Lecture 3: Intercultural competence

The ultimate goal is to reach (inter)cultural competence, i.e. “a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes and policies that come together in a system, agency or professional and enable that system, agency or professional to work effectively in cross-cultural situations.” (Cross, 1998, http://www.nysccc.org/T-Rarts/CultCompCont.html).

Cultural competence ranges from cultural proficiency to cultural destructiveness. Between these two extremes you have various possibilities (Cross 1998):

Cultural Destructiveness. The most negative end of the continuum is represented by attitudes, policies and practices which are destructive to cultures and consequently to the individuals within the culture. The most extreme example of this orientation are programs which actively participate in cultural genocide--the purposeful destruction of a culture.

Cultural Incapacity. Someone who is culturally incapable, remains extremely biased, believes in the racial superiority of the subdominant group and assumes a paternal posture towards "lesser" races. The characteristics of cultural incapacity include: discriminatory hiring practices, subtle messages to people of color that they are not valued or welcome, and generally lower expectations of minority clients.

Cultural Blindness. Someone who is culturally blind, functions with the belief that color or culture make no difference and that we are all the same. Culturally blind people are characterized by the belief that helping approaches traditionally used by the dominant culture are universally applicable; if the system worked as it should, all people--regardless of race or culture--would be serviced with equal effectiveness.

Culturally blind people ignore cultural strengths, encourage assimilation and blame the victims for their problems. Members of minority communities are viewed from the cultural deprivation model which asserts that problems are the result of inadequate cultural resources.

While these agencies often view themselves as unbiased and responsive to minority needs, their ethnocentrism is reflected in attitude, policy and practice.

Cultural Pre-Competence. Culturally competent people are characterized by acceptance and respect for difference, continuing self-assessment regarding culture, careful attention to the dynamics of difference, continuous expansion of cultural knowledge and resources, and a variety of adaptations to service models in order to better meet the needs of minority populations.

Advanced Cultural Competence. The most positive end of the scale is advanced cultural competence or proficiency. This point on the continuum is characterized by holding culture in high esteem. The culturally proficient people seek to add to the knowledge base of culturally competent practice by conducting research, developing new therapeutic approaches based on culture and publishing and disseminating the results of demonstration projects.

The culturally proficient people hire staff who are specialists in culturally competent practice. Such people advocate for cultural competence throughout the system and improved relations between cultures throughout society.