Section 1: Appreciating Diversity

Diversity, in its simplest form, means that people are different from each other in some way. While most people tend to think of racial differences when they hear the term, diversity can relate to differences in a range of other factors. The table below outlines a number of key diversity factors that AOD workers should be aware of:

Importantly, diversity is not just about highlighting that we are different from one another but a concept that includes acceptance and respect of such differences.

Keep in mind that working with diversity means more than recognising differences between people; it requires conscious practices of understanding and appreciating the differences that make each of us unique which contribute towards an inclusive environment – where people feel respected and valued.

In order to appreciate diversity, we must first reflect on how we have come to understand the world as is.

what is diversity?

This video describes the different aspects of diversity. 

check your understanding of the content so far!

A person’s unique background shapes the way that they perceive the world. These experiences and their impact are often referred to as culture. We are all shaped by our culture. Our culture influences how we interpret the world around us, perceive ourselves, and relate to other people. It shapes what we believe to be ‘normal’ and what behaviours we expect from others.

Ultimately, culture influences our attitudes, thoughts, expectations, and values. This relationship is often depicted in the form of the ‘culture iceberg’ diagram below (Language and Culture Worldwide, 2021). This diagram depicts how an individual’s values and way of viewing the world are shaped by a number of factors such as religion, personal history, family, educational experiences, economic situation, and the media.

While we are all shaped by our own individual culture, we are also all impacted by the dominant cultures of the society in which we live. Dominant community attitudes help shape:

• Which behaviours, customs, attitudes, and ways of life are considered ‘normal’.
• The laws of our country.
• How our society functions.

Take Australia as an example: what comes into your mind when you picture the ‘Australian’ culture? The majority of the Australian population is Anglo-Australian and English speaking and Australia’s laws and community values are influenced by historical Christianity and Western colonisation. Think about common advertisements that you see and what picture they paint of ‘typical’ Australian families – do you tend to see a married Anglo-Australian, English speaking man and woman with two or three children and perhaps a dog? Are they at a beach, or a BBQ, or engaging in some other activity with other families that look and sound like them? These sorts of depictions are very common in our society and they influence what people perceive to be ‘normal’ or ‘typical’ within Australia. While these depictions are slowly changing to reflect the diversity of Australian society, these traditional depictions are a reflection of dominant community attitudes.

So, what happens to individuals do not fit into this ‘typical’ Australian life? In some cases, when an individual’s or a community’s experiences and values do not conform to those of the majority, they face higher risks of marginalisation and disadvantages. Examples of marginalised groups include immigrants and refugees, people living in rural or remote areas, young people, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, LGBTIQA+ communities, and people living with disability and/or mental illness. As a result, they may experience a decreased sense of belonging, discrimination, social exclusion, miscommunication and reduced opportunities in education and employment.

As a counsellor, you will likely be working with a range of people from diverse backgrounds, including those marginalised groups whose disadvantaged positions often drive them to human services. To provide culturally sensitive support, it is important that you understand and consider potential needs of marginalised groups, including:

• Lack of protective factors: Protective factors generally refer to things that help us thrive in hardships and protect our wellbeing, such as positive connections with family and friends, connection to land, culture, and spirituality, stability in housing and income, self-determination, and positive skills (e.g., problem-solving). It may be important to help clients find and/or build upon these factors as they may not be as available to those in marginalised communities.
• Impacts of discrimination, trauma, exclusion, and negative attitudes. Unsurprisingly, people living in disadvantages are subject to higher risk of abuse, discrimination, exclusion and traumatic experiences. Such experiences can impact on their capacity to communicate, ability to trust services or others, and engagement with services. This can result in clients behaving in a ‘challenging’ or ‘disengaged’ manner while accessing services and affect service relationships. As you will learn later, workers must develop awareness of, and consider, the impact of social and cultural diversity where difficulties or misunderstandings occur in communication.
• Physical, mental, and emotional health needs are often higher among those from marginalised communities due to lack of stability, access to care, education and employment in addition to higher risks of negative life experiences. As such, it is not uncommon to see that clients present with an array of complex, interrelated needs, or are engaged with multiple services concurrently.

