Social and Cultural Diversity

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Running head: SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY PAPER

Social and Cultural Diversity Paper
Grand Canyon University
PCN:509
Curtis Henderson
May 21, 2013

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Social and Cultural Diversity Paper
This paper will explore the writer’s personal beliefs, theories of racism and explore the ACA codes of ethics and treatment modalities for various cultures and also will introduce you took some of the writers experiences.
I grew up in the deep south were racism was still alive and thriving. My time was in the sixties when the Klux Klux Klan was causing trouble and nothing was being done about it. My parents would tell my sisters and me to always be home before the sun went down because they were afraid that we might be taken or worst killed. When I attended school schools were segregated, but all the students in my class were people of color. White students had their class and we had ours all at the same school.
When we went out to play the white students would call us names and the teachers would just laugh and tell them not to call us names. Where we lived it was all people of color in my community. The white people lived in another area. I remember that in order to get to the store we had to go through the white community and they would throw rocks at us and chase us back to be we lived. When I got to Jr. High School and had two white friends. We played and talked together all the time.
The cultural difference between us made it hard for other students to understand what we were during. Students of color would be upset with me for talking with the white students and the white students would also be upset with them for associating with me. Just like half-century ago black people had problems when the right to vote in the South was the almost exclusive domain of white people (Kornacki, 2011). Black people would be intimidated by white people if

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they attempted to cast votes. I remember when my parents were determined to vote and they would get with other people of color and form a mob and go down there to vote. They all got to vote, but after that they would have to fight their way back home.

I remember those days just if they were yesterday and today racism still lives on in the Deep South. The Deep South is not so much as where it is located, but it is a distinct culture (racism, racial 2013). Racism started in the south when the slaves were brought over here from Africa and the slave owners saw that African slaves were better at taking the heat and working all day long. They were looked at as property and nothing else. As the years went by and slavery was abolished they could not get over the fact they black were nothing more than slaves and because of that blacks could never be equal to whites(racism, racial 2013).
When I associate with white people I have trust issues because of the things I saw when I was a child. Being an adult now I always watch what white people do around me and listen closely to every word that they say to me. Because of the way we were treated, I find myself always trying to be better than anyone else during any task. Whenever white people tell me anything I have trust issues being that they are trying to help me. Sometimes I have to examine myself because being biased in the field that I have chosen will not work. I have problems when groups of people of a certain culture get together in a group and are talking. The first thing that
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enters my mind is the wonder if they are talking about me. These are biases issues that how have learned to live with and also have learn not to let them effect the way that I treat other people (Diller, 2011).
Racism is a bias of mine that I work on every day. Learning how to deal with a race and also how not to hold the way they act against them. People who openly express that they believe the white race to be superior to any other race are people I have a problem with, but when it comes to helping them in a therapeutic manner I have learned to put my personal feeling on the
Back burner. Everyone has the right to feel any way that they want and human rights belongs to everybody. Humans
Rights are a guarantee and cannot be discriminated against (Shenker, 1995). According to Diana Ayton-Shenker “Every human being has the right to culture, including the right to enjoy and develop cultural life and identity. Cultural rights, however, are not unlimited. The right to culture is limited at the point at which it infringes on another human right. No right can be used at the expense or destruction of another, in accordance with international law” (Shenker, 1995).
Subtle Racism is defined as, "Subtle, commonplace forms of discrimination, such as being ignored, ridiculed or treated differently"(Subtle racism, 2013). Subtle racism is something that happens on a daily basis. I have experience it myself and when I do I just ignore the ones who are perpetrating it. I believe that there are people who are unaware that they are racist. I
HENDER 5 believe that because they have acted the way they do towards people of color since their childhood they believe that they are displaying normal behavior.
Subtle racism can be displayed by all races. Every culture displays some type of subtle racism when confronted with a person from outside their culture. The reason there would be significant differences in perceptions and values of members within the same ethnic group is because even people of the same ethnic group have differences with people within their own
Group. It can be as simple as believing that a person is not acting the way they believe that they should be coming from that ethnic group. Some people of color may believe that someone in
Their ethnic group is not acting like they are from their group or may believe that they are trying to act like they belong to another ethnic group. The mixing of different social backgrounds is influenced by social interaction (Wesker, 2011). Working today as a counselor you must be culturally competent. Being culturally competent means understanding every culture, their language, social and economic nuances of people (diversity and cultural competence, 2013). The ACA code of ethics has five main goals which to clarify their members and clients the ethical responsibilities of the member, support the ACA’s Mission, define ethical behavior, use as a guideline on how counselors are supposed to act, and a basis for processing of ethical complaints by clients(ACA). The NAADAC code of ethics is also written to govern its members and make sure that they are held to a high set of standards (NAADAC).
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When working as a counselor you have to be culturally diverse in order to be able to assist clients from all ethnic backgrounds. Although counselors can have some cultural bias such as not understanding why a certain culture acts in a particular manner or not wanting to agree with the way that a certain culture handles their family issues, but regardless of their biases a counselor has to have the ability to put their biases aside and treat the client for whatever issue they may have. Cultural sensitivity is a very important aspect of treating clients because in order for both the client and counselor to have a working relationship they must get past these issues to form a solid bond (Chandler, NA). Being able to communicate with different cultures is a skill that every good counselor must possess because having different communication styles enables the counselor to effectively work solid and build bridges with clients of different cultural backgrounds Counselors must have different treatment methods. Having different treatment methods allow the counselor to switch the way they are treating a client if the current method is not being effective.
During the process of writing this paper I have learned a multitude of things. I have researched racism and learned the core issues that constitute a racist. I have also learned about how different cultures can have subtle racism about themselves and not even know it. Cultural diversity is something that I believe can help people to understand things about another ethnic group. I also learned about my own biases that I have and also how to understand and deal with those issues.

