Developing Cross-Cultural Competence

Eleanor Lynch, Marci Hanson, Eleanor Lynch, Marci Hanson

• Publisher: Brookes Publishing
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781598575309
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Inclusive Education

As the U.S. population grows more and more diverse, how can professionals who work with young children and families deliver the best services while honoring different customs, beliefs, and values? The answers are in the fourth edition of this bestselling textbook, fully revised to reflect nearly a decade of population changes and best practices in culturally competent service delivery.

The gold-standard text on cross-cultural competence, this book has been widely adopted by college faculty and trusted as a reference by in-service practitioners for almost 20 years. For this timely NEW edition, the highly regarded authors have carefully updated and expanded every chapter while retaining the basic approach and structure that made the previous editions so popular. Professionals will

• Get a primer on cultural competence. Readers will examine how their own cultural values and beliefs shape their professional practice, how the worldviews of diverse families may affect their perceptions of programs and services, and how providers can communicate more effectively with families from different cultural backgrounds.
• Deepen their understanding of cultural groups. Learn from in-depth chapters with nuanced, multifaceted explorations of nine different cultural backgrounds: Anglo-European, American Indian, African American, Latino, Asian, Filipino, Native Hawaiian and Samoan, Middle Eastern, and South Asian. Readers will get up-to-date insights on history, demographics, traditions, values, and family structure, and they'll examine the diverse ways each culture approaches child rearing, medical care, education, and disability.
• Discover better ways to serve families. Readers will get concrete recommendations for providing more effective, sensitive, and culturally competent services to children and families. They'll find practical guidance for every step in the service delivery process, from initiating contact with families to implementing and evaluating services. Vivid case stories and photos bring the principles of cultural competence to life, and the helpful appendixes give professionals quick access to cultural courtesies and customs, key vocabulary words, significant cultural events and holidays, and more. Plus an expanded list of resources points readers to books, films, theater, and other media that will enhance their understanding of other cultures.

New to this edition is a revised chapter on African American roots; thoroughly updated and expanded chapters; expanded coverage of disabilities; more on spiritual and religious diversity; and strategies for helping families make decisions about language use (English-only vs. preservation of native language).

Equally valuable as a textbook and a reference for practicing professionals, this comprehensive book will prepare early interventionists and other professionals to work effectively with families whose customs, beliefs, and values may differ from their own.

Part I

Introduction

Part I of this text introduces the reader to issues that surround culturally competent practice with families from diverse cultural, ethnic, racial, and language groups. Readers are challenged to examine their own heritage, values, beliefs, biases, and behaviors and the ways in which their professional practice is influenced by their own perspectives. Following the personal reflection, readers are invited to consider a range of worldviews and the ways in which these views may affect families’ perceptions of and receptivity to programs and services. Particular emphasis is placed on communicating effectively and understanding different interpretations of the same behavior, approach, or event. Suggestions are provided throughout the chapters to help service providers increase their skills and effectiveness as they work with families whose culture, ethnicity, race, or language may differ from their own.

Chapter 1

Diversity in Service Settings

Marci J. Hanson

Culture is the sum of all the forms of art, of love and of thought, which, in the course of centuries, have enabled man to be less enslaved.

—André Malraux (as quoted in Seldes, 1960)

A walk through a garden reveals the panoply of lovely plants—all varied in form, blossoms, and size. All share such basic requirements as soil, water, and sunlight; yet each plant may have different needs as to the type of soil, the amount of water, and the degree of sunlight required for life and growth. Each type of plant is of interest to the observer and offers its own beauty and special characteristics. Seen together, as a whole, the plants form a wondrous garden to behold. Like the garden, communities are made up of individuals, all of whom contribute their own unique characteristics to the sense of place in which they live. Just as plants share certain common needs for survival, so, too, do the individuals within communities. Each member of the community, similar to the garden plants, has different needs and avenues for growth that are essential if these individuals are to reach their full potential.

Communities, however, are highly interactive, dynamic enterprises in which individuals are constantly interacting and responding to one another. The characteristics of those individuals are being modified through those interactions. Although communities are neither static nor planned, societies do have cultural mores and practices that guide human behavior and provide a socialization framework that shapes interactions.

Culture is this framework that guides and bounds life practices. According to Anderson and Fenichel, the “cultural framework must be viewed as a set of tendencies of possibilities from which to choose” (1989, p. 8). Thus, culture is not a rigidly prescribed set of behaviors or characteristics but rather, a framework through which actions are filtered or checked as individuals go about daily life. These cultural frameworks are constantly evolving and being reworked (Anderson & Fenichel, 1989). Although people of the same cultural background may share tendencies, not all members of a group who share a common cultural background and/or history will behave in the same manner. Rather, behavior is governed by many factors, such as socioeconomic status, gender, age, length of residence in a locale, and education. Individuals may differ, too, in the degree to which they choose to adhere to a set of cultural patterns. Some people identify strongly with a particular group; others combine practices from several cultural groups.

