Life Skills : An Overview UNIT 4 CULTURAL SENSITIVITY Structure 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Cultural Sensitivity: Meaning and Importance 4.3 Stages of Intercultural Sensitivity 4.4 Dimensions of Cultural Sensitivity 4.5 Skills Needed to be Culturally Competent 4.6 Implications of Cultural Sensitivity 4.7 Let Us Sum Up 4.8 References and Suggested Readings 4.9 Check Your Progress - Possible Answers 4.1 INTRODUCTION This unit illustrates and explains the meaning, concept and importance of cultural sensitivity and it tries to develop an understanding that people are not all the same as they all may appear to be. Cultural sensitivity is used and understood in a very broad connotation and is also referred by different terms such as cultural awareness, cross cultural awareness, sensitive towards different cultural identities and acceptance of different cultures. It is one of the advanced postulates of social and cultural development. It helps to understand the happiness quotient of an individual and is regarded as yardstick of cultural competence. It is very helpful for a researcher, development worker and a traveler to successfully build an understanding and win over a different culture with which they are interacting. Cultural sensitivity, in today’s global market oriented society is directly related and dependent upon communication, and communication is an integral part of inter personal relationship and public relations. Cultural sensitivity is a necessary effort that one makes to become culturally competent. On a broader scale it also helps in communication development, business communication, specifically in the field of public relations, so that public relations professionals can work at their most effective levels in today’s intercultural business between two individuals, and it demystifies the myth that your culture is no better than any other culture. The understanding of cultural sensitivity will help in the development of competencies in public dealing, interpersonal environment and builds a skill to adjust and adapt with other social and cultural groups for any kind of activity. In today’s multicultural interactive world, cultural sensitivity is a necessary tool and an effort that one makes to become culturally competent. Once an individual recognizes the importance of cultural sensitivity, he or she can become culturally competent through the development of specific skills related to cultural competency. The skills needed to be culturally competent will be further explained and expanded in this unit. After reading this unit, the students are expected to: explain the meaning and importance of cultural sensitivity understand the stages and dimension of cultural sensitivity describe Skills needed to be culturally competent analyze implications of cultural insensitivity 34 Cultural Sensitivity 4.2 CULTURAL SENSITIVITY: MEANING AND IMPORTANCE 4.2.1 Meaning Cultural sensitivity is being aware that cultural differences and similarities between people exist without assigning them a value – positive or negative, better or worse, right or wrong. It simply means that you are aware that people are not all the same and that you recognize that your culture is no better than any other culture. Our country in particular is well known for diversified language, cultures, religions, ethnic groups including tribal communities of different geographical locations, and indigenous communities. One interacts with members of these diversified groups more frequently in workplaces, educational institutions, media and organizations of all types, and one is required to being culturally sensitive to these groups. There are several definitions of cultural sensitivity defined from different perspectives and from different discipline background, but this one gets the idea across the best. Cultural sensitivity implies that both groups understand and respect each other’s characteristics. This is always a challenge, and even more so in big country with a large population size where the dominant culture is itself very heterogeneous in nature. Cultural sensitivity is the knowledge, awareness, and acceptance of other cultures, in other words the ability to appreciate, respect and ability to adjust with people with different backgrounds without making it obvious that one is trying to adjust without any appreciation. Cultural sensitivity can also be defined as “the willingness, ability and sensitivity required to understand people with different backgrounds”, and acceptance of all forms of social and cultural diversity. Cultural sensitivity means the acceptance of those differences and not believing that one’s own culture is superior. The term “cultural competence” is often used to describe those skills acquired to embody cultural sensitivity, particularly in the workplace. Cultural sensitivity inculcates flexibility to learn, respect, accept and appreciate different cultures, languages, etiquettes, living, dressing and food habits. Having the knowledge and understanding of what defines culture is the first step in becoming more culturally sensitive. The most popular concept of culture is the iceberg model, in which we can see that only some aspects of culture are visible to us and many more are hidden. Like an iceberg, where we can only see the top reaching out of the water, culture only shows us a few visible aspects and hides most of it under the seas. Cultural sensitivity is the effort an individual makes to see beyond the tip of the iceberg and try to understand the aspects of culture that are hidden, but make up the base and the majority of the culture (Lutz, 2017). 4.2.2 Importance of Cultural Sensitivity After learning about one’s own culture, a person can take that knowledge and compare his culture to another. When a person tries to learn and understand a different culture, he also enriches his own understanding of different culture 35 Life Skills : An Overview especially about the manner and behavior pattern of its people. This makes him empathetic towards the new culture and he becomes more sensitive towards the people from different culture. Becoming culturally aware of one’s own cultural norms and of other’s cultural norms is the initial step toward understanding the differences among cultures and being able to use one’s understanding to better communicate and interact within a new culture. With a deeper understanding of both cultures, an individual can recognize the differences and the similarities between the cultures and readjust his thoughts and actions to better understand the new culture and communicate with the individuals from that culture (Lutz, 2017). The cultural sensitivity is vital to the society, organizations as well as nation states. Some of the important benefits of cultural sensitivity are as follows: i) At the outset cultural sensitivity promotes cultural diversity and pluralism. Owning one’s own culture and respecting other culture promotes cultural pluralism. ii) Cultural sensitivity is vital to promote inclusive development. To be sensitive to one another culture is the feature of inclusion and it builds a cohesive society. iii) Culture sensitivity broden the attitude of the people and promotes communication among the people of different culture. It helps to develop healthy understanding. iv) It is one of the important instruments to strengthen social and cultural integration in the pluralistic society where people belonging to different community and practicing different culture co-exist. v) Culture sensitivity would help the nation states in resolving communal conflict and peace building. vi) One of the advantages of the cultural sensitivity is that it will encourage cultural heritage and cultural capital. vii) Last but not the least it will play an important role in national integration. 4.3 STAGES OF INTERCULTURAL SENSITIVITY There are many areas of differences between upbringing of two individuals based on the parental background, educational level, religious background, exposure, location and many other factors which condition the thinking, etiquette, language and behavior. Let us try to understand this with the help of examples, persons raised in different religious background learns from the values and ethos prevalent in different religions. Persons grown in the family of Sikh, upper caste Hindu, lower caste Hind, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Christian will have entirely different ways of life, food habits, customs and traditions. Similarly, persons grown up in a rural area; urban area; metropolitan city or in the suburbs will have differences amongst themselves on various counts. The difference of growing up in wealthy, or poor family; growing up with two moms or divorced parents; growing up in Asian, African, European or Arab neighborhood will have again range of differences. The areas of differences that may require cultural sensitivity are endless. All of our experiences and lack of experiences impact our cultural sensitivity for better or worse. This understanding on the different stages of cultural sensitivity will be very helpful and will make us feel more confident in any new situation arising while interacting with a person from a completely different background. 36 According to Milton Bennett’s Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity Cultural Sensitivity there are six stages that a person must go through to become culturally sensitive: denial, defense, minimization, acceptance adaptation, and integration. Knowing and understanding these six stages of cultural sensitivity can empower oneself to handle