Just Practice Final
Privilege defined
"....unearned advantages enjoyed by a particular group simply because of membership in that group" (Schiele, 1998) Permeates social structures of U.S. and daily living of its inhabitants Generally, invisible to those who enjoy them Privilege = power, resources, self-efficacy
Social identity development:5 stages
1. Naïve/No Social Consequences 2. Acceptance 3. Resistance 4. Redefinition 5. Internalization *** Presented as linear- NOT!
social oppression model the application
Acknowledges that oppression is manifested at both the attitudinal and behavioral levels of individual and system interaction.
How does privilege allow for blindness?
Advantage/Privilege exists in the dimensions that we do not have to think about. This blindness of privilege creates cultural incompetence. Part of cultural competence is being aware of my group membership based on my diversity dimensions.
Cultural implications at the individual level
Affects how we experience the world, make decisions, interact with others, understand ourselves and our roles Determines our values Individual culture determined by multiple, sometimes conflicting identities May be agents and targets (more on this later and more on this later again)
Commonly discussed cultural groups
Age Class Race/ethnicity Religion/spirituality Mental and Physical Ability Education Gender Sexuality
Stage 1: naive/no social consequences
Agents and targets are unaware of the complex codes of appropriate behavior for members of their social group They push against boundaries of social identity group membership by operating from own needs and interests about social group differences While not feeling completely comfortable with people who are different, they generally don't feel hostile, fearful, inferior or superior Examples: Why do people have different skin color?
Stage 3: resistance
Agents in resistance: As a result of experiences and information that challenge the accepted ideology and self-definition, agents entering resistance reject earlier social positions and begin formulating a new world view. Agents develop anger towards other agents and the nature of the agent's social group identity. Some agents wish they weren't members of their dominant group. Other agents confront oppressive actions and attitudes. Agents develop a systemic view of how their identity has been shaped by social factors beyond their control. They then redefine by engaging in a process of developing a social identity that is positive and affirming
What does privilege allow for
Allows you to feel "at home" in the world Allows some groups more opportunities to influence decision making structures Escape fear, anxiety, sense of not being welcome Keeps us from having to hide or be in disguise
Social oppression model: institutional level
At institutional level, such as family, government, industry, education, and religion, they are shapers of and shaped by other two levels. In an oppressive society run by individuals or groups who advocate or collude with social oppression produces oppressive consequences. Examples: unequal treatment of other races by the criminal and civil justice system, housing and employment discrimination, unequal access to quality education
Social oppression model: societal/cultural level
At societal/cultural level, cultural norms perpetuate implicit and explicit values that bind institutions and individuals. In an oppressive society, the cultural perspective of the dominant groups is imposed on institutions by individuals and vice versa. These cultural guidelines, such as philosophies of life, definitions of good, normal, health, deviance and sickness provide individuals and institutions with the justification for social oppression. Examples: being gay or lesbian as sick or evil, acceptance of nuclear family as only model of a good family.
Implications of culture in the United States
Certain cultural norms (Christian, White/European American, Male, Heterosexual) tend to dominate/hold privilege in our society in general, government/laws, organizations, educational institutions and more Function of both historical and current realities
7 revs: technology
Computation Genetics and biotechnology Nanotechnology Information technology Convergence of technologies Human health
Stage 4: Targets in redefinition
Concerned with defining selves in terms that are independent of the perceived strengths and/or weaknesses of the agent and agent's culture. Targets shift their attention and energy away from a concern for their interactions with agents toward a concern for primary contact with members of their own social group. Members of targeted groups in this stage are generally labeled as separatists. Targets do not see interaction with agents as useful in their quest for a positive identity.
7 revs: information
Connectivity Lifelong learning info integrity
As a result of traumatic history (AI)
Continual issues of historical trauma among indigenous communities Significant disparities Education Child Welfare Health Economic opportunities Continued battles for: Sovereignty rights Tribal land Recognition Treaty rights
7 revs: government
Corporate citizenship and multinational corporations Civil society and nongovernmental organizations National governments International organizations Need for strategic coalitions
Social oppression model psycho social processes
Describe the types of involvement relative to ones advocacy, participation, support or collusion in a system of social oppression. These processes are conscious or unconscious Conscious-knowingly supporting the maintenance of social oppression through attributes Unconscious-represent unknowing or naïve collusion with the maintenance of social oppression and occur when the target or agent comes to accept the dominant logic system and justifies oppression as normal Internalized oppression and/or privilege
The web of racism factors:
Education, labor market, housing, media, criminal justice, unequal opportunities and outcomes * Taken together, these systems interact to create a web of interlocking systems that create racially different opportunities and outcomes that reflect and sustain institutional racism.
