Cultural Humility in Behavioral Health _ ________________________________________________________
matic suspect or having to prove belonging (Minarik, 2017). Privilege is not a guarantee of success for those groups who receive it; however, it is an advantage that other groups do not receive and allows for opportunities that others are denied (Minarik, 2017). A final key aspect regarding privilege is that it is not necessarily visible to those who receive it. The invisibility of privilege is the key component that allows it to continue. More simply, when those who receive privilege do not recognize it, they are unable to take actions to change it. Once people become aware of privilege, they may choose to use the benefits of privilege to advocate for marginalized populations.
relinquishes characteristics of the marginalized group in order to bond with the dominant society, but is unable to do so. Examples of living between cultures are the ways of life of most immigrants, migrant farm workers, and other vulnerable groups. People living between cultures tend to live in areas characterized by limited employment and educational opportunities (Baah et al., 2019). • Creation of vulnerabilities : Vulnerabilities are created by the cumulative impact of the creation of margins and living between cultures. Vulnerability is defined as a state of being exposed to and unprotected from health-damaging environments (Baah et al., 2019). Marginalized groups often do not receive the same access to societal resources such as high-quality education, healthcare, housing, or equal access to voting as those groups that are not marginalized. The marginalization of oppressed groups prevents them from having a voice and helps to sustain the status quo in the U.S. in which White, economically well-off, and able-bodied individuals control access to social, economic, and political power. Healthcare Consideration : Healthcare professionals should recognize the power imbalances that result from oppres- sion, privilege, and marginalization and work to correct the imbalances within the delivery of mental and behavioral healthcare services and within the broader institutional and societal context.
Self-Assessment Quiz Question 5. When discussing oppression and privilege, healthcare professionals should know that:
A) Privilege is the commission of an unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power. B) Privilege is a guarantee of success for groups receiving it. C) Oppression’s foundation is in the “me too” movement. D) Oppression leads to a condition of privilege for the person or the group that is the oppressor(s). Marginalization is an important concept in the delivery of patient care. In the context of oppression, privilege, cultural humility, and social justice, marginalization is the pushing aside and exclusion of certain groups (e.g., ethnic and racial minorities, immigrants, LGBTQ population, individuals with disability, and individuals who are economically disadvan- taged) from full participation in a society’s mainstream social, economic, cultural, and political structures (Cooke-Jackson, et al., 2021). Some experts have identified the following three themes of marginalization (Baah et al., 2019): • Creation of margins : Margins act as barriers and connections between a person and the environment. Margins construct physical, emotional, and psychological boundaries that people experience during interactions with society. Enforcement and maintenance of boundaries divide political and socioeconomic resources in an uneven fashion. This also facilitates the unbalanced distribution of critical resources such as healthcare (Baah et al., 2019). This illustrates the concept of social determinants of health (SDH), which is defined as “the circumstances in which people are born, live, work and age and the systems put in place to deal with illness” (World Health Organization [WHO], 2010). • Living between cultures : Living between cultures is another factor that links marginalization to SDH. Although the boundary or margin separates the dominant and peripheralized groups, incomplete integration leads to a person or group that lives between cultures. Incomplete integration creates a situation where a person or group
Self-Assessment Quiz Question 6. When discussing themes related to
marginalization, the concept of being exposed to and unprotected from health-damaging environments is referred to as: A) Creation of margins. B) Living between cultures.
C) Vulnerability. D) Boundaries.
COUNSELING WITH CULTURAL HUMILITY
The concept of cultural humility was first discussed in the medical world to better understand and address health inequi- ties and disparities (Duncan, 2019). The concept has evolved to include ideas related to the creation of a broader and more inclusive society by acknowledging the intersectionality that exists across domains of diversity. Unlike the concepts of cul- tural and multicultural competency, which focus on gaining knowledge about cultural groups differing from the individual’s own with the hopes of better understanding those cultures and thus better meeting the needs of different groups who enter counseling, cultural humility focuses on the cultural context
72
EliteLearning.com/Psychology
Powered by FlippingBook