HHS310: H & HS Culture: The Helping Relationship (CGD1716A)-Discussion wk2

Working with Ethnic Diversity in a Pluralistic Society

Human diversity is a significant factor in working with all people. It is not only a determinant of individual and social functioning; it also affects every aspect of practice in human service. Only when human service workers are sensitive to differences among people, knowledgeable about their causes and effects, and skillful in recognizing and working with them will practice be effective. Although dealing with diversity has always been a part of education for practice, its importance has become increasingly obvious in the last half century. his increased awareness has been sparked by major historical changes. he civil rights movement of the 1960s forced into the forefront of U.S. consciousness awareness of the existence of groups of people within the society who, because of their differences, were denied access to many of its benefits and were subject to personal and institutional discrimination. Changes that came as a result of this movement are reflected in laws and institutions, and minority people themselves have learned that as groups they possess strength, can effect social change, and can demand their rights to full participation in society. A second factor is what has been called the “new immigration” of people fleeing from economic and ecological disaster, civil unrest, wars, starvation, lack of opportunity, violence, and oppression. Earlier immigration had, for the most part, been invited and welcomed when the country was young and needed settlers and workers. However, the country is growing older and no longer needs workers, except in those instances where immigrants can be exploited, as in migrant farm or household workers. In spite of its affluence, the United States faces major problems—unemployment, poverty, crime, violence, drugs, and homelessness. Such problems most strongly affect those Working

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without a stable place in the social structure, and newcomers are particularly vulnerable. Because of the destructive experiences they have undergone, newcomers may also bring physical and emotional problems, a history of malnutrition, and lack or loss of schooling. We seem to be moving toward a more pluralistic society wherein sharply different ethnic groups exist side by side, sharing in its benefits and enriching it by their diversity. Such changes do not come easily, and there will always be conflict where there are different interest groups and varying loyalties. However, the inherent strength of a democracy lies in its ability to reconcile them. People carry with them down through the generations vestiges of their original ethnicity, but as they are exposed to different cultures, adaptation takes place, and all of the people and institutions involved are changed by the process. History indicates that this adaptation can be successful until and unless population diversity is used by unscrupulous, power-hungry leaders who emphasize differences and exploit them for their own ends. In such a volatile situation, human service workers, who carry with them their own ethnic backgrounds, are faced with the challenge of practicing effectively. The process by which they enable people to use personal and institutional resources to live better and to work for the creation of more adequate ones is the same, but the pitfalls are many. he great advantage is that all people possess a common humanness, all have the same basic needs, and all live out the same life cycle. Although there are some genetic differences, these are minor compared with the overall similarities. Each individual utilizes genetic differences and life experiences in a different manner. he major task is to recognize that human diversity exists, that some people and groups are different from other people and groups by virtue of their history and their life experiences, that these differences can be expressed in ways unique to a particular group, and that this expression often constitutes great strength and must be understood and considered objectively.

The Language of Ethnic Diversity

In preparing to deal with ethnic diversity, it is important to become conversant with the language and concepts relating to it and their meanings. Some of the most significant are as follows:

Affirmative Action: Refers to concrete steps that are taken not only to eliminate discrimination—whether in employment, education, or contracting —but also to attempt to redress the effects of past discrimination. The underlying motive for affirmative action is the constitutional principle of equal opportunity, which holds that all persons have the right to equal access to self-development (USLegal.com, 2011).

Assimilation: The process by which an individual or a group merges and becomes indistinguishable as a result of prolonged contact; the basis of the melting pot theory.

Color: Pigmentation of the skin that, along with physical features, is characteristic of a particular ethnic group.

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Culture: The life patterns, language, and beliefs of a group of people.

Discrimination: Unequal or preferential treatment; injustice toward particular individuals, groups, or peoples; may be personal (expressed by individuals) or institutional (expressed in policies and laws).

Ethnicity: Ethnic characteristics of people that distinguish them from others. In United States, those whose ethnicity singles them out include Native Americans, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans.