In light of this, Australia has been continually changing its policies and practices to better meet the needs of its diverse, multicultural society.

the power of diversity within yourself

In this TED talk, the presenter reveals the endless benefits of embracing our complex identities -- and shares her hopes for creating a world where identities aren't used to alienate but to bring people together instead.

Check your understanding so far!

Multicultural Australia

Over the last 40 years there has been a growing push within Australia to recognise our nation’s cultural diversity. Prior to the 1970s, social and government policy encouraged cultural assimilation, in which those arriving in Australia were expected to abandon their own cultures and languages and blend into ‘mainstream’ Australian society. However, over the last few decades there has been a slow but steady shift to a multicultural stance that recognises the benefits that cultural diversity brings to Australian society.

The extract from the “Racism No Way” website below outlines just some of the multicultural influences in Australian society (based on the 2016 Census data):

In addition to cultural/ethnic diversity, Australian society also encompasses people with a wide range of spiritual beliefs, abilities, gender experiences and sexuality, and personal backgrounds. This means that most people living in Australia are exposed to rich experiences of diversity in their day-to-day life (in contrast with the dominant Australian culture discussed previously). Take a moment to reflect on your own experiences and the people surrounding you, can you think of a time when you have come to face diversity in your life? How do you think these experiences may have changed your behaviours, your relationship with others, and your perception and social expectations of others?

Fundamentally, Australia recognises that cultural diversity as in the interests of individuals and society as a whole. A great benefit of being submerged in diversity practices and experiences is that we learn to appreciate the value of diversity. With that comes respect and acceptance for differences in the way we do things. As we build a relationship with others – whether they are colleagues, friends or clients – we are more readily expecting diversity and the need to be open and non-judgmental.

It also means that we have learned to become more aware of the perceptions and expectations we have on others. We learn that our perceptions may not be accurate if they are based on our assumptions; clarification and reflection are almost necessary. We need to be mindful of any behaviours that may not be culturally sensitive or even offensive for others – in fact, some offensive behaviours that are discriminative have become illegal with the introduction of anti-discrimination laws.

With increased recognition of diversity, there is an increased expectation for equity, social justice and fairness. In a workplace for example, you will expect respect from others and condemnation of any discriminative practices. Similarly, there are expectations on community services and workers to demonstrate cultural competence as part of their professionalism. When working in the counselling and community services sector it is important to reflect upon and respect each individual’s uniqueness and work in a culturally inclusive way – this is not only an ethical requirement, it is a legal one.

counselling multicultural clients

The presenter in this video, discusses counselling someone from a different cultural group and how that may affect interactions within the counseling relationship.

Culturally appropriate practices are embedded into both international and Australian legislation. Australia is a founding member of the United Nations and is a signatory state to several key pieces of international human rights legislation including The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights outlines the basic rights and fundamental freedoms to which all people are entitled, regardless of their culture/race/ethnicity, ability, religious or spiritual beliefs, sex, gender, age, or sexual orientation/identity.

It begins with the recognition that, “the inherent dignity of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world” (UN General Assembly, 1948, preamble). It includes civil and political rights, like the right to life, liberty, free speech, and privacy. It also includes economic, social and cultural rights, like the right to social security, health and education.

The concept of human rights is based upon the concept of human needs. All humans have basic needs that are necessary for survival, such as the need for food, clean water, adequate shelter, and access to health care. The Universal Declaration of Rights and Freedoms protects these basic human rights, however, it also goes further. Human rights are more than simply human needs.

Human rights also encompass the fundamental things that humans require to flourish and participate fully in society, such as the right to freedom of person, thought, religion and expression, the right to education and to work, and the right to privacy. As such, there is a close connection between human needs and human rights. Generally, the fulfilment of human rights prevents people from experiencing situations of dire need – whether physically or emotionally.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights does not create enforceable legal obligations for signatory countries. However, Australia has adopted many Federal and State policies and legislation that are based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and that are legally binding.