Cultural practices as well as the individual characteristics of the person or family may influence the interactions between service providers and the families receiving services. Similar to the plants in the garden, the individuals within a community all share basic needs but differ as to their specific needs and the types of environments that support growth. The service provider, similar to the gardener, must individualize interventions for each family to address families’ concerns and priorities and tailor services to families’ needs and resources. Being sensitive, knowledgeable, and understanding of the families’ cultural practices enhances this process and relationship.

Cultural Considerations For Child And Family Service Providers

Imagine someone crossing a continent by train. In a single day or two, the train traveler likely would be struck by the range of cultural practices encountered during the trip. While sitting in the same berth, this passenger may experience vast differences with each border crossing. These differences are noted in the language of the passengers, the degree of formality or informality of communication, the dress of the conductors, the style or maintenance of trains and buildings, and the scheduling, to name only a few.

Service providers work with a variety of families through the provision of a range of education, health, and social services. In the course of their work, they may “travel,” much like the train passenger, through many cultures in a given day. The differences among the families they encounter are usually much more pronounced, however.

Many practitioners enter the homes of the families with whom they work, which brings them into close and potentially intrusive contact with family members. This contact often occurs at a sensitive period in the lives of the children and their family members. A child may be young, and the family may still be adjusting to the inclusion of a new family member or the presence of a disability, illness, or other at-risk condition that has necessitated that the family interacts with professionals and people outside of the family. Thus, the service provider comes to the family because someone perceives a need for services related to the child’s developmental and/or health status. This referral for services may be sought or welcomed by the family, or the family may hold significant reservations about the need and desirability of such services. Coming at a time that often is emotionally charged, this close contact can be difficult for families and stressful for the professionals who provide services to them. When the service provider and family have different cultural perspectives, either party may misunderstand routines and recommendations. The potential for “cultural clashes” emerges. Even sharing a similar ethnic or cultural background does not ensure that the family members and professionals will have the same goals or understanding of the intervention process.

This book has been designed to assist service providers who are working with families that cross a range of cultural groups. Given the diversity of the population of the United States, it is likely that practitioners will work with families from cultural, ethnic, and linguistic groups that differ from their own. The information provided helps service providers to become more sensitive to cultural differences and to develop effective skills for working with families from diverse backgrounds and identities.

Part II, the Cultural Perspectives section of this book, provides information about many of the major cultural groups that make up the population of the United States. This information is not meant to serve as a comprehensive cultural guide or how-to guide about different groups. Rather, it provides basic information on historical background, values, and beliefs often shared by members of these cultural communities, as a way to assist service providers in working with and forming relationships with families. Service providers are cautioned against using this information to overgeneralize or characterize all members of a cultural group as alike. Instead, they are advised to use this knowledge to form a base for respectful interaction. As Anderson and Fenichel related,

Cultural sensitivity cannot mean knowing everything there is to know about every culture that is represented in a population to be served. At its most basic level, cultural sensitivity implies, rather, knowledge that cultural differences as well as similarities exist.… For those involved in early intervention, cultural sensitivity further means being aware of the cultures represented in one’s own state or region, learning about some of the general parameters of those cultures, and realizing that cultural diversity will affect families’ participation in intervention programs. Cultural knowledge helps a professional to be aware of possibilities and to be ready to respond appropriately. (1989, pp. 8–9)

An appreciation and respect for cultural variations, as well as group and individual differences, is crucial for service providers. It is hoped that the information garnered from this section will enable practitioners to work more effectively with families.

Changing Demographics In The United States

The following poem, written in 1883, is inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty. It was written by an immigrant of Russian-Jewish ancestry and was submitted in a literary campaign to raise funds for completing the statue’s pedestal. For years this statue and poem have served as a beacon for immigrants arriving in the United States. The poem’s message offers promise to newcomers and underscores core values for which this country stands.