Integration: Incorporation as equals into a society or an organization of individuals of different groups or races.

Minority status: A group set apart within another group, usually numerically smaller but not always—as with women.

Multicultural: Relating to or made up of several different cultures.

Multiracial: People whose ancestors are not of a single race.

Pluralistic society: A society made up of diverse ethnic groups that retain vestiges of their own cultures but whose primary loyalty is to the society itself.

Race: The stock or common ancestry of a particular ethnic group.

Racism: he belief that race determines human traits and capabilities and that particular races are superior to others.

Segregation: Separation or isolation of a race, a class, or an ethnic group by discriminatory means.

Single-race or alone population: Refers to people who identify ancestors of only one race.

Social class: he level occupied in the social order, with the differences based on wealth and group identification. Generally, societies have been considered as divided into upper, middle, and lower classes with some subgroups, but recently, the category of underclass has been used to identify those people from a broad range of backgrounds who are outside of organized society and do not share in its benefits.

Subculture: A group within a larger group of people with which it shares some common characteristics; it also possesses some unique characteristics.

Ethnic Diversity: Selected Population Highlights about Our Pluralistic Society

We are, in United States, a nation of ethnics who are becoming increasingly diverse. Each ethnic group has its own strengths and weaknesses, but from this diversity can come the greatest strength and richness of life for all. The challenge is to create the kind of open society where that richness can exist.

Currently, the U.S. population stands at about 310 million, with approximately 72 percent of people listed as white; this racial and ethnic group experienced the slowest rate of growth over the past decade (U.S. Census Bureau, Redistricting Data, 2010). However, clumping white U.S. society into a single category is as misleading as not understanding the important cultural differences between people of color. After

the Civil War, vast numbers of immigrants began to arrive from southern and central Europe. They were not Protestants, not Anglo-Saxons, and had different languages and cultures from those who preceded them. Because of this, it is difficult to describe a white American, since about 200 million people can trace some of their ancestry back to the following groups (in descending size order): English, German, Irish, French, Italian, Scottish, Polish, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Russian, Czech, Slovakian, Hungarian, Welsh, Danish, and Portuguese. In addition, there are many white Americans of Hispanic background (Karger & Stoez, 2001).

Hispanic Americans occupied parts of the Southwest when the eastern seacoast was first colonized. In subsequent wars and smaller military actions, they were driven of the lands they held. here is a rich diversity within the Hispanic American population, who have origins in 22 different countries including Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba and other Caribbean islands, the Dominican Republic, and other countries in Central and South America (Ramirez, 1999).

People of Hispanic origin now comprise the largest ethnic or race minority in the United States. he present influx of both legal and illegal Hispanic immigrants fleeing the pressures of population and poverty in their native countries makes it difficult to accurately estimate their numbers. The 2010 census estimated the Hispanic population in the United States at about 50 million, about 16 percent of the total population; this is an increase of over 15 million between 2000 and 2010. More than half the growth of total population in the United States during that time was due to the increase in the Hispanic population (U.S. Census Bureau, Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin, 2010).

African Americans were brought to the United States unwillingly as slaves and kept as such for more than 200 years. Legally freed, they have had to struggle to get the benefits of education, access to economic power, and legal protection against exploitation. Presently, African Americans in the United States number about 39 million with a 13 percent increase since 2000 (U.S. Census Bureau, Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin, 2010). It is projected that the African American population may double its current size to 62 million by 2050 (U.S. Census Bureau, Population Profile of the United States: National Population Projections, 2010).

The Chinese, who were brought in a hundred years ago to build the railroads and do the menial tasks involved in extending white settlement westward, originally represented Asian Americans. hey originally came, intending to return, to provide money for families at home—there were provisions limiting their ability to become citizens—but many remained. here is tremendous diversity in the Asian populations who have origins in the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam. Pacific Islanders, a related group, have origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, and other Pacific Island groups. Clearly, the Asian and Pacific Islander population is not homogenous but comprises many groups who differ in customs, language, and length of residence in the United States (Humes & McKinnon, 2000).

