The term “culture” cannot be defined very easily and every definition has always spurred a number of controversies. Culture of a group generally refers to the knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, laws, customs and every other capabilities or habits that are acquired by the group as a collective. When there a number of different sub-groups within a larger group, that represent different cultures and ethnic backgrounds, it is then referred to as cultural diversity (Betancourt et al., 2017). Diversity of culture generally means to situations or cases where different sub-cultures and groups come together and form and represent a larger distinct larger group with a clear and comprehensive cultural identity.
For centuries, humans have inhabited every corner of the planet and have adapted to the natural elements of each specific region to form civilizations and have also used those elements for their own purposes. While living for a long time in these places, the groups have developed definitive identities of themselves (Ang & Van Dyne, 2015). Many of these smaller groups are generally put under a bigger umbrella of a singular cultural identity and this diversity within a larger culture is what cultural diversity refers to, in the general and broader aspect of the term.
It is vital to understand that every culture has sub-cultures and these distinctions are very much what form a person’s identity as well as the identity of a smaller group within a bigger one. Personal views and personal biases, on the other hand, is something that every individual possesses, which are influenced and shaped by the cultural group in which the person belongs to. As a mental health professional, it is of paramount importance to make sure that these personal biases of the professional are not projected onto another, as this may significantly and even adversely impact that person’s own cultural upbringing (Hays, 2016).
As a citizen of the United states of America I have grown up with a very definitive cultural identity that is liberal, inclusive and accepting in nature. The country’s natural elements have influenced the mindset and the development of the people who have lived here for centuries and that has given them a very formidable and distinct cultural identity. My personal worldview and thinking have been weaved into my perception of things and this can constitute as a problem when it comes to dealing with people from other cultural backgrounds, when acting as a mental health professional. The challenge in that role is not to project my own cultural biases onto another person and thus impacting his or her own cultural perceptions and biases. For instance, despite being part of the American culture, my views and life is very much different from those of Native Americans or American-Indians. It is essential that as a mental health professional I recognize and understand these differences while communicating with these people or anyone who does not belong to the same cultural background as I.
While growing up, I lived and attended school in a neighborhood that was inhabited by people from a number of different cultures. This specific neighborhood gave every child being brought up there the opportunity to experience a diverse and multicultural worldview. However, there were also some drawbacks to this aspect as well. In many cases, children were bullied by other children who belonged to different sub-cultural groups and racial discrimination was widespread among the neighborhood. There were many people who came from different ethnic cultural backgrounds, Asian, Africa-American as well as immigrants from other European nations. All of these people and the exposure to them influenced my experience in the neighborhood and the cultural differences helped me to understand how everyone is different and should be accepted as they are rather them being forced to conform to a single way of looking at things.
Racism and discrimination based on racial background is one of the vilest problems of the world society which, unfortunately, is prevalent to this day. The American society is not free of this social problem by any means. There are many reasons that stem discrimination:
Subtle racism: A person is a subtle or covert racist if he or she holds implicit racial or any other form of negative ideas or attitudes towards another group of people. This is a very ambiguous form of racism (Betancourt et al., 2017).
There can be subtle differences in perceptions and values of members within the same ethnic group. This may happen due to a number of natural and other reasons. A same ethnic group may be distributed over a large portion of land and/or scattered over the world. The social and natural surroundings that these grow up in can make the difference in the views, morals and perceptions of these people in different ways (Betancourt et al., 2016).
When dealing with clients who seek mental health services, it is vital to understand the difference in cultures and to fathom the impact of it, because a person who has grown up in a certain condition is bound to have biases and strict views or beliefs on various issues (Paniagua & Yamada, 2013). These have to be dealt with and adopted to, otherwise the services would have long-term adverse effects on the clients. Communication style in every culture must be correctly perceived so that no misunderstandings occur that negatively affect the clients.
It is vital to get in touch and get to know more people from different cultural backgrounds to help one comprehend the cultural diversity of the region. This can immensely help a mental health professional to rightly assess the cultural difference which again makes sure that there is no miscommunication between the professional and the client (Banks, 2015). This is also a way which can challenge a person’s own beliefs and may even help to alter them based on facts. Fact should change beliefs, and not the other way around.
In the future as a mental health professional, I would be using my knowledge and learnings to be more accepting of the fact that there are different cultures in the world and everyone even within the same ethnic group can have different views on aspects (Betancourt et al., 2017). This would help to communicate in better and more understanding towards the issues faced by the clients and miscommunications could be minimalized.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that cultural diversity is existing within ethnic groups and this must be accepted if the world wants to become more integrated and the idea of a global village is to be established. Understanding cultural diversity and its implications are necessary to make sure that discrimination and other forms of covert racism can be eradicated from the planet. People are brought up in different environments, both natural and social, and this impacts and shapes their views and ideologies, which needs to be understood in a clear manner if the mental health professional is to properly deliver the mental health services.
References
Ang, S., & Van Dyne, L. (2015). Handbook of cultural intelligence. Routledge.
Banks, J. A. (2015). Cultural diversity and education. Routledge.
Betancourt, J. R., Green, A. R., Carrillo, J. E., & Owusu Ananeh-Firempong, I. I. (2016). Defining cultural competence: a practical framework for addressing racial/ethnic disparities in health and health care. Public health reports.
Betancourt, J. R., Green, A. R., Carrillo, J. E., & Park, E. R. (2017). Cultural competence and health care disparities: key perspectives and trends. Health affairs.
Hays, P. A. (2016). Addressing cultural complexities in practice: Assessment, diagnosis, and therapy.
Panebianco, F., & Serrelli, E. (Eds.). (2016). Understanding Cultural Traits: A Multidisciplinary Perspective on Cultural Diversity. Springer.
Paniagua, F. A., & Yamada, A. M. (Eds.). (2013). Handbook of multicultural mental health: Assessment and treatment of diverse populations. Academic Press.
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