In Australia we are all protected by equal opportunity and anti-discrimination legislations at both State and Federal levels. Examples of such legislation include:

• Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986.
• Racial Discrimination Act 1975.
• Disability Discrimination Act 1992.
• Age Discrimination Act 2004.
• Sex Discrimination Act 1984.
• Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012.
• The Fair Work Act 2009 and National Employment Standards.
• Various State-based anti-discrimination laws.

These laws essentially protect individuals – whether you are a worker or client - from discrimination or unfair treatment based upon their personal characteristics such as race, religion, gender, age, or disability.

All workers within the community services sector have the responsibility to uphold the rights of their clients and colleagues in all work practices. Workers in the community services sector should inform all clients of their rights and support them to act if they feel their rights have been violated – this helps facilitate a safe and inclusive environment. Similarly, workers who think their rights might have been violated should be supported on their rights to act accordingly. Ultimately, you have a right to work in an environment that is free from discrimination and culturally safe for you.

The community services organisation must ensure that appropriate protocols, policies, and procedures (e.g., anti-discrimination policies) are put in place to promote compliance with these legal and ethical frameworks, as well as cultural safety within service and work environment.

An organisation may also adopt a human rights-based approach, which goes beyond addressing clients’ immediate needs (i.e., needs-based approach) to supporting the clients to claim the rights they are entitled to, applying the principles of empowerment and self-determination. As workers, it will be your responsibility to provide service in accordance with your organisation’s values and frameworks.

If a breach of human rights occurs on the basis of age, disability, race, gender, sexual orientation or any other point of diversity, there are structures in place for people to make a formal complaint about the worker and about the organisation. For example, the Australian Human Rights Commission can investigate and work to resolve complaints based on discrimination, harassment, and bullying. The Commission can reprimand organisations, as well as report individual workers to their regulatory body – if the breach is serious, a worker can even lose their job and ability to work in the sector.

The potential for consequences resulting from a human rights violations are high. That is why it is crucial for all AOD workers to understand how to be culturally aware and employ culturally appropriate work practices.

video

The presenter of this video, presents key factors to consider in becoming an effective multicultural counsellor. 

There are three critical aspects to working in a culturally appropriate manner, as depicted in the diagram below:

Let’s explore what each of these means:

1. Cultural awareness involves becoming aware of your own cultural values and beliefs and understanding how they influence how you perceive others and the world around you. It also involves being aware of the impact of culture on how others perceive the world and the impact that this can have on your interactions together.
2. Cultural competency involves using your understanding of both your own and other cultures in order to work in an effective manner with people from other cultural backgrounds.
3. Cultural safety involves the provision of services in a manner that respects and nurtures different cultures and ensures that clients feel empowered and their cultural beliefs supported throughout the entire service interaction.

Broadly speaking, cultural awareness can be considered the first step to developing cultural competency and safety, as it means that one becomes aware of and acknowledge the diversity among people. To be competent to work with diversity though requires one to not only be aware of, but also have the skills, tools and strategies to work effectively and respectfully with diversity, including reflective practice. Cultural safety is more commonly used to highlight the damaging effects of culturally unsafe service environment or relationships suggesting the need for workers to provide support from the clients’ instead of the workers’ cultural perspective.

As a worker in the counselling and community services sector it is your responsibility to improve your own cultural awareness and develop competency to work with diverse clients (we will focus on communication skills and strategies in the next section). In order to develop your cultural awareness you must:

1. Become aware of your own cultural background and your beliefs, attitudes, and biases that may influence your ability to work effectively with individuals from different cultural groups.
2. Understand that culture impacts both your own as well as other people’s behaviour.
3. Develop your understanding of the cultural beliefs and practices of clients and co-workers.
4. Apply your understanding in order to implement culturally appropriate work practices free from prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination.

Let’s take a quick look at some of those last terms – prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination. When a person acts in a way that is prejudiced, stereotypes others, or discriminates against others, they are categorising or grouping people in an unfair way. Prejudices are negative beliefs that an individual holds about another individual or group. For example, some common types of prejudices include:

• Racism – Believing that a particular colour or race is superior or inferior to another.
• Classism – Believing that particular economic classes are superior to others.
• Sexism – Believing one gender to be better than another.
• Homophobia – Believing that a sexual orientation is superior to another.
• Ableism – Believing that physical or intellectual disability makes one person better than another.
• Ageism – Believing that age should determine status.

