MA Leadership and

Management
Nathalie Congo-Poottaren
Week 6 Multicultural and diversity
issues impacting school counselling

Content:
Culture
MAJOR ELEMENTS OF MULTICULTURALISM
Cultural encapsulation
Culturally competent counsellors
Counselling refers to the method of
helping people through person-oriented
listening (Tschudin, 1981). A more
comprehensive definition by Sue and Sue
(1990, p. 30) refers to counselling as
interpersonal interaction and
communication; that is, both counselor
and client must be able to exchange
effectively both verbal and non-verbal
messages.
Culture is defined as the sum total of an
individual's experience and knowledge
gained as a member of society; this affects
the attitude, perception and behaviour of
the individual as a member of that society
(Selvarajah 2006).
Culture can be defined as an abstract
concept that referred to learned and
shared patterns of perceiving and adapting
to the world. Culture is reflected in its
products: the learned, the shared beliefs,
values, attitudes and behaviours that are
characteristic of a society or population
Culture controls our lives and defines
reality foe each of us, with or without our
permission and/or intentional awareness.
A culture-centered approach to
counselling recognises culture as central
and not marginal, fundamental and not
exotic, for all appropriate counselling
interventions.
All behaviours are learned and
displayed in a cultural context.
Behaviours can be measured more
accurately, personal identify becomes
more clearly defined, the
consequences of problems are better
understood and counselling
interviews become more meaningful
in their cultural context
Multiculturalism, in the context of this
assignment, refers to the bridging and
forging of cooperation between more than
two identifiable cultural groups.
MAJOR ELEMENTS OF MULTICULTURALISM

All human beings are products of their own culture.
Multiculturalism is not a political credo.
Each culture has its own uniquely acquired ways of
construing its own world(s), which give meaning to their lives.
Within each culture there exist a plurality of values and
traditions.
The plasticity of human behaviour enables persons to
transcend (within certain limitations) their own culturally
embedded boundaries.
Each culture is in some ways flawed because no culture has
all the answers to the Socratic question of what constitutes
the good life and how it should be lived (Parekh, 2000).
Each culture has something of value to offer to another
culture and equally importantly something of value to learn
and imbibe from another culture.
A mixture of cultures is more likely to lead to an enrichment of
ones intellectual, emotional, artistic, spiritual, humanitarian
and moral visions.
Cross-cultural counselling was
referred to by McFadden (1996, p. 5)
as a speciality that embraced
individual and group counselling
interactions across cultures with a
focus on narrowly defined therapeutic
areas.

Smith (1985) supported the need for
cross-cultural counselling services in a
multicultural society when she described
the myth of sameness and criticized
counselors who bury their heads in the
sand and who protest that the only
essential attitude required in counselling is
one that contains empathy. She explained
that, although empathy is necessary for
counsellors, it would certainly not be
sufficient for effective cross-cultural
counselling.
Walsh (2004, p. 30) defined cultural
competence as a set of congruent
behaviours /attitudes and policies that
come together in a system, agency, or
among professionals and enables that
system, agency or those professionals to
work effectively in cross-cultural
situations.
Effective multicultural counselling requires
that the counselor understand concepts
related to culturally diverse populations
(Baruth & Manning, 1991)
Cultural encapsulation is the process
of working with clients from an
ethnocentric perspective, where one
does not effectively understand the
world view and culture of origin of the
client, nor do they integrate this
knowledge into the counselling
process. Thus, cultural encapsulation
is problematic in therapy and can
negatively impact the therapeutic
alliance.


The characteristics of counselling and
psychotherapy, according to Sue and Sue
(1990),have been influenced by Western
European cultural values, which are
reflected in the therapeutic processes. For
example, when Truax and Carkhuff (1967)
published Towards Effective Counselling
and Psychotherapy, no mention was made
of culture,race or ethnic origin. This was
because, at the time, multicultural
counselling was not perceived to be
significant enough for separate
consideration., 1994).
Good counsellors were presumed to be
effective with their clients, whether within
or between cultures. The singular or
dominant cultural emphasis then
maintained that it was possible to be a
good counselor by purely showing
genuineness, non-possessive warmth and
accurate and empathetic hearing, without
having to understand the cultural
background of the client (dArdenne and
Mahtani
Cultural encapsulation
Wrenn (1962) assumptions
Reality is defined according to one set of cultural
assumptions
People become insensitive to cultural variations
among individuals and assume their own view is
the only right one
Assumptions are not dependent on reasonable
proof or rational consistency but are believed
true, regardless of evidence to the contrary
Solutions are sought in technique-oriented
strategies and quick or simple remedies
Everyone is judged from the viewpoint of ones
self-reference criteria without regard for the other
persons separate cultural context.

