Alusine M. Kanu, D. A
Because peoples' backgrounds influence meanings assigned, awareness of anti-isms in personal, professional practices in counselor education are important. It is important to note that much of multicultural counseling issues such as anti-isms affect understanding on how humans think, talk, and behave. The ethical implications are to build social communities and plans of actions to reduce bias or prejudice. In personal, professional and in many relationships some may annoy and taunt each other, a pattern that can lead to serious abuse. Also, language that abusers use may describe physical assaults that include denial, trivializing the harm done, or blaming circumstances for "making me do it" (Stamp, 1995). Some conflicts from anti-isms are easier to manage than others.
Acts of covert aggression can lead to periodic behavior to manipulate a person or a situation through tactics of deceit, manipulation and control. Some anti-isms include selec-tive attention when the aggressor "plays dumb," or acts oblivious. Others may include over-rationalization or the offering of excuses to engage in inappropriate or harmful behavior. An observation is that some communicate by pinning down others because we don't like their behavior and may lie or intimidate in a one-down postion. Guilt trips or shaming are anti-isms tactics. Manipulators are often skilled at using what they know to be the greater conscientiousness of their victims as a means of keeping them in self-doubt, anxious and in a submissive position.
When we identify types of conflict that occur, we are better able to manage them. Pseudo conflicts occur in situations of apparent incompatibility, thus resulting in the use of anti-isms which affect needs and desires. It is important to be aware of potential language differences between people and to remember how language reveals our attitudes and creates and reinforces notions of power or deceit. By realizing that people differ in the language they use and the way they interpret words, we can try to be more sensitive in our use of language. We become linguistically sensitive when we choose language that re-spects others and avoid usages that others perceive as offensive.
Some of the mistakes in language that we make result from using expressions that are perceived by others as sexist, racist, or otherwise biased, that is, any language that is perceived as belittling any person or group of people. The most prevalent linguistic styles that are insensitive are those that use generic, unparallel, or racist language. Great per-sonal damage has been done to individuals throughout history as a result of labeling. Of course, we all know it is not the words alone that are so powerful; it is the context of the words: the situation, the feelings of the participants, the time, the place, or tone of voice. We should always be aware that our language has repercussions. When we do not under-stand or are not sensitive to a listener's frame of reference, we may state our ideas in language that distorts the intended communication. To use the skill of linguistic sensitivity, we should choose to use inclusive, rather than generic language, avoid making unneces-sary associations when describing, and use words that are preferred.
The way personally that I view relationships to avoid anti-isms is to sustain fulfilling my personal relationships with communication that deals with internal tensions and external pressures from other people and commitments. When I sense or experience anti-isms I explain that words and actions are upsetting. There are times I walk away quickly and con-fidently telling myself how proud I am to be an individual regardless of circumstances or uncertainties. I give sympathy and support to other people who may be bullied. I am also careful about teasing or making personal remarks. My psychological responsibility in rela-tionships involves remembering, planning, and coordinating activities with designs of equi-table divisions of responsibility.
A good description of professional practice is views that social roles shape our perceptions. Both the training and knowledge that we receive to fulfill a role and the actual demands of the role affect how we deal with anti-isms, what we notice, and how we interpret and evaluate. The professions people enter influence what they notice and how they think and act. Through the process of internal dialogues, or conversations with ourselves, we enforce the social values we have learned and the views of us that others communicate.
A social relationship is one in which participants interact within certain roles rather than as individuals. The value of social relationships lies more in what participants do re-lationally. Social comparisons are when in professional relationships with others we form judgments of our talents, abilities, qualities, and so forth. Research has shown that people generally are most comfortable with others who are like them, so we tend to gravitate toward those we regard as similar (Whitbeck, 1994). However, these can deprive us of diverse per-spectives of people whose experiences and beliefs differ from ours. When we limit our-selves only to people like us, we impoverish the social perspectives that form our understandings of the world.
The process of socialization is one in which most individuals internalize much of the perspective of the generalized other and come to share that perspective. We learn which aspects of identity society considers important, how society views various social groups, and by extension, how it views us as members of specific groups. Modern western culture em-phasizes race, gender, socioeconomic and other co-cultures as central to personal identity (Anderson, 1992). Societal norms regulate how members interact with each other on everything from trivial to critical aspects of life. Norms govern how members express and analyze ideas, listen to one another, and manage conflict and decrease bias or prejudice.
To reduce unintentional stereotypes, we should understand that stereotypes affect behavior. We should note that stereotypes may be very diverse and learn to reduce inten-tional prejudices related to peoples' race, sex, ethnic origin, age, sexual identity, religion or disability. What is needed are supportive relations, commitment to a process of change, becoming aware of self-talk, learning how other groups see our identity, feeling good about ourselves, and accepting people who are different.
Because all forms of multicultural counseling involve ethical issues, this area of interest is both a focus of scholarship in its own right and an integral part of all other areas. Ethical dimensions provide guidelines on the influences of stereotypes. People use symbols as the basis of language and thinking, and the use of anti-isms and stereotypes to a great extent reflects how the victimizer perceives reality and aspects of self-esteem.