Stereotypes are generalisations. These occur when we assume that people who share a certain characteristic share a set of behavioural attributes. Finally, discrimination is an action that occurs as a result of prejudices and stereotypes. For example, discrimination can occur when someone is treated differently due to a particular characteristic (e.g., a client is prevented from gaining services on the basis of their ethnicity, gender, or sexual preference).

In many cases, people hold prejudices and stereotype others without even being consciously aware of it. This is why it is so important to become aware of your own prejudices and biases. You need to engage in self-reflection and consider what assumptions you hold and how these could impact your personal and professional decision making.

Think about the following:

• What cultural groups do you identify with?
• Are there any cultural groups that you have no specific knowledge about outside of basic assumptions and stereotypes? Part A Section 1: Appreciating Diversity 22
• Are there any cultural groups that you think you would have difficulty working effectively with?
• Are your perceived difficulties the result of prejudices, stereotypes, or biases?

While reflecting on these questions it is important to be honest with yourself. We all have cultural assumptions and biases and it is important to identify them so that you can better understand them and their impact and, in turn, seek to minimise them.

check your understanding so far!

Becoming aware of your own limitations is a good starting point for working effectively with others. It is important to not make assumptions or pre-judge someone. Always remember that each individual has their own cultural background, and we must be cautious of the natural tendency to judge another person’s behaviours and beliefs according to the standards of own culture.

A critical step towards developing cultural competence is understanding your own cultural pre-conceptions. One of our main cultural preconceptions is that our cultural group is ‘normal’ and that people who are different from us are ‘abnormal’. Furthermore, we usually perceive those from our own cultural group as having individual features while at the same time grouping all individuals from different cultural groups as conforming to a particular stereotype. In other words, by categorising a person as a member of a specific group we tend to deem them as conforming to the shared features of that group (e.g., Chinese, elderly, homeless, etc.). We place on them our perceptions of the characteristics of members of such a group – we stereotype them.

When we interact with an individual from a different background to us, we have a tendency to categorise the person, lumping them in with stereotypes that might even be tinged with bias, racism, and prejudice. It is only by examining our own pre-conceptions and views of different cultures that we can begin to understand the influence that these pre-conceptions have on our interpersonal communication. People often unknowingly display negative attitudes and behaviours toward those of different cultural backgrounds. This might be expressed via physical action (e.g., facial expression or body language), verbal expression (such as saying something culturally inappropriate), or via suggesting an activity that is contradictory to another’s beliefs.

The process of looking inward and considering your own beliefs and values, and how they have been influenced by your culture and personal experiences, is known as self-reflection or reflexivity, and it is absolutely vital for effective counselling practice. When working with people who are different from yourself, you should stop to reflect on any assumptions that you are making. Let’s look at some examples of community services workers who are not doing this.

Case Study

Brian

Brian works for a housing service that assists newly settled refuges to find housing. He is conducting an interview with a new client couple, Zair and Aafa. Aafa is wearing a Hijab and Brian assumes that this means that Aafa is not able to speak with men and so he only addresses his questions to Zair. Brian does not know much about Muslim culture and has based his assumption on bits and pieces of information that he has heard over the years. At no point does he check with Zair or Aafa about their preferred approach to communication. Both Zair and Aafa find Brian’s continual questioning of only Zair to be quite frustrating and condescending. Aafa is usually the one who handles domestic matters and Zair is forced to relay all of Brian’s questions to her anyway.

In this case, while Brian was attempting to respect his client’s culture, he based his approach upon assumptions that turned out to be incorrect and damaging.

Case Study

Kelly

Kelly works with an elderly male volunteer at the community centre. Kelly sees the man alone in a room and hears that he is talking. Because there is no one else around, Kelly assumes the elderly man is talking to himself and assumes that he must be starting to ‘lose his marbles’. When Kelly gets closer, she realises that the man is not talking to himself and that he is actually talking to someone on a mobile phone.

In this case, Kelly holds a negative stereotype about older people and she makes an assumption based upon that stereotype.

