As you read and hear about culture, cultural competence, and cultural humility, you will come across terms like “culture,” “race,” and “ethnicity” which are sometimes used interchangeably but have different meanings.   Here are some basic definitions that should be helpful in your learning process.

Culture:  An integrated pattern of human behavior that includes thoughts, communications, languages, practices, beliefs, values, customs, courtesies, rituals, manners of interacting and roles, relationships and expected behaviors of a racial, ethnic, religious or social group; and the ability to transmit the above to succeeding generations.

(Source:  National Center for Cultural Competence of Georgetown University)

It should be noted that the term “culture” is also sometimes applied to the shared values, beliefs, and norms established in common social groupings, such as adults trained in the same profession or youth who belong to a gang.

Ethnicity:  A common heritage shared by a particular group, including similar history, language, rituals, and preferences for music and foods.

Race:  A term often used to describe a human population considered distinct based on physical characteristics, such as skin color and facial features.  It is interesting to note that, for the most part, anthropologists have dismissed the scientific validity of these categories, describing race as a social, rather than biological, construct.

Cultural identity:  The culture with which a person identifies and to which he or she looks for standards of behavior.  Many people consider themselves to have multiple cultural identities.

Acculturation:  The socialization process by which minority groups gradually absorb and adopt selective elements of the dominant culture.  It is the process that occurs when two separate cultural groups come into contact with each other and change occurs in one or both groups.  People often think that only the immigrant group changes; in reality, the mainstream culture is also transformed as a result of exposure to minority cultures.

Assimilation:  The process by which a minority group gradually adopts the customs and attitudes of the prevailing culture.

Racism and discrimination:  Umbrella terms referring to beliefs, attitudes, and practices that denigrate individuals or groups because of ethnic group affiliation or such characteristics as skin color and facial features.  Implicit in this terminology is the assumption that the perpetrator of racism and discrimination holds more power than the victim.

In her 1983 article entitled “Empowerment for Our Clients and Ourselves,” Elaine Pinderhughes addresses the pervasive influence of race, ethnicity, and power in cross-cultural treatment encounters.  The following definitions of power, powerlessness, and empowerment are adapted from this article.

Power:  The capacity to influence the forces that affect one’s life for one’s own benefit.

Powerlessness:  The inability to obtain or to utilize resources to achieve individual or collective goals.  Powerlessness is painful to victims; when people feel powerless, they behave in ways designed to bring a sense of power.

Empowerment:  The ability and capacity to cope constructively with the forces that undermine and hinder coping.  Empowerment suggests the ability to control one’s own destiny.

(Definitions of power, powerlessness and empowerment adapted from Pinderhughes, Elaine B., “Empowerment for Our Clients and Ourselves.”  Social Casework, The Journal of Contemporary Social Work, June 1983, as reprinted by Spaulding for Children, The Curriculum for Cultural Competence in Child Welfare, 1994)

Furthermore, empowerment implies the following qualities:

▶ Having decision-making power.

▶ Having access to information and resources.

▶ Having a range of options from which to make choices (not just yes/no, either/or).

▶ A feeling that the individual can make a difference.

▶ Not feeling alone; feeling part of a group.

▶  The capacity to effect change in one’s life and one’s community.

(Adapted from Chamberlain, Judi, “A Working Definition of Empowerment,” Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, Spring 1997, Volume 20, Number 4)

Cultural Humility is the “ability to maintain an interpersonal stance that is other-oriented (or open to the other) in relation to aspects of cultural identity that are most important to the [person].

(Source: Hook, J.N. (2013). Cultural Humility: Measuring openness to culturally diverse clients. Journal of Counseling Psychology.)

Culturally Competent Practice:  The practitioner’s commitment to provide culturally competent services, an awareness and acceptance of cultural differences, an awareness of one’s own cultural values, an understanding of what occurs in cross-cultural interactions, and a basic knowledge about the culture of the people with whom one is working, and an ability to adapt practice skills to fit that culture.

(Source:  Cross, Terry L.; Brazon, Barbara J.; Dennis, Karl W.; Isaacs, Mareasa R., “Towards a Culturally Competent System of Care: A Monograph on Effective Services for Minority Children Who are Severely Emotionally Disturbed.”  CASSP Technical Assistance Center, Georgetown University, 1989.)