The Asian population has grown faster than any other racial or ethnic group between 2000 and 2010—increasing by 43 percent. his means the Asian population grew from over 10 million in 2000 to over 14 million in 2010 and now comprises about

5 percent of the total population in the United States. It is projected that by 2080, Asians will constitute 12 percent of the U.S. population (U.S. Census Bureau, Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin, 2010). Native Americans were in the unfortunate position of being residents of North America when colonization took place and the newcomers undertook to exterminate the original occupants of the land. In addition to being victims of genocide, Native Americans were considered less than human, and it took a court decision to recognize them as people. Reservations, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the setting aside of “Half Breed Tracts” were meant to provide for remaining segments of the population, but the long history of broken treaties, exploitation, and the retaking of reservation lands when they proved to have desirable resources belied these efforts. here is great diversity within the Native

American community, which has more than 550 federally recognized tribes. Yet, many other groups of Native Americans do not have this recognition and are unable to receive the social welfare benefits that the government is required to provide to tribes. Native Americans continue to struggle with the lowest income, the worst health, and the lowest social indices of social problems in the United States (DiNitto, 2000). American Indian and Alaska Natives together comprise one of the smallest ethnic or racial minority groups—less than 2 percent of the total U.S. population. Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders are the other smallest group and make up only 0.4 percent of the total population. Although small in numbers, these groups in total report a 50 percent increase in their populations from 2000 to 2010 (U.S. Census Bureau, Redistricting Data, 2010).

Despite much adversity, diverse racial and ethnic groups have made substantial gains in becoming a significant part of the larger society, and in so doing, they have changed that society. Discouraged that the process has not been faster and more complete, some groups evidence a growing tendency toward segregation and polarization. his varies according to the group and the situation and among individuals, and it is a changing phenomenon of which human service workers must be aware. In addition, as ethnic groups have become stronger, more vocal, and numerically greater, and more aggressive in reaching out to be included in the benefits of society, resistance to them and their demands has developed in the larger society. his takes the form of efforts to restrict immigration; to circumscribe the sharing of health, welfare, and educational services; and to limit employment. he climate toward members of ethnic groups is often hostile.

Expressions of Ethnicity

Ethnicity finds expression in every aspect of individual, family, and group life. It affects personal appearance, family and group structures, processes, and relationships. It defines the roles and assignment of tasks. It determines who makes the decisions; who spends the money; who is responsible for care of the children, handicapped, and aged; the relationship with extended family members; and the use of community resources.

Ethnicity is expressed in the ways people regard and deal with the crises of life—the developmental ones that mark progression from conception to death; those brought on by role change such as marriage and parenthood; those accidental events such as loss of a home, loss of a job, or death or disabling of a breadwinner.

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Ethnicity is expressed in customs, attitudes, and behaviors with regard to such things as pain, violence, what can be verbalized and what cannot, dependence and independence, and the ability to accept help. Such customs—ways of behaving—are internalized and become emotion laden, resulting in the feeling that this is the way things are supposed to be done, and so changes can be difficult and disturbing. Such expressions are matters of concern for human service workers who must have a working knowledge of them if possible and certainly have respect for their existence. While there is some advantage for the worker who is a member of the specific ethnic group being dealt with, there are also disadvantages—there may be variations within the ethnic group, and the worker’s understanding may be limited to his or her own unique section of that group. In addition, variation in social class between worker and client can be a problem, as can the worker’s attitudes toward members of the shared ethnic group who are poor, unable to cope with the problems of living, or not moving toward adaptation with the larger group with the same speed—particularly if workers feel that they have “made it” and others should also be able to do so.

Preparation of Workers

Preparation for work with varying ethnic groups includes the same as preparation for human service in general, but there are some special aspects that need to be stressed.

1. Workers must be sensitive to differences, aware of what they bring in personal attitudes, biases, beliefs, and knowledge about their ethnically different clients that can affect their ability to consider problems objectively, define them accurately, make valid assessments, and present acceptable solutions. When they lack understanding, they must be able to recognize it, to be non-defensive, and able to engage clients in helping them comprehend meanings. hey must be particularly aware of the ever-present danger of stereotyping and generalizing as explanations of behavior.

