respecting culture

The Prism of Diversity:

Culture Gender ReligionAgeDisability

Presentation by Arthur V. N. Wint,J.D.

Respecting Culture

Two eternal truths about human beings are people differ from one another and people are similar to one another.

Dr. Brian Ogawa

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Responses to Conflict- ”Normal” responses -

Escape Responses (Flight)Denial - “This can’t be happening!”

Flight - “I’m out of here!”

Suicide - “I just can’t take it anymore!”

Attack Responses (Fight)Litigation - “Sue the bastards!”

Assault - “She made me do it!”

“Homicide” - “I just couldn’t take it anymore.”

Responses to Conflict (cont’d)

Conciliation ResponsesOverlook It

Discuss it

Negotiate it

Mediate it

Arbitrate it

Judge it

Confrontation Options

ASSERTIVE

COOPERATIVE

Confrontation Options

ASSERTIVE

COOPERATIVE

AVOIDANCE

Confrontation Options

ASSERTIVE

COOPERATIVE

AVOIDANCE

COMPETITION

Confrontation Options

ASSERTIVE

COOPERATIVE

AVOIDANCE

COMPETITION

ACCOMMODATION

Confrontation Options

ASSERTIVE

COOPERATIVE

AVOIDANCE

COMPETITION

COMPROMISE

ACCOMMODATION

Confrontation Options

ASSERTIVE

COOPERATIVE

AVOIDANCE

COMPETITION

COMPROMISE

ACCOMMODATION

COLLABORATION

The Change Cycle & CR- “Typical” Peacemaker Roles in CR

Contentment

Denial Confusion

Renewal

Contentment Phase:

Continue with the normal routine

Leadership Style - “Working the plan”

One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.

Andre Gide

Denial Phase

Help people understandAcknowledge this conditionAsk questionsActively listenBe patientGive little advice - Do Much Follow-upLeadership style - “Encourager”

Many a [person] would rather you heard [their] story than granted [their] request.

Earl Phillip Stanhope

He that lacks time to mourn, lacks time to mend.

William Shakespeare

Historic continuity with the past is not a duty, it is only a necessity.

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Confusion Phase

Get everyone together

Begin visioning

Encourage open input

Maintain high profile ~ goals/leadership

Leadership style - “Visioner”

Confusion is a word we have invented for an order which is not yet understood.

Henry Miller

There is no squabbling so violent as that between people who accepted an idea yesterday and those who will accept the same idea tomorrow.

Christopher Morely

If you cry “forward”, you must make clear the direction in which to go. Don’t you see that if you fail to do that and simply call out the word to monk and a revolutionary, they will go in precisely the opposite directions.

Anton Checkhov

Renewal

Help focus

Allow people to implement their ideas

Provide rewards

Allow healthy risk-taking

Match people with others in this phase

Clarify and expect setbacks

Leadership style - “Implementer”

Challenge

What does “normal reaction”mean?

Do we all respond the same way to conflict?

Of what value is it to know/understand cultural perspectives?

Is “diversity” important? If so, why? If not, why not?

Paul’s Approach

“I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.”

1 Cor. 9:22

Is this the “template” for peacemakers?

Does RJ involve “restoring the balance ” to any underlying cultural dissonance, as well as the presenting conflict?

Should cultural sensitivity/impacts have a “high” or “low” priority in ADR practice?

What’s Your Response?

“[O]ur goal as practitioners is of course to avoid or minimize errors of all sorts, and generally to practice in efficient, equitable, productive, and ethical ways…..which do you think is the worse error: underestimating culture’s impacts or overestimating them?”

Kevin Avruch, Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Geroge Mason University

“DIVERSITY”

“Diversity”

What does the term mean to you?

Why should this be an area of concern for peacemakers?

Is “diversity” the same as “civil rights”?

If we believe in “equality”, and treating people “the same” why the concern for diversity?

