The Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) is an assessment that examines an individual’s intercultural competence (Hammer, Bennett, & Wiseman, 2003). Bennett (2004) describes intercultural competence as one’s place on a continuum from ethnocentric to ethnorelativism. As I understand it, the IDI and intercultural competence are examining an individual’s ability to understand and accept other cultures. The IDI measures intercultural competence on a continuum that includes five stages that a person can vacillate between, which include denial, defense, minimization, acceptance, and adaptation (Bennett, 2004; Hammer et al., 2003). Moreover, Bennett (2004) indicates that the denial stage is when an individual is very ethnocentric, believes that their cultural beliefs and values are the only important ones, and thus denies cultural differences. The next stage is one in which an individual is defending against differences between cultures. The minimization stage is when an individual begins to see the similarities between cultures without taking into account the differences that may exist (Bennett, 2004). Acceptance is the next stage in which an individual begins to develop a more accurate understanding of the similarities and differences between cultures. Lastly, the adaptation stage is the final stage of the intercultural development continuum, and this stage suggests that an individual is able to shift perspectives and adapt their behaviors based on the different cultural experiences they are involved in (Bennett, 2004). Overall, the IDI measures intercultural competence on a continuum and anyone can move forward or backward along the continuum based on their experiences.
The IDI profile provides ratings of perceived orientatio...
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...situation from several perspectives. I realize that this may be difficult for me, since I tend to try to be overly positive towards other cultures given that I feel a need to because of the overly negative comments my parents tend to make towards other cultures. I hope that this will help me move more towards my leading orientation of acceptance rather than regressing back to previous stages of denial or defense.
Works Cited
Bennett, M. J. (2004). Becoming interculturally competent. In Wurzel, J. (Ed.). (2004). Toward multiculturalism: A reader in multicultural education (2nd ed., pp. 62-77). Newton, MA: Intercultural Resource Corporation.
Hammer, M.R., Bennett, M.J. & Wiseman, R. (2003). The intercultural Development Inventory: A measure of intercultural sensitivity. In M. Paige(Guest Editor), International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 27, 421-443.
“Cultural competence is the ability to engage in actions or create conditions that maximize the optimal development of client and client systems” (Sue & Sue, 2013, p. 49). Multicultural competence includes a counselor to be aware of his or her biases, knowledge of the culture they are evaluating, and skills to evaluate a client with various backgrounds (Sue & Sue, 2013). Client assessment involves gathering information pertaining to the client’s condition. Making a culturally responsive diagnosis involves using the DSM-IV-TR axis (Hays, 2008). Following the axis backwards is ideal to discovering the client’s diagnosis, understanding the client’s ADDRESSING outline will help to come to a closer resolution for a diagnosis.
Culture is “the total lifeways of a human group. It consists of learned patterns of values, beliefs, customs, and behaviors that are shared by a group of interacting individuals” (Stumbo & Peterson, 2009, p. 257). In order for a person to be culturally competence, he or she must be able to overlook stereotypes of different cultures and be able to appreciate the cultural differences. Dana suggested some culturally competent assessment, which must be considered when serving multicultural clients: cultural orientation, styles of service delivery, assessment methodology, assessment measures, and feedback of assessment findings (Stumbo & Peterson, 2009, p.
Karabudak, S., Tas, F., Basbakkal, B., (2013). Giger and Davidhizar’s Transcultural Assessment Model: A Case
Robles de Melendez, W. (2010). Teaching Young Children in Multicultural Classrooms: Issues, Concepts, and Strategies (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
I realize that understanding of the culture that the people I work with are the key to successful intervention and outcome. Being sensitive to individual’s culture and acquire adequate knowledge about their cultural background enhance the productivity of the interaction I may have with a client that could be family, individual, community or organization. Understanding of one’s cultural background could also prevent and minimize employing biases which potentially harm the clients I work with. In view of this, I have learned that before I engaged in any activities with individual or group I should take the time to understand the cultural backroad of the person to get insight on what is acceptable and not in that culture. Furthermore, I have learned to identify and utilize one’s strength as a tool to aid the change processes the client and I desire for. Due to the dynamic nature of people’s culture updating myself to the emerging changes in a different culture would be one of the area of continued learning I am focusing. For instance, in the contemporary US society, I can see how the immigration brought several people with diverse culture to the US general population structure. Considering this I have been convinced to be knowledgeable and culturally competent to effectively address the needs of people I will work with in different setting.
