dialects and the accompanying nonverbal language are more likely to achieve positive outcomes with these clients.

THE AVERAGE INDIVIDUAL

• We assume that individuals belong to a group. But if wide individual differences exist within a group, a solution which could be successful to the average individual will not match the individual whose characteristics are far away from the average individual. This happens because it might be difficult to assign an individual to a group.

SOCIALISATION PROCESS

• The model focuses and tries to attend to the characteristics of particular groups. However, when counsellors behave like that they do not allow their clients to react in other ways. This gives rise to the self-fulfilment prophecy. It might be possible that because of their socialisation process, individuals react differently from what they are believed to.