Prejudice reduction refers to a collection of techniques designed to break down these destructive anti-isms and stereotypes. Research shows that the commonest ap-proach to combating prejudice is to increase one's knowledge about another group on the assumption that if we have accurate information, we will not hold misconceptions and false stereotypes. Another point of view on reducing prejudice is that an individual who has a high degree of self-acceptance will likely have a low degree of prejudice. Students who work in learning teams develop positive attitudes and cross-ethnic friendships. Social contacts may also reduce prejudice.
Counselor education pedagogies have moved from assimilation and amalgamation to the metaphor of the tossed salad, to teaching about racism and prejudice reduction, and finally, to the pedagogy of the oppressed (Henriksen and Trusty, 2002). The dimensions of content integration, knowledge construction, prejudice reduction, equity pedagogy and pro-cesses, could lead to the development of a transformational pedagogy to meet the chal-lenges of counselor education programs. To accomplish prejudice reduction, counselors, counselor educators, and counseling students should engage in advocacy activities as des-cribed in the American Counseling Association's (2005) Code of Ethics.
Culturally skilled counselors have specific knowledge about their own racial and cultural heritage and how it personally and professionally affects their definitions of nor-mality and the process of counseling. Culturally skilled counselors possess knowledge about communication style differences, how their style may clash or foster the counseling process with persons different from themselves. An added competency of culturally skilled counselors is that they constantly seek to understand themselves as cultural beings who actively seek a nonracist identity.
It is good to teach and train counseling professionals as there are many implications with uses of anti-isms, what annoys us in conflicts with personal, professional, and ethical implications of relational experiences. There is a bounty in the way multicultural counselors can transform most relationships. Whether we want to have genuine connections within our families, relationships, communities or work places, we need to facilitate integrity by awareness, being in harmony, and having true empathy.
References
American Counseling Association (2005). Code of ethics. www.counseling.org
Anderson, M.L. (1992). Race, class and gender: An anthology. Belmont,CA: Wadsworth.
Henriksen, R.C. and Trusty, J. (2002). Racial/ethnic/cultural identity developmentin J. Trusty, E.J. Looby and D.S. Sandhu (Eds.). Multicultural counseling: Context, theory and practice, and competence. Huntington, New York: Nova Science, pp. 55-104.
Stamp, G. (1995). Accounting for violence: An analysis of male spousal abuse narratives. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 23, 284-307.
Whitbeck, L.B. (1994). Social prestige and assertive mating: A comparison of students from 1956 and 1988. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 11, 137-145.
Because peoples' backgrounds influence meanings assigned, awareness of anti-isms in personal, professional practices in counselor education are important. It is important to note that much of multicultural counseling issues such as anti-isms affect understanding on how humans think, talk, and behave. The ethical implications are to build social communities and plans of actions to reduce bias or prejudice. In personal, professional and in many relationships some may annoy and taunt each other, a pattern that can lead to serious abuse. Also, language that abusers use may describe physical assaults that include denial, trivializing the harm done, or blaming circumstances for "making me do it" (Stamp, 1995). Some conflicts from anti-isms are easier to manage than others.
Acts of covert aggression can lead to periodic behavior to manipulate a person or a situation through tactics of deceit, manipulation and control. Some anti-isms include selec-tive attention when the aggressor "plays dumb," or acts oblivious. Others may include over-rationalization or the offering of excuses to engage in inappropriate or harmful behavior. An observation is that some communicate by pinning down others because we don't like their behavior and may lie or intimidate in a one-down postion. Guilt trips or shaming are anti-isms tactics. Manipulators are often skilled at using what they know to be the greater conscientiousness of their victims as a means of keeping them in self-doubt, anxious and in a submissive position.
When we identify types of conflict that occur, we are better able to manage them. Pseudo conflicts occur in situations of apparent incompatibility, thus resulting in the use of anti-isms which affect needs and desires. It is important to be aware of potential language differences between people and to remember how language reveals our attitudes and creates and reinforces notions of power or deceit. By realizing that people differ in the language they use and the way they interpret words, we can try to be more sensitive in our use of language. We become linguistically sensitive when we choose language that re-spects others and avoid usages that others perceive as offensive.
Some of the mistakes in language that we make result from using expressions that are perceived by others as sexist, racist, or otherwise biased, that is, any language that is perceived as belittling any person or group of people. The most prevalent linguistic styles that are insensitive are those that use generic, unparallel, or racist language. Great per-sonal damage has been done to individuals throughout history as a result of labeling. Of course, we all know it is not the words alone that are so powerful; it is the context of the words: the situation, the feelings of the participants, the time, the place, or tone of voice. We should always be aware that our language has repercussions. When we do not under-stand or are not sensitive to a listener's frame of reference, we may state our ideas in language that distorts the intended communication. To use the skill of linguistic sensitivity, we should choose to use inclusive, rather than generic language, avoid making unneces-sary associations when describing, and use words that are preferred.