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There are many resources that can be used to educate a counselor when it comes to cultural diversity. There are journals that have been written concerning the subject and there are courses that can be taken to broaden a counselors understanding and counselors can also have their own meeting to share what each other know concerning the matter. What I have already learned while during this project will help me as a counselor to better understand my clients and also myself. I will be able to use the knowledge that I have learned to create working relationships with my future clients.
I believe that by knowing that cultural diversity is multiculturalism and is based on cultural identities helps me to explore the different methods that can be used to be an effective counselor (cultural diversity, 2013). Counseling is not only a method used to treat different clients, but it is also a learning process for the counselor as well. During the process of treating a
Client the counselor can find out thing about themselves that good help the client and also hurt the client. Knowing when to change the way you approach different ethnic groups is also a very important tool.
During the writing of this paper I have learned that diversity must be incorporated into counselor’s skills. Cultural diversity helps the client feel a sense of trust with his counselor. The client has to feel as though the counselor understands their culture and is willing to help them with whatever their issues may be. I have learned to educate myself and to always study about all cultural differences that a counselor could encounter during a treatment session. I plan to try to
HENDER 8 get into some classes and workshops to build my knowledge up even more about cultural diversity and by during so I will be able to effective understand and treat my clients with the best care.

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References
Weaker. (2011, July 04). Social interaction and cultural diversity. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?Social-Interaction-and-Cultural-Diversity&id=6399575
Shenker, D. A. (1995, March). The challenge of human rights and cultural diversity. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/right
Diversity & cultural competence. (N/A). Retrieved from http://www.socialworkers.org/pressroom/features/issue/diversity.asp
Kornacki, S. (2011, August 24). The “redneck-blackneck” politics of the Deep South Retrieved from http://www.salon.com/2011/08/24/race_deep_south/
Racism, racial discrimination, and reverse racism in the Deep South. (N/A). Retrieved from http://habee.hubpages.com/hub/Racism-Racial-Discrimination-and-Reverse-Racism-in-the-Deep-South
What is cultural diversity?. (N/A). Retrieved from http://www.diversity-books.com/what-is-cultural-diversity.html
Cultural diversity. (N/A). Retrieved from http://issues.tigweb.org/culturaldiversity
Subtle racism- http://aastsubtleracism.tumblr.com/
ACA.www.counseling.org
NAADAC.www.NAADAC.org

References: Weaker. (2011, July 04). Social interaction and cultural diversity. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?Social-Interaction-and-Cultural-Diversity&id=6399575 Shenker, D. A. (1995, March). The challenge of human rights and cultural diversity. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/right Diversity & cultural competence. (N/A). Retrieved from http://www.socialworkers.org/pressroom/features/issue/diversity.asp Kornacki, S. (2011, August 24). The “redneck-blackneck” politics of the Deep South Retrieved from http://www.salon.com/2011/08/24/race_deep_south/ Racism, racial discrimination, and reverse racism in the Deep South. (N/A). Retrieved from http://habee.hubpages.com/hub/Racism-Racial-Discrimination-and-Reverse-Racism-in-the-Deep-South What is cultural diversity?. (N/A). Retrieved from http://www.diversity-books.com/what-is-cultural-diversity.html Cultural diversity. (N/A). Retrieved from http://issues.tigweb.org/culturaldiversity Subtle racism- http://aastsubtleracism.tumblr.com/ ACA.www.counseling.org NAADAC.www.NAADAC.org