Defining Diversity/Culture

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Psy 622 Cross-Cultural Counseling Daryl M.
Rowe, Ph.D.Pepperdine UniversityGraduate School
of Education Psychology

• Defining Diversity/Culture
• Generic Assumptions Of Counseling Psychotherapy

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Definitions

• Diversity affirmation of richness of human
  differences, ideas, beliefs
• Includes, but not limited to age, color,
  disability and health, ethnicity, gender,
  language, national origin, race,
  religion/spirituality, sexual orientation, SES
• ADDRESSING heuristic
• Intersection of multiple identities/statuses
• Exploration of power and privilege
• NCSPP (2002)

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Defining Culture

• Culture is a metaphor for understanding different
  perspectives within each of us as our different
  social roles complement compete and cooperate
  with one another in our unfolding quest of
  living.
• Culture is both descriptive - relatively stable
  product of human action, and dynamic - a
  continuously changing process that influences
  human action.
• Mohandas Gandhi stated that culture resides in
  the hearts and in the soul of its people
• Culture is the context out of which humans emerge
  and as such provides the framework by which human
  behavior becomes meaningful and can be
  understood.

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Culture

• Review definitions
• Culture is a difficult concept to define can be
  conceptualized as a system of meanings which
  reflect the totality of the processes for living
  of an interdependent network of individuals,
  groups, communities and societies.

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Culture (cont.)

• Thus, culture is the context which gives meaning
  to humans' individual behavior.
• Cultural diversity, refers to the different
  contextual systems of meanings through which the
  behavior of humans can be understood.

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Introduction

• Important to look at the development of
  psychology as a helping profession within the
  parameters of this society
• Methods to explore
• Key proponents of major theories (famous
  infamous)
• Key theories
• Socio-cultural context
• Focus is socio-cultural context re development
  of counseling psychotherapy

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Socio-cultural Factors

• Three major cultural influences or
  characteristics of the U.S. conducive to growth
  (Schmidt, 1977)
• Pervasive tendency to experiment and innovate
• High degree of physical mobility coupled with
  emphasis on individual achievement
• High level of economic development

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Pervasive tendency to experiment and innovate

• Refuge from established patterns
• Led to increasing amounts of uncertainty
  ambiguity (present future
• Application of science to solution of human
  problems

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High degree of physical mobility coupled with
emphasis on individual achievement

• Individual achievement was major means of
  distinction, following emphasis on innovation
• To seek individual achievement, persons
  families began to relocate
• Net result De-emphasis on extended family

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High degree of physical mobility coupled with
emphasis on individual achievement (cont.)

• Impacts
• self-improvement was/is basis for attaining
  rewards achieving identity
• void created by dispersal of family unit
• led to society which promoted a belief in the
  attribution of human performance outcomes to
  individual behaviors and attitudes

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High level of economic development

• Given the valuing of innovations, the rewarding
  of innovations the importation of critical
  labor forces (Africans in the south, Europeans in
  the northeast, Asians in the west and Northwest,
  Mexicans in the southwest) time, resources
  energy was devoted to research development
• Highly industrialized and technologically
  advanced era
• Valuing of material goods over human needs

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Impact of Socio-Cultural Factors

• From the outset, there has been an
  individualistic orientation in psychology
• emphasis on self-control,
• personal responsibility,
• self-reliance and
• individual achievement.

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Philosophical Assumptions

• Eurocentric approach Europe was seen as the
  center of the world
• Review of most introductory psychology texts
  emphasize the historical contributions of Western
  Europeans to psychology
• Aristotle - Greek
• Descartes - French
• Hobbes Locke - British
• Freud - Vienna
• Wundt - German
• Pavlov - Russian
• Witmer, Lightner James, William Hall, G.
  Stanley - Euro-Americans

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Philosophical Assumptions (cont.)

• Concept of the Self
• The self has been and still is individually
  defined
• Concept of Time
• Time has been viewed as both linear and
  futuristic

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Philosophical Assumptions (cont.)

• Ontological Assumptions
• Branch of metaphysics which studies the nature of
  existence of being in total the nature of WHAT
  IS
• Emphasis on the physical or material essence of
  being
• Emphasis on individualism
• Emphasis on independence
• Emphasis on survival of the fittest

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Philosophical Assumptions (cont.)

• Epistemological Assumptions
• Branch of philosophy that investigates the
  origin, nature, methods and limits of knowledge
  knowledge of WHAT IS
• Emphasis on objectivity and measurement
• Emphasis on observation of experiences
• Knowledge tends to be rigid, static and fixed
• Logic tend to be dualistic

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Philosophical Assumptions (cont.)

• Axiological Assumptions
• Branch of philosophy dealing with values the
  value of WHAT IS
• Competition/conflict is valued
• Control of life and environment is valued
• High value on ownership, human - to - object
• Emphasis on individual rights
• Emphasis on data-collection and acquiring
  information

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Impacts of Philosophical Assumptions on Applied
Psychology

• Accepted as universal truths vs. assumptions
• Narrowed preferences for topics and methods of
  inquiry/study
• Assume that individuals who can control and are
  responsible for their own lives are more fully
  functioning persons