Multicultural Self-Study

Multicultural Self-Study

Below is part one of a 4 part essay that my professor would like for us to complete. The first part is a chapter summary on a specific culture with
which I closely identify with. I am going to choose African American Clients which is Chapter 13, because I am an African-American female
who’s parents migrated from the Island of Trinidad and Tobago. Although my family migrated from that caribbean island who still value our
religion, bonds and role flexibility.
Multicultural Self-Study Assignment (50 Points)
Culture is a complex and often misunderstood construct that is often overly simplified to mean only race and ethnicity. So, our information
sources about cultures typically provide us with general information about the characteristics, beliefs, and traditions of members of a specific
culture. However, when we apply such information to individuals we are confronted with a paradox: When we try to attribute all aspects of a
cultural group to an individual who is a member of that group, in our attempts to be culturally sensitive, we are actually stereotyping. All
individuals in a culture are not the same, and, therefore, the general characteristics of a culture don’t necessarily apply to a particular individual.
When we move past the overly simple definition of culture as race or ethnicity, culture becomes a much more complex phenomenon that
includes such variables as age, socioeconomic group, religion and spirituality, region, sexual orientation, gender, and even disability. And this
implies that an individual may be a member of multiple cultures, based on the individual’s self-identity.
The purpose of this self-study is to help you explore your attitudes and beliefs about your own cultural identity in relation to your own and other
cultures. How does your cultural identity affect your perspective of other cultures? Hopefully, this will provide you with a starting point for
examining how these attitudes may impact your effectiveness as a counselor.
Multicultural Self-Study
Part I: Introduction (2-3 pages)
Choose a specific cultural group with which you identify most closely in one of the text Chapters 11-19 (Latino/a, Native American, African
American, Asian American, Arab and Muslim American, South Asian American, White Ethnic, American Male, Deaf Americans). In 2-3 pages,
summarize the Chapter you have chosen, as well identify as two to three factors that are shaping the experience and culture of your group