Counselling in a Diverse Society
Nowadays the issue of diversity is an important factor to consider as in most countries there is broad range of diversity within that country and its communities. There are different aspects of diversity that exist, such as; sexuality, gender, race and culture.
There is no doubt that the counsellor needs to be aware of the complexity of culture (Pedersen & Ivey, 1993). Culture results from the interaction of a number of variables including ethnographic, demographic, socio-economic, and relational factors. Within a culture, people develop patterns of behaviours based on a number of assumptions they have learned either directly, observationally or vicariously (Mitchell & Krumboltz, 1996). People also develop a cultural identity by examining the similarities and differences perceived between themselves and other individuals or groups. Cultural identity is based on personal preference; it is not determined by racial characteristics. It is often in part determined by language preferences, religion, lifestyle or birthplace, and may be modified by the individual life experiences and exposures (Mitchell & Krumboltz, 1996).
There is a danger that if the counsellor minimise cultural differences, they are likely to impose the majority group's similarities upon the minority group and uphold one group as being more important than the other. On the other hand, over-emphasising the differences may result in difficulty finding common ground upon which to build a therapeutic counselling relationship.
The ideal would be to maintain a balance by recognising the importance of these similarities and differences and striving to understand them with a view to building good communication within the one to one counselling relationship (Pedersen, 1994). Without cultural awareness, the counsellor may get the information their processing wrong and that may limit them by not giving the client fair and equitable counselling service. The limited information is likely
There is no doubt that the counsellor needs to be aware of the complexity of culture (Pedersen & Ivey, 1993). Culture results from the interaction of a number of variables including ethnographic, demographic, socio-economic, and relational factors. Within a culture, people develop patterns of behaviours based on a number of assumptions they have learned either directly, observationally or vicariously (Mitchell & Krumboltz, 1996). People also develop a cultural identity by examining the similarities and differences perceived between themselves and other individuals or groups. Cultural identity is based on personal preference; it is not determined by racial characteristics. It is often in part determined by language preferences, religion, lifestyle or birthplace, and may be modified by the individual life experiences and exposures (Mitchell & Krumboltz, 1996).
There is a danger that if the counsellor minimise cultural differences, they are likely to impose the majority group's similarities upon the minority group and uphold one group as being more important than the other. On the other hand, over-emphasising the differences may result in difficulty finding common ground upon which to build a therapeutic counselling relationship.
The ideal would be to maintain a balance by recognising the importance of these similarities and differences and striving to understand them with a view to building good communication within the one to one counselling relationship (Pedersen, 1994). Without cultural awareness, the counsellor may get the information their processing wrong and that may limit them by not giving the client fair and equitable counselling service. The limited information is likely