...eong, L. Comas-Díaz, G. C. Nagayama Hall, V. C. McLoyd, J. E. Trimble (Eds.) , APA handbook of multicultural psychology, Vol. 2: Applications and training (pp. 329-343). Washington, DC US: American Psychological Association. doi:10.1037/14187-019
Cultural sensitivity is more than an awareness that there are differences in culture in order to interact effectively
When evaluating myself on the Cultural Proficiency continuum, I’d place myself at “Cultural Competence” part on the continuum. This evaluation takes into account my experiences and practices while working in various schools and interacting with students of varied cultures, needs and ability levels as both a teacher and a learner. An effective educator is continually maintaining this dual role of teacher and life-long student in order to not grow stagnant within the classroom; this dynamic allows for growth along the continuum toward maintaining cultural proficiency.
Manning, L. & Baruth. L. (2009). Multicultural education of children and adolescents (5th Ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Parrish, Patrick, and Jennifer A. Linder-VanBerschot. “Addressing the Challenges of MulticulturalInstruction.” Cultural Dimensions of Learning 11.2 (2010): 10 pgs. Web. 8 June 2015.
I will do this through self-evaluation and reflection, as well as consulting my peers and supervisors if I begin to struggle in this area. Through my social work studies, I have been emerged in situations where studying culture and diversity is required; this has provided me with comfort in my knowledge on other cultures. After graduation, I may not be required to study diversity and culture, and as a professional, I will have to make time to educate myself on diversity issues, attend continuing education courses concerning culture, and be unafraid to ask questions to further understand differences. I do not feel uncomfortable about any of the inventory items, but I feel I can always do more to be educated about my own culture and the culture of others. In the future, I may interact with clients completely different than I, and to best serve these clients it will be important to learn more about their culture through research and asking questions. Furthermore, I must remember not to make assumptions about any individuals, even if I know a great deal about their culture, rather I should ask individuals questions and understand their personal perception of their
During this class there was a great deal of exposure to essays written by people from different cultural backgrounds. These essays tell the stories of these people over the course of their lives and occur at different times in our society. The essays are used as teaching tools to convey different ideas and facts about other cultures. They were all taken from the book “Among Us Essays on Identity, Belonging, and Intercultural Competence” by Myron W. Lustig and Jolene Koester. This is the second edition and was published in 2006. The textbook Intercultural Competence also by Lustig and Koester helped to bring a better understanding of the essays.
Banks, J., and McGee, C. A. (Eds.). (1989). Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Cultural sensitivity occurs when people recognize and are aware that each country or various ethnic groups of people have their own set of experiences, beliefs, values, and language that affect their perceptions toward life. Addressing Cultural sensitivity permits people to comprehend that there are differences between cultures. Furthermore, having awareness in the differences between cultures permits a culturally competent person to communicate effectively with others that are outside of one’s realm. Some of the differences of Cultural sensitivity can be discovered while traveling outside of the country, such as through Cross-cultural sensitivity experiences. Likewise, a culture has its own norms and beliefs to how one should dress; how one should greet others, such as by referring to a significant individual by his or her first name or surname (comprehending which name should be stated first in foreign names); and/or what foods are permitted to eat or forbidden to eat or understanding what may offend a person (e.g. not accepting a home cooked meal). There are norms, taboos, cultural cues, and cultural etiquette standards that are significant to learning about one’s culture before exploring another country or while working with people who are from your country but who are part of another racial group. It takes time and patience to build a high level of Cultural sensitivity. Educating oneself with a culture’s psychology and its norms is significant toward achieving an increasing awareness toward Cultural sensitivity.
...de when having trouble interacting with people from different cultural backgrounds. Both competent and intercultural communicators the same concept as to how to communicate effectively, but different methods to do it correctly.