Multicultural Counseling - Assignment Example

Multicultural Counseling Q What general knowledge acquisition areas about African Americans do practitioners have to acquire and be aware of in order to counsel this particular population? Evidence from research suggests that ethnic groups including African Americans seldom make use of counseling services, as they consider counseling an ethnocentric activity that is founded in the values of white middle classes. Hence the first requisite in counseling Afro-Americans is to understand that they represent a different group with different values than the while class. Understanding their values is the core knowledge acquisition that is required in their counseling. There are common values to all the African Americans and the intensity of these values vary in the different classes of society among the African Americans. Hence besides acquiring knowledge of the shared values, it also becomes necessary to acquiring knowledge of the different values in the class system among the African Americans. After all each individual is unique and needs to be looked at it from this perspective, in the counseling process. The common cultural values prevalent in African American communities are essentially those of the African American communities originating in West Africa. These cultural values on various points clash with those of the dominant white cultural values. For instance the American cultural values are oriented towards individualism, competition, material accumulation, nuclear families, religion, religion as distinct from the other parts of culture and domination of nature. This is in sharp contrast to the to the values dominant in the African American communities with importance given to the collective over the individual, kinship and affiliation, extended families, spirituality, connectedness, harmony with nature, and holistic thinking. Centuries of racist practice have made all African Americans view the whites as a dominating community and the variance in cultural values have caused the African American to have the view that the white cultural values are being thrust on them, and do not want anything to with them, as a sign of their freedom from white dominance. This feeling is bound to be more intense in the lower classes of society, as there is a tendency to lay the blame of their social position on the attempts of the whites to dominate them. Changing socio-economics among the African Americans have brought with it a growing middle class of society to the African Americans. This class of African American society, while retaining the common cultural values is more amenable to understanding and accepting the values of the dominant white community (Baytops, Day-Vines, & Patton, 2003). Q. 2. What is culturally competent practice with Latino Americans? Also identify cultural awareness and counseling needs of Latino Americans. Cultural competency in counseling Latino Americans may be looked upon as an inherent part of multicultural counseling. As such there is the need to develop skills, techniques and strategies to become competent in counseling Latino Americans. These requirements come from the framework of awareness of one’s own assumptions, values, and biases; knowing and understanding the world view of the Latino Americans; and the development of appropriate intervention strategies and techniques suited to the Latino Americans. It is this framework that leads to culturally competent practice with Latino Americans (Multicultural Counseling). The term Latino covers a cultural group and not an ethnic group. Within the Latino group there are different languages, citizenship, and experiences. In spite of these differences there are shared cultural characteristics. The first and foremost is the importance of family and the loyalty to the family associated with the term familismo. Family constitutes not only the nuclear family, but also the extended family, friends and neighbors, who share strong bonds with the family. Within the family roles for fathers, mothers, and children are assigned. Machismo is the physically superiority of the male over the female and hence in the family the role of the father is that of being the provider and providing safety. Marianismo is the spiritual superiority of the female over the male, with her capability to endure suffering, while hembrismo is a reference to the strength and perseverance of women. Women tend to display marianismo at home and hembrismo at work. Children are expected to obey the instructions of the elders. The church and religious worship are important to Latinos. Church activities are part of the cultural socialization. Spirituality provides emotional support to the Latinos. The counseling needs for latinos stems from these immigrants to America finding the acculturation stressful and often traumatizing. Coming to America has distanced them from their extended family leading to loss of support and emotional stress. The policies and practices in America, with particular reference to the immigration policies, cause intimidation in the Latinos, for they feel they are unwelcome and sometimes they even experience violence. Latin women tend to find work quicker than their male counterparts, leading to role reversal within the family as to who is the provider, causing disruption of cultural values and the support culture provides in times of distress. These are the issues that need to be addressed in counseling of latinos. However it should be realized that Latinos are likely to be resistant to culture, because of their negative experiences with the policies and values in America, as they are quite likely to consider counseling an extension of these factors. (Siepel & Way, 2004). Q. 3. Discuss some of the Historical and current oppression Experiences of Asian Americans. In addition, what are the areas of knowledge acquisition a counselor needs know in order to work successfully with this group of Americans? Immigrants can be considered to pass through four stages of interaction with the host society. These are contact, competition, accommodation, and assimilation. There are two groups of immigrants that are considered to have not fit this