7 revs: resource management
Food and hunger Water Energy Climate change Loss of biodiversity Sustainability
Expanding our idea of culture
Generational Regional (areas of the United States, Urban vs. Rural) Situational- undergraduate students? Occupational- Academics? Social Workers? Police Officers?
7 revs: economic integration
Globalization characteristics BRIC economies: the changing global balance of productivity Continuation of extreme poverty
Culture: key things to keep in mind
Great diversity within cultural groups Level of affiliation/identification with group may vary Again, individual identity created by multiple cultural group memberships Often tend to see only one aspect of cultural group membership in others despite multiple identities at play (maintain a narrow view of culture)
Privilege: NOT an either/or
In some cases we may have privilege, in other cases not Privilege comes from a "system of oppression/privilege" All of us may be AGENTS willingly or unwittingly enforcing the system of privilege AND TARGETS experiencing a lack of power, comfort, safety, choice that comes from the non-dominant status
Systemic privilege
Institutional policies and procedures reinforcing advantage. May include rights, education, medical access, social power and access to social, cultural legal, economic resources and decision-making
Cultural competence: defined
Is a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals and enable that system, agency, or those professionals to work effectively in cross-cultural situations. Cultural competence is a developmental process and may be viewed as a goal toward which individuals and organizations can strive
Stage 5: internalization
Main task is to incorporate the identity developed in stage 4 into all aspects of everyday life. Agents in internalization: Try to apply and integrate their new social identity into other facets of their overall identity. Targets in internalization: Targeted people are engaged in the process of integrating and internalizing their newly developed consciousness and group pride. Targets realize that the process of redefining identity is a valuable consciousness expanding experience.
roles in the system of oppression: agents
Members of dominant social groups privileged by birth or acquisition, who knowingly or unknowingly exploit and reap unfair advantage over members of target groups. Trapped by system of social oppression that benefits them, and are confined to roles and prescribed behavior for their group
stage 1: socializers and changes
Most significant socializers: parents (role models); the formal education system (teachers and curriculum); peers (accepted behavior); religious/spiritual organizations; mass media; larger community Two changes take place: people begin to learn and adopt an ideology about their own and other social identity groups; people begin to learn the world has rules, laws, institutions and authority figures that permit or prohibit certain behaviors
Stage 2: acceptance
People have accepted the messages about their group identity, superiority of agents and inferiority of targets Agent in acceptance: Dominant beliefs and actions are part of their everyday life. When questions arise about beliefs or actions, there is a built-in system of rationalization to fall back on and provide answers. They are generally unaware that they have privileges as dominant group members of an oppressive society
The cycle of oppression
Perpetuated from generation to generation Agents are frequently unaware that they are members of the dominant group due to the privilege of being able to see themselves as persons rather than as stereotypes. Once the oppressive structures are in place, oppression becomes normalized and succeeding generations of agents learn to accept their inheritance of dominance and privilege as the natural order-the way things are and always will be
Self determination
Policy directives finally shifted from a focus on termination to self-determination for American Indian tribes (Gross, 2003) 1968 Indian Civil Rights Act guaranteed self determination as originally promised in the treaties Tribes now had the right to develop economic opportunities on the reservations and began increasing self-governance 1978 American Indian Religious Freedom Act passed
7 revs: population
Population growth in developing countries Population decline/aging in developed countries Urbanization Migration across borders
privilege I.E.'s
Quite visible to those to whom it is denied Examples: Gender (male) privilege Sexual Orientation (heterosexual) privilege Racial (white) privilege Socio-economic (High income) privilege Religious privilege (U.S.) (Christian) Age privilege
Target and agent interaction: horizontal relationship
Relationships and interactions between members of the same social groups, and in at least one dimension are "equal" in status. Target-target example: Women who ostracize other women for not conforming to sex-role defined behavior Agent-agent example: Teasing and hazing by men toward men who share equal responsibility for child care and household maintenance
Implications of culture in the U.S. Dominant Identities
Shift ("White" identity previously more ethnically defined, still is in certain communities) May be regionally specific Refer to general systems, individual experiences may vary
Social Oppression Model: three levels
Social oppression is maintained and operationalized at three levels: The individual The institutional The societal/cultural
Assumptions around culture
Sometimes associate negative stereotypes around cultural groups May make assumptions on someone's cultural identity based on limited information, false assumptions These assumptions may be conscious or unconscious VERY COMMON for helping and service professionals- what happens when we consistently see people at their worst?