A Vast Array of Cultural Differences

RaceEthnicityReligionLanguageCustomsTraditionsDisability“Diversity within diversity”

Diversity & Human Interchange

No one is just what we label and classify them

People are inseparable from their racial and ethnic backgrounds, but not strictly determined by them

All people deserve to be treated as individuals, even as the nuances of race and culture are recognized

What Constitutes Culturally Competence?

Is “Color Blindness” the standard?

Looking at Continuum of “Culture Competence”

Continuum of Culture Competence

Culture Destructiveness: Conscious denial of another’s culture, and/or the belief that one’s belief system is superior to all others.

Culture Incapacity: Understands that there are many differences among cultures, but refuses or does not do anything to change

Continuum of Culture Competence, (cont’d)

Culture Blindness: Overlooks differences as though they do not existCulture Competence: Values others and their differences; diversity is recognized and acceptedCulture Proficiency: Occurs when diversity works together

Foundations of Culture Sensitivity

Compassion and Sincerity

Respect

Compassion & Sincerity

Not the same feeling of compassion, but the same compassionate interaction

Compassion = “foundation”

Sincerity = “expression”No condescension

No manipulation

No insincerity

Respect

Withhold ethnocentric judgments about the cultural practices of others

Don’t minimize the experience of others

Be willing to expand your frame of reference

Barriers to Culturally Sensitive Interactions

Programmatic Barriers

Beliefs

Values/Attitudes/Beliefs

Have You heard of “Core Values” or Traditional Values?Where Do These Values Come From?What Would You Say Is THE Core Value held in our society?

WHO DETERMINED THESE CORE

VALUES!??

Categories Of Values~ Primary

Personal ValuesIndicative of an individual’s moral character

Social ValuesFolkways ~ values people accept out of habitMorals ~ set of core principles that govern valuesInstitutional ~ ways or practices set up under lawTaboos ~ emphatic do’s and don’t’s of a particular society

What are some other values that we encounter/share?

Categories of Values~ Additional

Political“American Way”, public service, voting, civic dutyWay particular peoples are “labeled”/processed

EconomicEqual employment, money, stable employment, private property, pride of ownership, paying taxes

ReligiousCharacterized by reverence for life,human dignity, freedom of worshipAlso can involve being a “zealot”~ women/out-groups/non-believers

SocializationMajor source of individual values

Which of these six have the most impact upon you? Why?

Caveats re: Values~ ways to view “culture” vis-à-vis ADR practice

Cultures are “analytical categories”They are not thingsThey are not “nouns”

Individuals are bearers of multiple culturesNo one in our society is just one culture

Culture is acquiredIt is a part of ongoing social lifeCulture is not embedded in our genes

Cultures do not “cause” conflictLenses through which people view conflict

Practitioners should be careful not to “overvalue” or “undervalue” culture

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So What?!!?

Be Self-awareKnow yourselfAnticipate values/power/control issues in mediation settingMonitor parties“Really” monitor self ~ presumptions re: “culture”

Ethical ConstructKey is to “Make the Process Meaningful’Protect parties from others’ illegitimate use of “power”/cultural biases“Check yourself!”

“[W]hatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things.”

- Phil. 4:8 -

“Multi-culturalism”

Acknowledgement of the different cultural definitions of well-being and recovery from traumaSupport of the varied pathways to “mental health” and incorporation of these into appropriate victim services,ADR and referralsCultural awareness training Multiethnic and multilingual teamwork (don’t be afraid to ask)Cross-cultural perspectives to benefit from the principles and methods of other cultures

Eg: Native Cultures and use of circles

Learning Points

Accept the fact that each person is a culture unto him-/herselfRecognize that some of your personal values/beliefs may need cultural adjustmentBe willing to change some of your attitudes/beliefs in order to grow ~ better serve our community in culture proficient waysAppreciate the fact that different is not necessarily bad or wrongStrive to rid yourself of filters that may skew your thinking against a person or a group of people ~ impact on practiceRead/learn about different culturesTry to accept people for who they are ~ individuals,not labelsBe careful not to “overvalue” or “undervalue” culture

Act justly…Love mercy…Walk humbly…