Unit 7 CULTURES

1. Do you think cultures are becoming more alike? Is it good or bad?

2. In what way should cultural stereotypes be handled?

3. Explain the meaning of the term cultural awareness'. Why is it important?

Do you think cultures are becoming more alike? Is it good or bad?

An individual's cultural background will affect the specific way in which he or she sees the environment and also how the individual might show his or her feelings, emotion, distress, or conflict in behavior, thought or action. Therefore, culture will influence the experience of mental disorders and how they might present.

Miscommunication is the most popular example of cross-cultural issues.

Miscommunication can be caused by several problems:

• Differences in body language or gestures. The same gesture can have different meanings in different parts of the world. For example, Bulgarians shake their heads up and down to mean no. In addition, the way people count on their fingers is not universal: The Chinese count from one to ten on one hand, and eight is displayed by extending the thumb and the finger next to it. The same gesture is interpreted as meaning two in France and as pointing a gun in North America.

• Different meanings for the same word. Like gestures, words can have different meanings or connotations in different parts of the world. The French word "char" means Army tank in France and car in Quebec. The word "exciting" has different connotations in British English and in North American English. While North American executives talk about "exciting challenges" repeatedly, British executives use this word to describe only children’s activities (children do exciting things in England, not executives).

• different assumptions made in the same situation. The same event can be interpreted many different ways depending on where one comes from. For example, although the sight of a black cat is considered a lucky event in Britain, it is considered unlucky in many other countries particularly in Russia.

So in extreme cases, miscommunication can lead to casualties.

In what way should cultural stereotypes be handled?

We use stereotypes in part because it’s so hard to take in all of the complicated information about other people in the world. It’s

- difficult to spend the amount of time necessary to understand why or in what different ways people behave. So instead, we learn early in our lives to accept stereotypes of groups, or individuals. We develop stereotypes not just for large cultures, but smaller ones.

Stereotypes eliminate the challenges of understanding people who are different from ourselves; they supposedly give us a general overview of whole groups of people so we know what to expect and how to act. Unfortunately, so many stereotypes are inaccurate(неточный) and are used as a method of scapegoating(козел отпущения), or to separate "their" behavior from "my" behavior. We don’t always agree with, or like the way another cultures behave because it is different, and we therefore perceive it as wrong, and develop negative/ugly descriptions (stereotypes). When we have problems with someone of a different group, we tend to identify the problem as having to do with the group, rather than ourselves or the specific person. So stereotypes do get in the way of how we think and feel. It makes us very judgmental about others and unfortunately often erroneously so. Stereotypes prevent us from identifying the feelings that are really go on inside of us. With stereotypes, the belief will remain that someone did something to us, rather than the problem, fear, or rigidity/closed thinking being within ourselves. When we’re stereotyping we get caught up in the issue of that’s what "they do", that’s how "those people" are, instead of being in touch with our actual feelings of hurt, confusion, being slighted, left-out, anger, etc.

Explain the meaning of the term cultural awareness'. Why is it important?

Cultural Awareness is developing sensitivity and understanding of another ethnic group. Awareness extends to special foods, manners of dress, language, religious preferences and observances, and differences in communication styles. (For example, in some cultures it is impolite to make eye contact, especially with someone you do not know well.) To enhance the quality of the visit, it is helpful to be aware of cultural differences and be sensitive to those differences.

Cultural awareness recognizes that we are all shaped by our cultural background, which influences how we interpret the world around us, perceive ourselves and relate to other people. You don’t need to be an expert in every culture or have all the answers to be culturally aware; rather, cultural awareness helps you to explore cultural issues with your recipients more sensitively.

Information about specific cultural practices will help to increase your cultural knowledge by providing an overview of cultural characteristics and issues. However, it is always important to identify individual needs and preferences and remember that no individual can be reduced to a set of cultural norms.

Within any culture, peoples’ values, behavior and beliefs can vary enormously. Differences may occur due to time of arrival in Australia, length of settlement, socio-economic background, level of education, way of life, identification with cultural and religious background, and different life experiences.

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