1) All persons are measured according to the
same hypothetical normal standard of
behaviour, irrespective of their culturally different
contexts.
(2) Individualism is presumed to be more
appropriate in all settings than a collectivist
perspective.
(3) Professional boundaries are narrowly
defined, and interdisciplinary cooperation is
discouraged.
(4) Psychological health is described primarily in
a low-context rather than a high-context
perspective.
(5) Dependency is always considered to be an
undesirable or even neurotic condition.
(6) The persons support system is not
normally considered relevant in analyzing
the persons psychological health.
(7) Only linear-based cause-effect thinking
is accepted as scientific and appropriate.
(8) The individual is expected to adjust to fit
the system, even when the system is
wrong.
(9) The historical roots of a persons
background are disregarded or minimalised.
(10) The counsellor presumes herself or
himself to be already free of racism and
cultural bias

Why do we need cultural competent
counsellors?
Communication problems
Many health professionals noted that racial
factors may become barriers to counselling was
there greater interest in pursuing cross-cultural
counselling studies. As breakdown of
communication is common between people of
the same culture, the problem could become
exacerbated between people of different cultural
backgrounds. To overcome such barriers to
counselling, they advocated different skills in
cross-cultural counselling; that is to say, different
cultural groups may be more receptive to certain
communication styles because of cultural and
socio-political factors. This is where
multiculturalism intervenes.Multiculturalism has
been referred to as psychologys fourth force.
Quality of service
The need for multi/cross-cultural sensitivity in counselling
is grounded upon the notion that historically marginalised
clients have been ill-served by counselling practitioners
working from the framework of the socially and
economically privileged. Other researchers found that
there is underutilisation of service and little client
persistence from ethnic minority. It was also noted that
there were poor prognosis, lower empathy, and greater
blunted affect associated with ethnic minority. Other
patients were less satisfied and some even reported
greater depression, hostility, and anxiety after four
sessions of treatment. In fact we can say that when
counsellors fail to take into account differences in
worldwiew, they run the risk of being ineffective but also
possibly of being harmful to their clients, thereby further
their oppression.
Globalisation and migration
We have to acknowledge that today with
globalisation and migration there is an
unprecedented movement and contact across
boundaries of human communities. This
movement across cultures has grown out of
the development of the global village with the
increased technology development,
globalisation of the economy, widespread
population migrations and the demise of the
nation-state in favour of sub- and
supranational identifications. Hence
counsellors will find themselves more and
more involved with people of different culture.
Socio-political influences
It has to be noted that counselling does
not occur in a vacuum. It occurs within a
socio-political context and that both the
counsellor and the client are influences
by the present and historical experiences
of their cultures and events that occur in
society. Counsellors need to recognise
and acknowledge these influences on
the counselling session.
Client perceptions
It is acknowledged that clients may have
different cultural perceptions of their problems
and treatments. When service providers
decide what the problem is and the behaviours
associated with that problem without sufficient
feedback from the client, it leads to systematic
inattention to the clients perception of what is
wrong and this can lead to noncompliance,
dissatisfaction and poor treatment outcome.
For example, normal and abnormal behaviour
can be defined differently depending on the
culture and it is important for counsellors to be
aware of the different conceptualisations.
Style:
For years counsellors have been advised to
avoid using active, authoritative, directive
approaches to counselling. However, it may
happen that clients from some particular
group may respond better to that kind of
approach. It may also happen that elements
that are essential for therapeutic progress
may not be forthcoming. It is questionable
whether client independence, responsibility
and ability to resolve his problems are
achieved.

What does it imply to be culturally
competent counsellors?