2. Workers must be equipped with knowledge of the past history of the particular ethnic group, which may not only be a major factor in the group members’ ability to trust, but also a source of resentment and anger toward workers for what they represent. Workers must be prepared to recognize and deal with such feelings if they exist, but they also must recall that people vary widely and be knowledgeable about the specific situation and individuals at hand.

3. Workers must be knowledgeable about and sensitive to the meaning of the present status and situation of the ethnic group and the individuals with whom they are working. In many ways this is more important than past history. We now have laws guaranteeing the civil rights of all people; we need to know whether and how they are being enforced at the federal, state, and local levels. Workers need to know if education, jobs, housing, and healthcare are available equally to all; and whether there is a climate that encourages opening the benefits of society to all, forbids discrimination, and frowns on personal racism. It is particularly important that workers know the situation in the local community—which may be lagging behind in recognition of rights of ethnic groups and attitudes toward them in provision of opportunities.

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4. Workers must be aware of the policies and practices of the agency they represent, in terms of both how relevant they are to the needs of ethnic people and how relevant they are perceived as being. Perceptions as well as realities can constitute barriers that workers must cross to be effective. Often policies are set and practices developed that do not change easily as reality changes—workers must be cognizant of this and be prepared to work for a more realistic service plan.

5. Workers must be conversant with the impact of the often-conflicting demands that weigh on people of one culture who are trying to adapt to life in another culture. The varying systems of which they are a part and to which they have loyalties are complex, both in themselves and in how they relate to one another. Workers must differentiate between customs and behaviors that must be altered if the client is to survive personally and socially and those that can and should be retained.

6. Workers must have sensitivity, an almost intuitive awareness of sore spots and barriers to communication and open relationships. With some this seems to be an innate personality characteristic; with some it must be consciously cultivated. Experience and knowledge contribute to its development—particularly important in working with people whose reality is different from that of the worker. his ability to “read” the situation and the people therein will often be the determining factor in effective practice.

7. Workers must be aware that ethnic groups are not monolithic. Both individuals who are a part of them and the groups themselves can vary widely in the rate and extent of change that is taking place. When two cultural groups exist together, they and the individuals that comprise them are constantly in the process of being affected by each other and changing. Those most in contact with each other will change most rapidly. In addition, assimilation is not a one-way street—we need only look at the changes in art, literature, music, language, dress, and food, for example, that are taking place as a result of the presence of ethnic groups in modern society. Workers need to be aware of the changes in both individuals and groups, for these can be a source of conflict among those who would retain the status quo and those who would change.

The Use of Systems Theory

Pluralistic societies tend to be extremely complex, particularly when the groups that make them up are in the process of redefining their relationships. There is a tendency, when the stresses that accompany this process are greatest, for the groups to become polarized and to attack each other. The challenge is for workers to understand this process and the pressures it exerts on both individuals and groups and to avoid becoming a part of it. What is needed is a basic theory that is useful in thinking about such situations, and social systems theory can serve that purpose. Human service workers have been cognizant of the usefulness of systems theory in understanding and working with people and their social groups. It is particularly applicable to those who are a part of ethnic groups and striving to remain a part of their own systems but also becoming a part of the larger one. Originating in biology many years ago, systems theory has gradually been adopted for use in other areas of study. It attempts to define the relationships among the parts of a

