Social & Cultural Diversity and Code of Ethics

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Personal Perspective
The Issue of Racism and Diversity
ACA Code of Ethics and Cultural Sensitivity
Conclusion
References

Introduction

The topic of cultural diversity is not that it has not lost its relevance; it has not even been properly updated. Numerous publications of various kinds devoted to the critique of the unifying tendencies of globalization usually consider it as a self-sufficient and self-evident value. At the same time, the question of the nature of cultural diversity and its significance in the socio-cultural progress of mankind remains in the shadow of intellectual pursuits.

The individual must retain the human dimension, which requires its implementation by being in a situation of cultural diversity. The importance of the latter is evidenced by the attention to this phenomenon on the part of international organizations. In particular, it is the adoption by UNESCO 2001 of the World Declaration on Cultural Diversity (Vincent & Manzano, 2017). In it, cultural diversity was recognized not only as a fact but also as a source of innovation, exchange, and creativity, which form the basis of human existence as an organic whole. All this confirms the fact that cultural diversity is constituted in our time as one of the important problems of socio-humanitarian knowledge. The analysis of this problem – with an emphasis on my related personal experience, racism, and the ACA code of ethics – is the purpose of this discussion.

Personal Perspective

I admit that I have biases within the scope of cultural dimension, given that I have experienced them from others, which influenced my state of mind to an exact extent. I am a 54-year-old African American, I grew up in a ghetto, and my neighborhood has always been misjudged due to stereotypes by ones who are not referred to as people of color. Hence, my crucial bias is kind of reverse – I tend to believe that white people perceive my personality, first of all, through the perspective of stereotypic understanding of African Americans who were raised in the mentioned environment.

Then, it is important to note that I have faced discrimination during my work at the Bureau of Prisons. I was hired at the same time as individuals who do not belong to people of color. It has been quite visible that I never receive recognition, monetary, public, or even verbal praise for doing a job of the same quality. In this regard, I do not blame my colleagues – I respect them and enjoy our cooperation – but the way the administration approaches the working environment is unacceptable.

Moreover, I have had many friends with various cultural backgrounds and have never faced any issues grounded on related differences. For instance, among my friends are Maria del Carmen, who migrated from Cuba on the Muriel boatlift, and Erica from Mexico. They do not say prayers at the dinner table, and the eldest slaps the table to let everyone know it is time to eat. These aspects are different from my cultural background, but it was a great pleasure for me to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with them and eat traditional Mexican food. Thus, it seems apparent that my life experience makes it easy to relate to people of other cultures. I grew up understanding people should not be judged by the content of their skin. I accept others regardless of their culture, sex, race, gender, and sexual identity. Finally, I believe that I grew up non-judgmental, trustworthy, and someone people could confide in.

The Issue of Racism and Diversity

To begin this section, I should note that xenophobia may be defined as fear or dread of someone or something alien, unfamiliar, and unusual. It is the perception of others as incomprehensible and hostile (McNeil, 2020). In one way or another, the source of xenophobia is the fear of other groups of people. The ideological treatment of this unconscious feeling led to racism. It is a set of concepts based on the provisions of the physical or mental inequality of human races and the decisive influence of racial differences on the history and culture of society. Some scholars believe that the spread of xenophobia is facilitated by such psychological factors as feelings of insecurity, vulnerability, lack of opportunities for self-realization, and depression (Goyal & De keersmaecker, 2021). All these personal states are compensated by the transfer of negative energy from oneself to others. It is conditionally “others” are blamed for all the troubles and misfortunes and are considered the source of all problems.

At this point, it is essential to say that currently, racism can be considered overt and covert (or subtle). The latter “is racial discrimination that is concealed or subtle rather than obvious or public” (Fitchburg State University, n.d., para. 4). In the anti-discrimination legislation and jurisprudence of the United States and later in other Western countries, discrimination was originally understood as specific acts consisting of improper differentiation on racial or ethnic grounds. Counteraction to such measures by establishing preventive measures, bringing to responsibility and compensation for the harm caused does not eliminate all problems. In legal practice and in public discussion, the boundaries of the concept began to gradually move apart. The concept of covert racism has emerged, which can be interpreted as latent and non-ethnic demands or attitudes that have a disproportionately negative impact on different ethnic groups.