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land,

Here at our sea-washed, sunset-gates shall stand

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome, her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin-cities frame.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she,

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore;

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

—Emma Lazarus (November 2, 1883)

The United States, for the most part, is a nation of immigrants. Throughout its history, immigrants have contributed greatly to the country’s population. Situations around the world, such as famine, lack of economic opportunity, and political and/or religious persecution or intolerance, as well as historical events such as the California Gold Rush, have fueled a dramatic immigration influx during particular eras. For example, the period from the 1840s to 1914 marked a huge immigration to the United States, and the majority of these immigrants were from Europe and Asia (Chiswick, 1998). More recently, immigrants tend to be from non-European roots and have included large numbers of individuals from Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia (including the Philippines, India, China, and Vietnam; Chiswick, 1998).

Immigrants to this country have adapted to the existing cultural structures and mores and have added their own unique contributions. Many immigrants have been quickly acculturated and absorbed into the dominant culture, whereas others have elected to maintain a more primary identification with their native culture. Many immigrants have been welcomed with open arms. Others, such as the Irish and Chinese, during the mid- to late 1880s faced extreme hardship and discrimination. Africans brought to this country involuntarily as slaves were for many years regarded as property rather than citizens and were denied even the most basic of human rights. Regardless of country of origin and immigration circumstances, immigrants have exerted crucial influence on the economic, political, and social structures of this country.

The cultural composition of the United States continues to shift toward ever-increasing diversity. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, whereas one in eight Americans was a member of a race other than white at the turn of the last century, at the beginning of the 21st century, the ratio of people who were nonwhite to people who were white was one in four (Hobbs & Stoops, 2002). Census population estimates based on the 2006–2008 American Community Survey indicated that 87% of the population was born in the United States and 13% was foreign born. Regions of the world from which foreign-born residents came are as follows: Latin America, 53.4%; Asia, 26.9%; Europe, 13.2%; Africa, 3.7%; North America, 2.2%; and Oceania, 0.6% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010c). Furthermore, in nearly 20% of U.S. homes, a language other than English is spoken, and 8.6% of residents “speak English less than ‘very well.’” Of those who speak a language other than English, 62% speak Spanish and 38% speak another language (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010a).

On April 1, 2000, during Census 2000, the population of the United States was 281,421,906. A decade later the population figures have increased more than 28 million to nearly 310 million. Estimates are that 74.3% of the population is white (white non-Hispanic/Latino is 65.9%); Hispanic of any race, 15.1%; black or African American, 12.3%; Asian 4.4%; American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%; and Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, 0.1% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010b). The data from the 2006–2008 American Community Survey noted that 2.2% of those surveyed identified themselves as coming from two or more races (this category was included for the first time in Census 2000). These data contrast with 1970 census figures in which approximately 12% of the population was nonwhite (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1973).

A large proportion of the population falls within the age category of “children and young adults.” According to the 2000 Census, 26% of the population or 174.1 million individuals were 18 years old and younger (Meyer, 2001). In Census 2000, the younger age groups were characterized by greater racial and ethnic diversity than were the older age groups (Hobbs & Stoops, 2002). Asian and Hispanic/Latino populations, as noted previously, experienced the greatest growth from 1970 to 2000, and this was attributed chiefly to immigration patterns and birth rates (Hobbs & Stoops, 2002). The trends in age distribution by race and ethnicity have shifted from 25% of the population under age 25 in 1980 to 39% of the population under age 25 in 2000 (Hobbs & Stoops, 2002). In Census 2000, the “two or more races” population had the highest percentage of people under age 15 years (36%), whereas white non-Hispanics had the lowest percentage under 15 from 1980 to 2000 (Hobbs & Stoops, 2002). The majority of individuals who reported in Census 2000 to be a combination of two or more races were Hispanic (Grieco & Cassidy, 2001). An examination of each racial category by age (based on Census 2000 data) indicated that the percentage of members younger than 18 years old within each race were as follows: Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 35.8%; black or African American, 32.5%; American Indian and Alaska Native, 33.6%; Asian, 27.1%; white, 24%; and some other race, 36% (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2000a). The Hispanic or Latino population accounts for the greatest percentage (90%) of those listed in the “younger than 18” category (Grieco & Cassidy, 2001). As is apparent from these data, a growing proportion of the U.S. population is composed of children and families from nonwhite racial and ethnic groups.

The Importance of Cross-Cultural Effectiveness

As U.S. society has become more heterogeneous, cross-cultural effectiveness has emerged as an essential skill for all service providers who work with children and their families. The need to be cross-culturally competent is just as critical for nurses, social workers, or physicians in health care environments as it is for child care providers, educators, psychologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, and aides in educational environments. For instance, the health care provider must be aware of the meaning that families assign to the use of surgery and drugs for medical treatments, just as educators must be knowledgeable of family beliefs about child rearing and developmental expectations. All service providers must be sensitive to differences across families in communication style, decision making, and need or w...