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whole. A system is defined simply as a whole made up of interrelated and interdependent parts (Figure 4.1). he parts exist in a state of balance, and when change takes place within one, there is compensatory change within the others. Systems become more complex and effective by constant exchange of both energy and information with their environment. When this exchange does not take place, systems tend to become ineffectual. A system not only is made up of interrelated parts, but is itself an interrelated part of a larger system. he utility of this concept as a way of thinking about a human being as a totality is evident. It provides us with a dynamic point of view that stresses changing relationships and interrelationships rather than the static moment-in-time statement of classic diagnosis. he dynamic element in people creates a major problem in working with them and their groups. Because they are constantly changing, a static description or prescription is often out of date before it is even completed. In addition to its dynamic nature, systems theory provides a yardstick that can be applied broadly to the person as an individual, to the person as a member of a family, to the person as part of a small group, to groups in relationship to each other, and so on, up to the most complicated social systems. his yardstick can be used (1) to assure a unified view of the interlocking components, (2) to assess the relationships within the system and to speculate as to how they will be affected by change within any part of

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the whole, (3) to pinpoint the crucial point where attack is most likely to bring about desired change, (4) to determine the type and mode of intervention to be utilized, and (5) to anticipate probable results of intervention on each level.

Systems theory also tends to remove the onus of responsibility for all change from the individual by recognizing the importance of the situation in creating and maintaining problems in functioning that are often beyond the power of the individual as a part of the system to change. It removes human service workers from the central position as changers and emphasizes their role as enablers. his coincides with the basic principle that fundamental change comes from within the individual or the system; it cannot be imposed from without, although an outsider can facilitate that change. It emphasizes the role of the natural mechanisms of adaptation. When changes are made in the system—as by rational agreement, legislation, program, disaster, and so on—people are faced with the necessity of adapting. We learn to live with the changes that occur in our surroundings, often slowly, but we have no other choice.

In looking at the nature of systems (wholes made up of interrelated and interdependent parts), it is obvious that there are elements that strive to maintain the status quo as well as those that are oriented toward activity and change. These divergent tendencies are related to the two basic functions of a system: (1) its internal task to maintain the balanced relationship among the parts of which it is composed and (2) its external task to perform the function for which it was devised and to relate to its environment. In addition, a system tends to age and move toward death, particularly if it is closed and lacks the input of new energy. If too much energy is devoted to maintaining relationships that have become rigid, the system can accommodate little input and expends its whole energy in maintaining itself. It cannot perform the task for which it was devised, and the system malfunctions.

Applying Concepts from Systems Theory to Working with People

What implications does all this have for workers whose task it is to improve the functioning of clients, to increase the effectiveness with which clients can perform various social roles? For those workers whose focus is trying to facilitate change on a larger scale—in institutions or social systems? How can workers make practical use of systems theory in their jobs? he workers may well begin by asking themselves three questions: (1) What are the boundaries of the system or systems with which they are dealing? (2) What are the patterns and channels of communication both within the individual system under consideration and among the related external systems? (3) What are the explicit and implicit rules that govern the relationship among the parts, both internally and externally, particularly with respect to input (openness to new ideas or material), processing (working with these materials), and output (feedback or results of this work)? Workers first define the boundaries of the particular system with which they need to work. These will be determined by the focus needed by the worker to deal most efectively with a particular area of malfunctioning. System boundaries may encompass a tiny area or be almost infinitely extended. For example, in considering the problems

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are three subsystems: parents, parent–child, and siblings (also see Chapter 10). Families are also part of even larger systems—communities, culture, and political systems.

Virginia Satir, a social worker and one of the pioneers of family therapy, used the analogy of a mobile to illustrate how the family members are interrelated. In making a family mobile, all members of the family must be taken into consideration and arranged accordingly in order to balance the mobile. “All families are in balance. The question is: What is the cost to each family member to maintain that balance?” (Satir, 1988).

Each traditional model of family therapy—communications, Bowenian, strategic, and structural—bases its thinking on some version of systems thinking (Table 4.1). he idea that families are systems and it is the interaction (communication) between the parts that brings the system to life came out of research in the 1950s on families with a member who had schizophrenia. While many of the assumptions about a family’s role in schizophrenia later turned out to be incorrect, this work did result in many concepts that do help explain communication in all types of family systems (Nichols & Schwartz, 2001).

