Cultural Competence And Diversity

Cultural competence, the ability to think, feel, and act in ways that acknowledge, respect, and build upon ethnic, sociocultural, and linguistic diversity. (Lynch and Hanson, 1998)

Cultural competence involves understanding and appropriately responding to the unique combination of cultural variables—including ability, age, beliefs, ethnicity, experience, gender, gender identity, linguistic background, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status—that the professional and client/patient bring to interactions. When we think of American culture, it's easy to picture certain symbols and rituals, such as the American flag, baseball, apple pie, and so on. But, for many, it's not as easy to identify norms and values that are shared by most Americans. When we use our beliefs to make decisions, we are assuming the causal relationships of the past, which led to the belief, will also apply in the future. Cultural universals are those guiding principles of human civilization that are so central to human identity that we can find them, in some form, in all societies - past and present - around the world.

Americans express disgust at other cultures’ cuisine, thinking it’s gross to eat meat from a dog or guinea pig, for example, while they don’t question their own habit of eating cows or pigs. Such attitudes are an example of ethnocentrism. Cultural relativism is the practice of assessing a culture by its own standards rather than viewing it through the lens of one’s own culture. Practicing cultural relativism requires an open mind and a willingness to consider, and even adapt to, new values and