It turned out that racism is rather difficult to explain by the prejudices of individuals and that it is institutional in nature; that is, it is a product of stable social relations. With this approach, the line between lawful and illegal actions in this vein is blurred. The presence or absence of discrimination is judged by the outcome – by the disproportionate impact on various racial or ethnic minorities. “A key feature of covert racism is that its disguised nature allows perpetrators to claim “plausible deniability” and to essentially gaslight their victims, that is to deny that the act was racist and undermine any claim of harm” (Fitchburg State University, n.d., para. 5). Hence, a subtle racist is one who possesses negative feelings and attitudes towards persons from other racial groups.

Moreover, I would stress the following crucial characteristic of subtle racism. It “may be implicit as a result of unconscious bias that exists within an individual, regardless of ill-will or any self-aware prejudices” (Fitchburg State University, n.d., para. 5). An important role here belongs to stereotypes that tend to impact our minds at the subliminal level to a great degree, and racist attitudes are supported by negative stereotyping of consciousness. A social stereotype is usually understood as a simplified, schematic, emotionally colored, and stable image of a certain social group or community, which easily extends to all its members (Wang et al., 2020). Stereotypes play an important social role as a factor in the consolidation and fixation of a certain group. They are assimilated very early, difficult to correct, easily manifested, and become more vulnerable and hostile in the moment of pre-conflict.

Negative stereotyping of consciousness is largely formed by the media. Expressions of intolerance towards immigrants in the media have become a bad habit. It is used not only by little-known but also by popular publications and TV channels that position themselves as democratic and liberal (Biscontini, 2021). In order to obtain popularity and increase their audience, journalists and editors demonstrate a tendency to ignore certain norms of professional ethics. They speak to society with obvious signs of hostility and quite often publish materials that veiledly provoke hostility towards foreigners, which provokes society and the government to discriminate.

Meanwhile, there still can be significant differences in the perceptions and values of members within the same ethnic group. An individual who belongs to a particular ethnic group – which is determined by natural biological reasons – can grow up and develop under different cultural conditions. He or she can obtain cultural traits that are not characteristic of the group. For example, A Japanese who was adopted by Americans and spent his or her whole life in the United States is more likely to accept and adhere to American cultural traditions, principles, and views rather than to the ones of the Eastern ethnical group.

From this perspective, cultural diversity becomes an integrated and essential element of the modern world. It is an empirical fact that does not require any theoretical justification. One of the most important functions of this phenomenon is adaptive, which ensures human survival in a particular natural and social environment. Unlike animals, humans do not adapt to their environment but change it for themselves. As a result, an artificial environment is produced, and the world of human existence is culture (Mosher et al., 2017). In its reality, it appears not only as a certain set of material objects but also as a system of worldviews, norms of morality, traditions, customs, and so on. All this is not only the environment of human existence but also what constitutes the necessary circumstances of human birth. The diversity of human culture manifests itself through the presence of various ethnic, national, regional, and local differences. All this is evidence that cultures do not arise and do not exist in isolation but only in a coalition of cultures.

ACA Code of Ethics and Cultural Sensitivity

The ACA “provides guidance intended to inform the ethical practice of professional counselors” (ACA, 2014, p. 3), while the ASCA provides “a guide for the ethical practices of all school counselors” (ASCA, 2016, p. 1). As a school counselor, I am to follow the ASCA code of ethics. There are some specific multicultural codes that I can utilize as a school counselor, although I am not limited to them.