One of the most important concepts was called double bind communication—this is communication that transmits contradictory messages between people who are in a close relationship, such as parent and child. For example, a parent may sabotage his child’s meaningful relationships outside of the family yet say to the child, “Do not see me as making demands on you; I only want what you want.” he child is then placed in a no-win situation because regardless of what she does—seek out relationships or not seek out relationships— she cannot please her parent and will be punished (Walrond-Skinner, 1986). Although many controversies have arisen over the years about how double bind communication effects families, there are two things about this idea that have greatly influenced family therapy: here are multiple levels of communication, and the destructive patterns of relationship are maintained by self-regulating interactions of the family group (Nichols & Schwartz, 2001).

Usually the crisis that precipitates the need for help comes as a problem of an individual family member, such as a child failing in school or involved in delinquent behavior, a father who cannot hold a job, a mother who drinks heavily, or an interfering grandparent. The balance within this malfunctioning family is based on the behavior of the troubled family member, and the system will tend to pressure this member to continue in that role. Any change within the member apart from the system is extremely difficult to maintain. While the worker may help family members on an individual basis, focus should be on work with the family as a whole to change the family system and give the individual a fighting chance for healthy behavior. Important concepts from systems theory that have been applied to work with families include the following (Nichols & Schwartz, 2001; Walrond-Skinner, 1986):

Boundaries: he “invisible membranes” surrounding each set of relationships (or subsystems) within a family. Within the family boundary are its members and their roles, norms, values, traditions, and goals, plus other elements that distinguish one family from another and the social environment. Healthy boundaries are not too open or too closed; weak boundaries make it difficult for each person to differentiate his or her feelings from others in the family; boundaries that are too rigid result in psychological isolation.

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Table 4.1 Traditional Models of Family Therapy Using Systems Theory

Communications Model of Family Therapy

I. Gregory Bateson Don Jackson John Weakland William Fry Jay Haley __________________________________________________________________________________

•Known as the Palo Alto Group, at the Mental Training Institute; their research on communication to explain the development of schizophrenic behavior within the familial environment was a springboard for the developing field of family therapy.

• In 1956, Bateson and his colleagues introduced the concept of the double bind.

II. Virginia Satir

_________________________________________________________________________________

• Theorized that there is a direct connection in families between communication and self-esteem; the outcome of effective communication is increased awareness, empathy, and new perspectives.

• This model focuses on family dynamics; emphasizes nurturance to build family self-worth; and uses dramatic interventions, metaphors, sculpture, stories, and scripts acted out by the members of the family about scenes in their life.

Bowenian Model of Family Therapy Murray Bowen ___________________________________________________________________________________

• Also called the intergenerational or systems model of family therapy, this was one of the forerunners of the family therapy movement.

• Family patterns are seen to develop over time and are often transmitted from generation to generation. Such patterns can be seen in a family genogram.

• Key theoretical concepts include the differentiation of self, the ability of the child to become separate from the parental unit, and triangles, which occur when two-person relationships are faced with high levels of anxiety and they pull in a third party to defuse the intensity with increasing anxiety; the triangle cannot contain the tension, and an interlocking web of triangles is formed.

Strategic Model of Family Therapy Jay Haley Milton Erickson Don Jackson Cloe Madanes

__________________________________________________________________________________

• The theory of strategic therapy states that the patient’s symptoms are a result of attempts by family members to correct what they consider “problem” behavior.

• Focuses on short-term, targeted efforts to solve a specific problem.

• The goal of strategic family therapy is to replace dysfunctional patterns for successful ones.

• Key concepts include: The presenting problem serves a function in the family that is not recognized, symptoms occur to maintain the family functioning, and change occurs through behavior; insight is not important.

Structural Model of Family Therapy Salvador Minuchin

_________________________________________________________________________________

• The basic tenet is that there is an underlying structure that guides families; dysfunction occurs when the structure is disrupted.

• The central point of this therapy is reinforcing the original family structure through key interventions. The therapist’s role is very directive in the course of structural family therapy.

Based on: Nichols, M. P. (2010). Family Therapy: Concepts and Methods (9th ed.) Boston: Pearson Education.

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