7 revs: conflict
Sources and causes of conflict Changing patterns of conflict Addressing conflict resolution Transnational organized crime Costs of war
stage 2: targets/acceptance
Targets in acceptance: Targets have learned and accepted messages about the inferiority of targets and target culture. Some targets are unaware of the degree to which their thoughts, feelings and behaviors reflect the dominant group ideology.
Stage 3: targets in resistance
Targets question previously accepted truths about the way things are. As a result, they may begin to feel intensified hostility towards agents. At this point, the target group member has fully internalized the earlier acceptance consciousness, and may experience anger, hurt or rage. The primary task of this stage is to end the pattern of collusion and cleanse their internalized oppressive beliefs and attitudes
social oppression model: attitudinal level
The attitudinal level-describes the individual and systemic values, beliefs, philosophies, and stereotypes that feed the other dimensions Examples: Jewish people control the economic system, Gay men and lesbians are child molesters
social oppression model: behavioral level
The behavioral variable describes the actions of individuals that support and maintain social oppression. Example: An individual who threatens a person of color seeking to move into a new apartment or neighborhood
Social Oppression Model: the context
The context Interacts with all three levels (individual, institutional, and cultural/societal). At individual level, focus on beliefs or behaviors of individual person; conscious or unconscious actions or attitudes that maintain oppression Examples include harassment, rape, slurs and behaviors that excludes targets Has an effect on institutions in that individuals are socialized, punished, rewarded, and guided by institutions that maintain and perpetuate oppressive structures. Has an effect on broader culture to the extent one works, consumes, teaches, votes, and lives values of dominant society
Stage 4: redefinition
The focus of this stage is to create an identity independent of an oppressive system Agents in redefinition: Develop pride in their group and a sense of personal esteem. There is a recognition that all groups have unique and different values that enrich human life, but no social group is superior.
white privilege
The systematic advantages of being White "I'm just normal!" Whiteness is simply the unexamined norm. Because they represent the societal norm, White people can easily reach adulthood without thinking much about their racial group. White people tend to think of racial identity as something other people have, not something that is salient for them. But when, for whatever reason, the silence is broken, a process of racial identity development for them begins to unfold.
Social Oppression Model: three dimensions
Three dimensions operate to support and reinforce each other: The context The psychosocial processes The application
Key issues from American Indian history
Treaty making, removal, termination, self determination
Cultural awareness:
Understanding of the dynamics of difference, system of oppression Consideration of one's own assumptions/biases/worldview Willingness to work with and experience diverse peoples
How do we work on awareness, knowledge and skills as individuals?
Understanding the dynamics of oppression and privilege Education about cultural groups Cultural informants Engaging community members Specific training for skill sets Positive exposure to cultural groups Social justice action Self-reflection Open discussion
passive racism
acceptance of, or failure to challenge, cultural racism (business as usual)
inclusivity
an organizational culture that includes and welcomes diverse viewpoints and cultural needs
Active racism
blatant, intentional acts of racial bigotry and discrimination
Target and agent interaction: vertical relationship
conscious and unconscious dehumanization and denial of rights of the target by the agent the target's collusion (may also be unconscious) with social oppression One-up One-down relationship, because the parties occupy different hierarchical positions Example-male supervisor harassing female employee who believes it to be a normal part of the job (Agent-dominance, target-collusion)
equity
equal opportunity for all (employees at all levels, community) to be involved in the organization
What is culture?
implies the integrated pattern of human behavior that includes thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions of a social group
Cultural competency model
intersection of cultural awareness, cultural knowledge, cultural skills.
Roles in the system of oppression: targets
members of social identity groups that are disenfranchised, exploited, and victimized in a variety of ways by the oppressor and the oppressor's system or institutions. Subject to containment, have their choices and movement restricted, subject to violence and powerlessness. Kept in their place by the agent's ideology which support oppression by denying its existence, and blames the condition of the oppressed on themselves and their own failings.
Cultural knowledge (...of...)
oppression and privilege culture (history, values, traditions, family systems, artistic expressions) of cultural groups in contact with the impact of culture on behavior, attitudes, and values role of language, speech patterns, and communication styles power relationships within the community, agency, or institutions
Cultural skills
techniques for learning about culture ability to communicate accurate information ability to openly discuss differences interviewing techniques that are culturally appropriate methods of intervention at all system levels