The way personally that I view relationships to avoid anti-isms is to sustain fulfilling my personal relationships with communication that deals with internal tensions and external pressures from other people and commitments. When I sense or experience anti-isms I explain that words and actions are upsetting. There are times I walk away quickly and con-fidently telling myself how proud I am to be an individual regardless of circumstances or uncertainties. I give sympathy and support to other people who may be bullied. I am also careful about teasing or making personal remarks. My psychological responsibility in rela-tionships involves remembering, planning, and coordinating activities with designs of equi-table divisions of responsibility.
A good description of professional practice is views that social roles shape our perceptions. Both the training and knowledge that we receive to fulfill a role and the actual demands of the role affect how we deal with anti-isms, what we notice, and how we interpret and evaluate. The professions people enter influence what they notice and how they think and act. Through the process of internal dialogues, or conversations with ourselves, we enforce the social values we have learned and the views of us that others communicate.
A social relationship is one in which participants interact within certain roles rather than as individuals. The value of social relationships lies more in what participants do re-lationally. Social comparisons are when in professional relationships with others we form judgments of our talents, abilities, qualities, and so forth. Research has shown that people generally are most comfortable with others who are like them, so we tend to gravitate toward those we regard as similar (Whitbeck, 1994). However, these can deprive us of diverse per-spectives of people whose experiences and beliefs differ from ours. When we limit our-selves only to people like us, we impoverish the social perspectives that form our understandings of the world.
The process of socialization is one in which most individuals internalize much of the perspective of the generalized other and come to share that perspective. We learn which aspects of identity society considers important, how society views various social groups, and by extension, how it views us as members of specific groups. Modern western culture em-phasizes race, gender, socioeconomic and other co-cultures as central to personal identity (Anderson, 1992). Societal norms regulate how members interact with each other on everything from trivial to critical aspects of life. Norms govern how members express and analyze ideas, listen to one another, and manage conflict and decrease bias or prejudice.
To reduce unintentional stereotypes, we should understand that stereotypes affect behavior. We should note that stereotypes may be very diverse and learn to reduce inten-tional prejudices related to peoples' race, sex, ethnic origin, age, sexual identity, religion or disability. What is needed are supportive relations, commitment to a process of change, becoming aware of self-talk, learning how other groups see our identity, feeling good about ourselves, and accepting people who are different.
Because all forms of multicultural counseling involve ethical issues, this area of interest is both a focus of scholarship in its own right and an integral part of all other areas. Ethical dimensions provide guidelines on the influences of stereotypes. People use symbols as the basis of language and thinking, and the use of anti-isms and stereotypes to a great extent reflects how the victimizer perceives reality and aspects of self-esteem.
Prejudice reduction refers to a collection of techniques designed to break down these destructive anti-isms and stereotypes. Research shows that the commonest ap-proach to combating prejudice is to increase one's knowledge about another group on the assumption that if we have accurate information, we will not hold misconceptions and false stereotypes. Another point of view on reducing prejudice is that an individual who has a high degree of self-acceptance will likely have a low degree of prejudice. Students who work in learning teams develop positive attitudes and cross-ethnic friendships. Social contacts may also reduce prejudice.
Counselor education pedagogies have moved from assimilation and amalgamation to the metaphor of the tossed salad, to teaching about racism and prejudice reduction, and finally, to the pedagogy of the oppressed (Henriksen and Trusty, 2002). The dimensions of content integration, knowledge construction, prejudice reduction, equity pedagogy and pro-cesses, could lead to the development of a transformational pedagogy to meet the chal-lenges of counselor education programs. To accomplish prejudice reduction, counselors, counselor educators, and counseling students should engage in advocacy activities as des-cribed in the American Counseling Association's (2005) Code of Ethics.
Culturally skilled counselors have specific knowledge about their own racial and cultural heritage and how it personally and professionally affects their definitions of nor-mality and the process of counseling. Culturally skilled counselors possess knowledge about communication style differences, how their style may clash or foster the counseling process with persons different from themselves. An added competency of culturally skilled counselors is that they constantly seek to understand themselves as cultural beings who actively seek a nonracist identity.
It is good to teach and train counseling professionals as there are many implications with uses of anti-isms, what annoys us in conflicts with personal, professional, and ethical implications of relational experiences. There is a bounty in the way multicultural counselors can transform most relationships. Whether we want to have genuine connections within our families, relationships, communities or work places, we need to facilitate integrity by awareness, being in harmony, and having true empathy.
References
American Counseling Association (2005). Code of ethics. www.counseling.org
Anderson, M.L. (1992). Race, class and gender: An anthology. Belmont,CA: Wadsworth.
Henriksen, R.C. and Trusty, J. (2002). Racial/ethnic/cultural identity developmentin J. Trusty, E.J. Looby and D.S. Sandhu (Eds.). Multicultural counseling: Context, theory and practice, and competence. Huntington, New York: Nova Science, pp. 55-104.
Stamp, G. (1995). Accounting for violence: An analysis of male spousal abuse narratives. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 23, 284-307.
Whitbeck, L.B. (1994). Social prestige and assertive mating: A comparison of students from 1956 and 1988. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 11, 137-145.
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