During your work with both clients and co-workers, you should take the time to think about the following questions:

• Am I making any assumptions based upon my own biases?
• Am I judging another person based upon my own standards?
• Is there anything else I should consider?

In addition to ongoing reflection and sensitivity to own biases, you should also proactively develop and improve your skills and knowledge that help you work competently with others while demonstrating a respect for diversity and inclusiveness. For example, you may:

• Take the time to learn more about others’ cultures, for instance, participate in cultural festivals, talk to members of other cultures about their beliefs and practices, watch movies, and read books about other cultures.
• Take a ‘not-knowing’ stance and be prepared to learn from the client’s or colleague’s perspective.
• Avoid making sweeping generalisations about different cultures and beliefs and applying them to individuals. Remember that the beliefs and practices of each individual will vary. Not all people identify with their cultural or religious background so do not make assumptions about someone’s needs and experiences.
• Never judge others’ attitudes and beliefs based on the standards of your own culture. Keep in mind that this can happen unconsciously thus engaging in reflective practice is important.
• Proactively participate in all workplace training on diversity, cultural competence, and cultural safety.
• Identify ways in which to improve cultural inclusion in the workplace. This could include suggesting cultural days in which workers share food from their own culture and discuss their cultural experiences in order to promote understanding of other cultures. It can also mean identifying any culturally inappropriate work practices that are occurring and bringing them to the attention of management.
• Develop culturally sensitive communication skills (verbal and nonverbal) and capabilities to work appropriately with an interpreter.

Case Study

Jasmine is a counsellor for a community based family support service. Jasmine is about to start working with a new family who are originally from Zimbabwe and have resided in Australia for approximately six months. Jasmine reflects that she does not know anything about Zimbabwean culture so to help prepare herself to work with her new clients effectively, she reads some practice guidelines for working effectively with clients from Zimbabwe and Africa, she seeks out the advice of a colleague who lived and worked in Africa for a number of years, and she calls a local Zimbabwean cultural centre to ask if they had any resources that would be useful to help improve her knowledge of Zimbabwean culture.

While Jasmine prepares herself by learning about Zimbabwean culture, when it comes to meeting the family she does not make any assumptions about them based upon her preparations and instead takes the time to get to know them as individuals and understand their unique needs.

All workers are responsible for improving their cultural awareness and working in a culturally competent manner in accordance with their organisation’s policies and procedures. However, the management of counselling and community services organisations are responsible for ensuring that the organisation’s policies and procedures respect diversity and promote cultural safety. This involves providing training and support to workers and ensuring that the organisation’s policies and procedures respect and support clients from different cultures. To do this, community services organisations utilise a range of different resources and practices, including, but not limited to:

• Providing workers with training in cultural practices and culturally competent service delivery.
• Consulting with representatives from diverse cultures to ensure that policies and procedures are appropriate.
• Ensuring that workers have access to and are trained to work with language and cultural interpreters. Language interpreters help facilitate communication between workers and clients who speak different languages. Cultural interpreters may also assist in communication, however, they help workers to understand the beliefs and practices of the client’s culture and assist the client to understand the practices of the dominant culture.
• Ensuring that the organisation provides key information resources in a range of commonly used languages.
• Ensuring that the organisation uses respectful imagery. For example, community services organisations typically use positive and respectful images of diverse people in service brochures, websites, and other media associated with the organisation to help diverse people feel more comfortable with using the service. Additionally, the management of counselling and community services organisations ensure that any images used within the organisation (e.g., wall art, posters, etc.) are culturally appropriate and don’t use stereotypes or things that are culturally inappropriate (e.g., it is culturally inappropriate to display images of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who have since died).
• Including access and equity principles in the organisation’s vision, mission statement, strategies and all policies and procedures.
• Having a training policy to ensure all workers have the required level of knowledge and skills to work in a culturally diverse workplace.
• Ensuring that there are procedures for collecting information from clients while being respectful of diversity issues and ensuring that there are procedures in place for providing culturally appropriate assistance in response to unique client needs.
• Ensuring multicultural inclusion in decision-making (e.g., the presence of representatives from a range of cultural groups on decision-making committees and management; culturally matched workers and community members are invited to submit suggestions to meet the needs of a specific community group). • Ensuring that work teams are made up of members from diverse cultural groups (this provides an opportunity for workers to learn from each other).

