Culture Diversity

CULTURE AND DIVERSITY TIP SHEET
When implementing prevention programs, it is important to consider culture and diversity, such as socioeconomic status, sexuality, spirituality, ethnicity, and other aspects. Culture involves every aspect of an individual’s external and internal life. Many definitions of culture exist. One way to define culture is the knowledge, experience, values, ideas, attitudes, skills, tastes, and techniques that are passed on from more experienced members of a community to new members. Carriers of culture include families, religious organizations, peer groups, neighbors, social groups, and professional organizations. Some cultural experiences are related to biological factors, such as physical stature and skin color, while others are related more to sociological factors, such as socioeconomic status and religious affiliation. Drawing conclusions about a person based on their external appearance can be detrimental. There are many elements of culture and diversity (Hogan, Gabrielsen, Luna, & Grothaus, 2002). Some elements include: Aesthetics (attitudes and behaviors related to literature, music, dance, art, architecture, etc.) Ceremony (what a person is to say and do on particular occasions) Ethics (attitudes and behaviors related to honesty, fairness, principles, etc.) Health and Medicine (attitudes and behaviors related to wellness, sickness, death, etc.) Folk Myths (attitudes and behaviors related to heroes, traditions, legendary characters, superstitions, etc.) Exercise care in regard to what is a myth, what is a superstition. Gender Roles (attitudes and behaviors related to expectations of people because of their gender) Gestures and Kinetics (forms of nonverbal communication or reinforced speech, such as the use of the eyes, the hands and the body) Grooming and Presence (attitudes and behaviors related to physical appearance, such as hairstyle, cosmetics, dress, etc.) Ownership (attitudes and behaviors related to property, individual

References: Adapted from Substance Abuse Specialist Training Banks, J. A. (1995). Multicultural education and the modification of students’ racial attitudes. In W. Hawley & A. Jackson (Eds.), Toward a common destiny: Improving race and ethnic relations in America. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, Inc., Publishers. Gonzalez, V.M., Gonzalez, J.T., Freeman, V., & Howard-Pitney, B. (1991). Health promotion in diverse cultural communities: Practical guidelines for working in and with diverse cultural communities. Health Promotion Resource Center, Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention in cooperation with the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Hogan, J., Gabrielsen K., Luna, N., and Grothause D. (2002). Substance abuse prevention: the Intersection of Science and Practice. In Press. Allyn & Bacon. Boston MS. Whealdon, K., & Cuevas, J. (1995). Dissonance and discontinuity in multicultural settings. Sharing the Vision VI Conference. Portland, Oregon. CULTURE AND DIVERSITY TIP SHEET 5/17/06 2 - 32