Multicultural counseling approaches and practice

Multiculturalism

Assessment of an individual's personality and behavior are judged according to the audience's cultural orientation. Because judgments are subjective, and subjectivity contains with it the values, attitudes and behavior of an individual, assessment of normal and abnormal behavior depends on the level of 'normality' the audience assesses the individual's behavior to be. This means that an audience that is oriented toward practicing a set of rules and normative behavior may express agreement or approval with an individual who acts according to these sets of rule and social behavior. Conversely, an individual who deviates from these social norms may be considered disapprovingly by other members of the society. In this situation, it then becomes evident that judging the normality or abnormality of an individual's behavior is culture-bound.

Take as an example of an American who goes on a medical mission to a country in Africa. Arriving at the country, the American is not yet acquainted with the norms and appropriate behavior that the African society makes it imperative to follow. Suppose, for instance, that there is an underlying understanding among Africans that when a man smiles at a woman and the woman smiles back, then there is an understanding between the two to have sexual relations with each other. This is especially true in some African community, where promiscuousness in engaging sexual relations with the opposite sex is the norm. Misunderstanding and potential harm may result if the American, not knowing the importance of this norm, smiles back unsuspectingly at an African man during therapy or counseling sessions. Although the behavior displayed by the man is considered abnormal by the American woman, his society thinks otherwise, since his actions and the meanings behind these actions are agreed upon in his community, and hence, tolerated and encouraged. This example illustrates how one's judgment of abnormal or normal behavior is primarily culture-bound.