Ethnic cultural values and their social significance

Cultural Analysis

The subject is an African-America female, compared here to scores for the Mexican-American social worker. A comparison of the scores on various dimensions can suggest

The social dimensions to be considered here are individualism vs. collectivism, masculinity-femininity, power distance, and uncertainty avoidance. American society is known as an individualistic society, one where the rights of the individual are given great importance and where the Constitution is known for protecting the minority from a tyranny of the majority. An African and a Mexican perspective can be considered different from this in several ways and also different from one another. To a degree, the nature of these elements for both an African-American and a Mexican-American can be considered as affected by the "American" part, depending on the time each individual has been in America. Yet, even then there should be some influence from the larger Asian and Mexican cultures that make the two women different in their orientations. The nature of the masculine-feminine element is less important because both are feminine, though each may have different vies nonetheless.

The information on which this analysis is based was developed using a questionnaire by which each participant selected certain actions or ideas they would perform or would accept or that they would reject. This data was then charted to allow for the finding of an average for the scores on various dimensions, and these dimensions are then compared by means of a grid showing pairs of these different dimensions. Each pair links concepts that are considered related and that operate on the individual to pull that individual in one direction or another. The vector that is created by having these two forces pull on the individual produces a score showing which of the dimensions is stronger.

There are twelve basic dimensions, and they are as follows: 1) Time Orientation; 2) Event Orientation; 3) Dichotomistic Thinking; 4) Holistic Thinking; 5) Crisis Orientation; 6) Noncrisis Orientation; 7) Task Orientation; 8) Person Orientation; 9) Status Focus; 10) Achievement Focus; 11) Concealment of Vulnerability; and 12) Willingness to Expose Vulnerability. The more a dimension applies, the higher the number will be.

After developing the score, the figures to be considered are as follows:

Orientation Social Worker Client

Time 3.8-5.4

Event 3.6-2.6

Dichotomistic 2.2-3.8

Holistic 4.6-2.2

Crisis 3.0-5.6

Noncrisis 2.6-2.2

Task 4.4-5.0

Person 5.0-2.4

Status 2.8-3.4

Achievement 5.8-3.4

Concealment of vulnerability 3.8-3.2

Willingness to expose vulnerability 2.2-1.8

Based on these figures, the analyst can compare the scores and see differences between these two persons on each dimension, noting how these differences might either facilitate or limit communication and the counseling process. Some of the dimensions are more important for that professional interaction than others, and these can be noted in particular.

Time orientation involves whether the individual looks more to past or future and how that might affect his or her attitudes and behaviors. The Client in this case ha a stronger time orientation than does the Social Worker, which may indicate a greater concern with time on the part of the Client, perhaps making her less patient with the time a successful process may take. The Social Worker is more keyed to achieving the goal in a worthwhile manner. It is this issue of how much time the Client is willing to spend to gain the benefits of counseling.

The Client has a stronger Task Orientation than the Social Worker as well, while the Social Worker splits evenly on Task Orientation vs. Person Orientation. The latter arrangement would seem to be optimum for a Social Worker in any case, while the orientation of the client might again indicate a certain impatience with finishing the task.

The Client has a higher score on Dichotomistic Thinking and the Social Worker on Holistic Thinking. The client divides up ideas and tasks and sees them as discrete, while the Social Worker tends to see a mixture of forces so that various things are inter-related in ways the Client might not recognize and might not understand. The Social Worker will therefore have a difficult time getting this idea across in order to benefit the client.