Individual Ethnic / Cultural Identity Paper

Ones ethnicity and culture are important to consider if one is going to be counseling others. The reason for this is that everyone has a perspective, and if one is unaware of ones perspective and how it colors ones outlook, it can lead to a bias or an unintentional prejudice in the way one treats others. Thus, understanding ones own culture is just as important as understanding the culture, values and experiences of others (Hulnick, 1977). As Pedersen and Pope (2016) show, counseling requires empathyand if one does not even know oneself it is going to be somewhat difficult to know others. Knowledge starts at home and in empathizing with ourselves we can begin to empathize with others.

My Ethnic Group

I identify as a Caucasian Italian American. I consider myself American first and foremost, but my family ancestry traces back to Italy. Racially, I would say I am white, though many Italians do have a darker complexion and facial features that are Mediterranean and therefore difficult to place if one were to attempt to peg ones culture just be looking. Many Italians could pass for Middle Eastern or for Eastern European or even for Spanish. There are a lot of different ethnic strains in Italy. I consider myself American because this is where I have been raised, but my family is Italian going back many generations, and we have a good deal of Italian heritage and customs that we enjoy honoring.

What I like about my ethnic group is our honesty. Italiansat least the ones in my familylove to be loud, love to wear their emotions on their sleeve, and love to get excited about things. In my mind, it is an innocent and lovable quality and characteristic. It is rare to find a shy Italian, at least in my experience, though I am sure they exist. My grandmother was born in Foggia and emigrated here with her family when she was six years old. Family is important in my ethnic group and so too is food. Italians in my family love food and love to make food and post about it on Facebook.

One of the things I dislike about my ethnic group is that it has lost some of its connection with the Old World. My grandmother never went back to visit the country in which she was born. I know that Italy has a great history, but my family does not seem to know much about it. Italy is a very Catholic country, but my own family has not retained much of the Catholic traditions, and I feel that...…us that she hated the way others would talk about her family and her people as though she were responsible for wanting to destroy America. She always held a grudge against people who looked down on her.

The values common to my ethnic group are: hard work, honesty, integrity, and family. The Catholic religion is important to some of my extended family and I think this is important because it does go back to the Old World, and I like to see that some part of the Italian culture and heritage remains. As far as our historical comfort with tolerance and diversity, Italians have always tended to be simpatico with people who are not in the best conditions. This has to do with the religiosity of the people, as they understand that human nature is flawed, fallen. Thus, Italians tend to be more tolerant of people with flaws than with puritans. Puritans and Italians are like fire and ice. The implications for counseling with group members is that one should be aware of the values and experiences of people of culture so that one does not make any biased assumptions or project ones own views onto others. It is also important to be considerate of the opinions of people, even if they go against what one believes for oneself. Not everyone shares…