paradigm. They are the African American and the Asian American immigrants. This has given rise to what is known as the Oriental problem. Asian American immigrants are less prone to demonstrate assimilation into the host nation culture and values, as though there are differences within their religions and cultures, both have a strong influence over Asian Americans, because of the either the long existence of these cultures (Japanese, Chinese, and Indians are examples of this category) or the considerable influence of religion on their way of life (Islamic immigrants are examples of this category). This failure to assimilate has caused Asian Americans to be viewed as deficient and defiant. As a result Asians Americans have faced oppression. Japanese Americans were ostracized and incarcerated after Pearl Harbor during the course of the Second World War, irrespective of their position on the war. The Chinese workers brought to build the railroads and subsequently in the cotton fields of the South were treated like slave labor and hardly paid the necessary compensation. The Communist take-over of China saw draconian Chinese exclusion laws put in place. The initial Indian immigrants to America were subject to surveillance, as a result of requests from Britain, their colonial masters. Asians were subject to a considerable period of exclusion from migration to America after the Second World War, a position which changed only after the ending of the War in Vietnam (Chan, 1995). Knowledge acquisition that is required in counseling Asian Americans lies in nit just an understanding of the culture and values of the Asian Americas, but also their religious faith and the manner in which religion influences their way for a common feature in the culture and values of Asian Americans is the strong impact of religion or religious philosophy. The framework that is useful in the counseling of Asian Americans is the evaluation of when they migrated to America and the reasons for it; the number of years of education in America and the impact of this education; and the conflicting cultural norms that stand in the way of assimilation into the host nations culture and values (Toupin, 1980). Q. 4. What are some of the areas and issues / themes a counselor needs to know in order to practice successfully with Gay and Lesbian populations. Also give a summary of the history of this group and their oppression, etc. Gays and Lesbians through their homosexual preferences have been differentiated and discriminated against by mainstream heterosexual society. Counseling Gays and Lesbians thus pose a challenge to counselor, as they are dealing with a group of people with different views on sexual satisfaction and for which they are not considered socially acceptable by the mainstream heterosexual society. Several issues come to the forefront for knowledge acquisition in counseling Gays and Lesbians. Gays and Lesbians have been treated as outcasts of society and spurned by religion historically. Such an attitude of mainstream society and religion to their sexual preferences have led to the feeling in Gays and Lesbian populations that they can never be a part of the mainstream heterosexual society, which looks upon homosexuality as a sin coming from mental depravations. The reaction to this is either being secretive of their sexual preferences. Many of the Gays and Lesbians harbor within themselves a sense of guilt, particularly if religiously oriented, as they feel they are committing a sin in their sexual preferences. Sense of guilt also arises from failure to meet the expectation of parent and society in fostering children. In case children have been fostered, there arises guilt in the Gays and Lesbians of the attitude that society would have to their children because of having Gay or Lesbian parents. Guilt is the first overriding emotion in Gays and Lesbians. Another emotion demonstrated by Gays and Lesbians is anger to the harsh and unaccepting world that is stigmatizing them. There is also grief and sadness in Gays and Lesbians over their lack of normalness as perceived by the larger cultural group and the feeling of loss that this lack of normalness causes in their inability to be a part of mainstream society. Knowing and addressing these issues is the key to successful counseling of Gays and Lesbians. Gays and Lesbians have been historically considered to be mentally deranged, sexually perverted, morally corrupt, and indulging in sinful activities due to their sexual preferences. This has led mainstream society to treat them with scorn and ridicule, and excommunicating them from the mainstream of social activities. Such an attitude of the larger culture has seen Gays and Lesbians becoming the target of violence in hate crimes. It is only in very recent times that there are more acceptances of Gays and Lesbians in the developed world. (Finnegan & McNally, 2002). Literary References Baytops, Joy L.; Day-Vines, Norma L.; Patton, James M. (2003). Counseling African American adolescents: the impact of race, culture, and middle class status. Retrieved December 15, 2007, from Professional School Counseling, Web Site: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-110962190.html Chan, S. (1995). The Writing of Asian American History. Retrieved December 15, 2007, from, Organization of American Historians. Web site: http://www.oah.org/pubs/magazine/asianamerican/chan.html Finnegan, D. G. & McNally, E. B. (2002). COUNSELING LESBIAN, GAY, AND TRANSGENDER SUBSTANCE ABUSERS. The Haworth Press Inc.: New York. Multicultural Counseling. Retrieved December 15, 2007, from, National Guidance Research Forum. Web site: http://www.guidance-research.org/EG/impprac/ImpP2/new-theories/mcc Siepel, W. & Way, I. (2004). Culturally Competent Social Work Practice With Latino Clients. Retrieved December 15, 2007, from, THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER, Web site: http://www.socialworker.com/home/Feature_Articles/Ethics/Culturally_Competent_Social_Work_Practice_With_Latino_Clients/ Toupin, E. S. Counseling Asians: psychotherapy in the context of racism and Asian-American history. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 50 (1), 76-86. Read More