First, I have an obligation to respect students as unique individuals. Second, I should “strive to contribute to a safe, respectful, nondiscriminatory school environment in which all members of the school community demonstrate respect and civility” (ASCA, 2016, p. 4). Then, I am to “be culturally competent and sensitive to diversity among families” and “use culturally inclusive language in all forms of communication” (ASCA, 2016, p. 6–7). Finally, it is crucial to “be culturally competent and consider cultural factors” (ASCA, 2016, p. 8). I consider the cited principles as a crucial foundation for my practice as a counselor.

I genuinely believe that being culturally sensitive is critical in the framework of treatment planning as it demonstrates that a counselor is competent to identify cultural issues and develop an efficient treatment plan that would follow a client’s particular beliefs and traits. I also recognize that people of different cultures and those of the same culture have differences in communication styles. For example, Asian Americans utilize counseling services but have much higher terminating services with mental health professionals (Kim & Park, 2015). Then, according to Jones-Smith (2019), African American middle class often seeks professional help voluntarily when they are experiencing problems. At the same time, other members of the same community see counselors as “healers” that focus on what is wrong rather than what is right.

Other cultures use different communication styles like non-verbal/verbal, direct or indirect communication, etiquette that meets their standards, and comments made with different perspectives. In this vein, I would emphasize that there are strategies utilized to build rapport with clients of various cultures. For instance, Arab Americans establish rapport with their counselors through body language and social distance. Thus, there are different treatment methods for different clients.

Finally, I should stress that cultural bias can be found in various practices. There are resources to help a counselor become more informed about cultural diversity. In particular, these may be enrolling in cultural diversity courses, volunteering in organizations and areas not specific to one’s own culture, self-assessment, and interacting with diverse groups of people. Moreover, the Master’s Program and the courses that I will learn – precisely, this course – will help me to be a successful school counselor. I am to realize the fundamental aspects of the modern multicultural world and possess the necessary competencies to be successful in the profession.

Conclusion

To conclude, the topic of social and cultural diversity was discussed. The crucial issues within the scope of the theme, which shows the essence of the phenomenon, were presented. In particular, my personal related experience, the essence of subtle racism, the ACA code of ethics, and cultural sensitivity, as well as the counselor’s professional perspective, were explored. I found that theoretical background that can be obtained through the lens of this theme is important for me as a professional counselor.

References

ACA. (2014). ACA code of ethics. Web.

ASCA. (2016). Ethical standards for school counselors. Web.

Biscontini, T. (2021). Person of color. Salem Press Encyclopedia. Effectiveness with Asian Americans. Journal of Counseling & Development, 93(3), 269–279.

Fitchburg State University. (n.d.). What does racism look like? Overt vs covert. Web.

Goyal, N., & De keersmaecker, J. (2021). Cultural dyes: Cultural norms color person perception.Current Opinion in Psychology, 43, 195–198. Web.

Jones-Smith, E. (2019). Culturally diverse counseling: theory and practice. SAGE Publications.

Kim, B. S. K., & Park, Y. S. (2015). Communication styles, cultural values, and counseling effectiveness with Asian Americans. Journal of Counseling & Development, 93(3), 269–279.

McNeil, T. (2020). The long history of xenophobia in America. Tufts Now. Web.

Mosher, D., Hook, J.N., Captari, L.E., Davis, D.E., DeBlaere, C., & Owen, J. (2017). Cultural humility: A therapeutic framework for engaging diverse clients. Practice Innovations. Sage Publications Inc., 21(4), 221–233.

Vincent B., & Manzano A. (2017). History and cultural diversity. In C. Richards, W. Bouman, & M.J. Barker (Eds.), Genderqueer and non-binary genders. Critical and applied approaches in sexuality, gender and identity (pp. 11–30). Palgrave Macmillan.

Wang, S. C., Hubbard, R. R., & Dorazio, C. (2020). Overcoming racial battle fatigue through dialogue: Voices of three counseling psychologist trainees. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 14(4), 285–292.

Click Here To Order Now!