When working for a particular organisation you will be required to comply with their policies and procedures. This will help to ensure culturally appropriate service provision. You should respect diversity, adopt work practices that eliminate bias and discrimination, and take a sensitive approach. You should always consider issues of diversity and the potential impact of both your own and the other person’s values, beliefs, cultural norms and expectations during all interactions.

It is also important for all AOD workers to be knowledgeable about the common practices of cultural groups that they are likely to be in regular contact with. While it is simply not practical for an AOD worker to be thoroughly versed in all cultural differences, taking the time to better understand the key beliefs and practices of your main client groups can help ensure more effective service delivery. Of course, it is also important to remember that not every individual from the same cultural background is the same – we are all individuals with our own unique worldview. AOD workers should be mindful of common areas of cultural differences, engage in honest and respectful discussions about these differences with clients and co-workers, and seek to ensure that their interactions are culturally appropriate for each individual.

Some common areas of cultural difference in communication which should be considered include:

• Language. It is always important to consider the other person’s level of English understanding. If the person does not fully understand English then the provision of information in their own language or the use of an interpreter is required. It is also important to remember not to ‘speak down’ to the other person or treat them like a child.
• Appropriate form of address. You should always consider the appropriate way to address the person (e.g., is it appropriate to use their first name or is it more culturally appropriate to refer to them by their surname or another title).
• Eye contact. In some cultures it is appropriate to maintain eye contact during communication while in other cultures not making eye contact is a sign of respect. It is important to consider such differences during your interactions with people from other cultures.
• Personal space. Cultures, and individuals, differ in their preferred physical distance. For example, in many cultures it is common to be about an arm’s length away while talking, whereas in other cultures physical contact while talking may be expected.
• Emotional expression. Cultures differ in their acceptance of public displays of emotion. Consideration should be given to cultural background when attempting to interpret emotional expression.
• Gestures. Some gestures (such as a ‘thumbs up’) can be positive is some cultures while being insulting in others. It is important to be mindful of gestures when communicating with individuals from different cultures.
• Cultural beliefs and practices. Be aware of socialisation patterns and the fact that other people are likely to have different perceptions of the world. It is important to respect other people’s beliefs and practices.

These factors should be considered during all interactions. For example, when working with culturally diverse clients, we should consider each of these factors when communicating, collecting or providing information, and providing assistance. Workers should always acknowledge and respect cultural differences and adapt the way that they work so as to be sensitive to the needs of the other part.

diversity in counselling

In this video, the presenters discuss the different aspects of diversity counsellors should consider. 

check your understanding so far!

In this section you have been introduced to diversity and the key principles and practices that AOD workers can utilise to work in a culturally appropriate way. It is important to be mindful of issues of diversity throughout your work practice. 

1. Language and Culture Worldwide. (2021). Iceberg or beacon? How the cultural iceberg guide us toward greater inclusion. https://languageandculture.com/iceberg-or-beacon-how-the-cultural-iceberg-guide-us-toward-greater-inclusion/
2. Lilienfeld, S. O., Lynn, S. J., Namy, L. L., Jamieson, G., Marks, A., & Slaughter, V. (2019). Psychology: From inquiry to understanding. Pearson.
3. Okun, B. & Kantrowitz, R. (2014). Effective helping: Interviewing and counseling techniques. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.
4. Queensborough Community College. (n.d.). Definition for diversity. Retrieved on January 4, 2022, from https://www.qcc.cuny.edu/diversity/definition.html
5. Queensland Government. (2019). Anti-discrimination and equal opportunity. http://www.business.qld.gov.au/business/employing/employee-rights-awards-entitlements/anti-discrimination-eeo
6. Racism No Way (n.d.). Australia’s cultural diversity. Retrieved on January 4, 2022, from https://racismnoway.com.au/about-racism/australias-cultural-diversity/
7. UN General Assembly. (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights. http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3712c.html