To improve counselling outcomes, dArdenne
and Mahtani (1994) suggested crosscultural
counselling that encompassed the following
components relating to counsellors:
grasp of cultural knowledge of clients
sensitivity to cultural variations and the cultural
bias of their own approach
ability and commitment to develop an approach
to counselling that reflects the cultural needs of
clients
ability to face increased complexity in working
across cultures
ability to reflect the cultural needs of clients.
1. Awareness of own assumptions, values
and biases

The beliefs held by culturally skilled helpers include
being sensitive to their own cultural heritage, being
comfortable with the differences of clients from other
cultures and races, and recognizing the limitations of
their competence and expertise. Helpers should know
about their cultural and racial heritage and how this
affects the therapeutic process, understand how
oppression, racism and discrimination may affect them
personally and in their work, and know about the impact
of how they communicate on culturally different clients.
Skills include seeking out relevant educational and
training experiences, actively understanding oneself as a
cultural and racial being, and seeking an identity that
transcends race.

2. Understanding the worldview of the
culturally different client

Beliefs and attitudes for culturally skilled helpers include
being aware of their negative emotional reactions and of
the stereotypes and preconceived notions that they may
hold towards culturally and racially different groups.
Helpers should know about the cultural experiences,
cultural heritage and historical backgrounds of any
particular group with whom they work, acknowledge how
culture and race can affect help-seeking behaviour,
know how culture and race can influence assessment
and the selection and implementation of counselling
interventions, and know about the oppressive political
and environmental influences impinging on the lives of
ethnic and racial minorities. Skills include keeping up-to-
date on research findings relevant to the psychological
well-being of various ethnic and racial groups as well as
being actively involved with minorities outside of work
settings to gain deeper insight into their perspectives.
3. Developing appropriate intervention
strategies and techniques
Culturally skilled helpers' attitudes and beliefs include respecting
clients' religious and spiritual beliefs about physical and mental
functioning, respecting indigenous helping practices and valuing
bilingualism. Their knowledge base includes understanding how the
culture-bound, class-bound and monolingual characteristics of
counselling clash with the cultural values of various minority groups,
being aware of institutional barriers to minority groups using helping
services, knowing about the potential for bias in assessment
instruments, and understanding minority group family structures,
hierarchies, and community characteristics and resources. Skills
include the ability to send and receive verbal and non-verbal
communication accurately, interacting in the language requested by
clients or making appropriate referrals, tailoring the counselling
relationship and interventions to the clients' stage of cultural and
racial identity development, and engaging in a variety of helping
roles beyond those perceived as conventional for counsellors. Such
roles include adviser, advocate, change agent and facilitator of
indigenous healing and support systems.

SHOULD CROSS-CULTURAL
COUNSELLING BE APPLIED WITH
CAUTION?
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES:
There is always the danger of stereotyping clients and of
confusing other influences, especially race and
socioeconomic status, with cultural influences. The most
obvious danger in counselling is to oversimplify the
client's social system by emphasizing the most obvious
aspects of their background. While universal categories
are necessary to understand human experience, losing
sight of specific individual factors would lead to ethical
violations. Individual clients are influenced by race,
ethnicity, national origin, life stage, educational level,
social class, and sex roles. Counsellors must view the
identity and development of culturally diverse people in
terms of multiple, interactive factors, rather than a strictly
cultural framework. A pluralistic counsellor considers all
facets of the client's personal history, family history, and
social and cultural orientation.

RACE V/S CULTURE:
One of the most important differences for multicultural
counselling is the difference between race and culture.
Differences exist among racial groups as well as within
each group. Various ethnic identifications exist .Even
though these ethnic groups may share the physical
characteristics of race, they may not necessarily share
the value and belief structures of a common culture.
Counsellors must be cautious in assuming, for instance,
that all Blacks or all Asians have similar cultural
backgrounds. West Indian American clients do not have
the same cultural experience of Afro-American Blacks
and are culturally different from other Black subculture
groups. Counsellors who can understand West Indian
dialects and the accompanying nonverbal language are
more likely to achieve positive outcomes with these
clients.

THE AVERAGE INDIVIDUAL
We assume that individuals belong to a
group. But if wide individual differences
exist within a group, a solution which could
be successful to the average individual will
not match the individual whose
characteristics are far away from the
average individual. This happens because
it might be difficult to assign an individual
to a group.

SOCIALISATION PROCESS
The model focuses and tries to attend to
the characteristics of particular groups.
However, when counsellors behave like
that they do not allow their clients to react
in other ways. This gives rise to the self-
fulfilment prophecy. It might be possible
that because of their socialisation process,
individuals react differently from what they
are believed to.