Cultural Values Dimensions - Essay Example

It is widely believed that that social work competence and confidence often come from many sources such as educational foundation grounded in a knowledge base that includes understanding and applying theory to practice situations; field placements and supervisory relationships; continued training, conferences, workshops; and self-awareness and continued personal development. Of notable concern is the fact that it is quite difficult for a social worker, regardless of content expertise, specialization, or field experiences to be competent without continuing to grow and understand his/her own assumptions, theories, biases, values. As such, this paper has been designed to critically evaluate this assertion and to evaluate how cultural memberships and values shape the discourse of social work. The paper starts by defining the meaning of culture in order to gain a clear understanding of the whole concept. The main part of the paper will discuss how different cultural dimensions impact on our world view with regards to the way we relate and socialise with other people around us. Ivancevich, Konopaske & Matterson (2) define culture as the sum total of the beliefs, rituals, rules, customs, artefacts and institutions that characterise the population of a certain group of people. Culture is learned and it shapes the behaviour of people belonging to a certain group. In most cases, culture is influenced by politics, religion, language and other cultural aspects. Culture derives from the concept of values which is described as guidelines and beliefs that a person uses when confronted with a situation that requires solutions (Ivancevich, Konopaske & Matterson, 3). Values reflect the society’s ideas about what is right and wrong and they shape the behaviour of the people belonging to different cultural groups. Another important dimension about culture is that it plays a pivotal role in influencing our perceptions about the world around us. According to Louw & Edwards (162), perception is often influenced by what we already know and expect, in other words, this has to do with our previous experience in our lives. Factors such as socio-economic status, home language, ethnic background as well as gender influence people to perceive some things differently. From the above definition, I can strongly argue that my group culture has significantly influenced the way I behave as well as perceive the world around me. I closely relate with the other members belong to my group and we share quite a lot of similar identities. I am male and am married with children. To a larger extent, I can say that my behaviour is shaped by the societal values about how men should behave. In in the West, we believe in heterosexuality where a man is expected to marry a woman as his wife. When these people are married, they can conceive children and they can start their own family, and both men and women have their role expectations in terms of gender. Women specifically perform household tasks and they look after children though our society is liberal where women can also seek gainful employment in their own. The other important aspect about our group culture is that we believe in the Christian religion. In performing tasks related to social work, I have realised that we often work with people from diverse cultural background. In order to effectively carryout different tasks in different areas, it is imperative to be well versed with cultural values of different people since they shape their behaviour in different ways. My core value orientations mainly derive from my family background and they have been shaped by the education I have received from different institutions of learning. I believe that life is centred on the way we relate with each other since these people are very important in our lives. In most cases, I have realised that we need the support of other people in order to enjoy our lives. Our success in our workplace is also dependent on the way we relate with other people. To a larger extent, I can attribute the knowledge I have about the world around me to my family. I learnt a lot of different facets of life from my family. I can also safely say that I acquired my first language from my family. This has helped me to interact meaningfully with other people around me. In my group culture, we believe in equality. We believe that in spite of gender differences between males and females, all people are equal. This entails that women can also perform tasks that were previously regarded as the preserve for men only. During these days, women can also join professions such as social work and they can significantly contribute towards the upliftment of the welfare of the people in their respective societies. This is mainly due to the aspect of upholding the principle of equity in our society which is designed in such a way that people derive satisfaction in whatever they do. Basically, equity theory states that what people contribute in a relationship is called an input and the benefit they receive is called an output (Louw & Edwards, 737). People often respond according to their perception of the situation. This has a strong bearing on our cultural values and the way we perceive the world around us. On the other hand, it can be noted that relationships between different people in my society are based on the notion of mutual understanding and respect. Our culture emphasises the importance of respect among different people where the young are expected to respect their elders. The knowledge I have about the society around me has also been shaped by the education I have acquired. I have learnt different aspects about other people’s culture and this has given me the ability to freely choose what I see as good in my life. Likewise, education has emancipated a lot of people to be in a position to enjoy some of the rights such as freedom of choice like abortion. This is a topical issue in different societies. For instance, some religions such as Christianity oppose abortion. On the other hand, Islamic countries view abortion as illegal. For example, in Iran as well as other developing countries, intentional abortion is regarded as illegal (Shahbazi, 3). However, in western cultures in particular, people have the freedom of choice to abort unwanted pregnancies. Therefore, when dealing with this tightly contested topic, it is imperative to understand cultural backgrounds of different people as well as their perceptions about this particular issue. The dominant American cultural values are mainly centred on aspects such as individualism, freedom. To a certain extent justice and equity and equity are advocated though they are not universally applied given that some races such as Afro Americans are still exposed to various injustices of that society. Therefore, the major dominant value in America is related to individualism which is reinforced by various institutions in this particular place. Individualism is another concept in the cultural discourse that shapes the behaviour of many people in the US. According to Ivancevich, Konopaske & Matterson (4), individualism refers to the tendency by people to fend for themselves and their families. It can also be observed that individual initiative and achievement are highly valued where the individual’s relationship with the organization at work is that of independence and freedom. This shapes the way the Americans behave. The concept of freedom significantly shapes the way people behave. For instance, Feud recognised the importance of letting people talk freely about their lives without trying to present a respectable, socially acceptable front (Louw & Edwards, 22). For instance, he discovered that most people most of the time suppress many thoughts images and feelings because they feel ashamed or guilty. However, free association which amounts to personal freedom plays a significant role in overcoming this weakness. In most cases, this kind of behaviour is mainly determined by unconscious wishes and motives that were repressed during childhood. Apparently, these unfulfilled wishes still survive in the unconscious hence the need to use psycho analysis to bring the unconscious wishes to surface which can help in resolving the influence on an individual (Louw & Edwards, 23). In contrast, Americans place more emphasis on their freedom as well as supremacy where most of them believe that their culture is superior to other cultures across the world. Over and above, it can be observed that in order to gain social work competence and confidence, it is imperative for the practitioner to have knowledge about different cultures of the people you will be dealing with. This is important since it helps the practitioners to understand their behaviour as well as their perceptions about the world around them. As discussed above, it can also be noted that cultural values play a pivotal role in shaping the behaviour of people from diverse backgrounds. In order to effectively deal with people belonging to a different group from yours, it is important for you to have a good understanding of their culture and values since these are responsible for shaping their behaviour. Works Cited Ivancevich, John, Robert Konopaske, and Michael Matterson. Organizational Behaviour and Management. New York: McGraw Hill-Irwin, 2011. Print. Louw, Dap, and David Edwards. Psychology. Joharnsburg; Lexicon Publishers, 1993. Print. Shahbazi, Shirin. ‘The consequences of unsafe abortion : a qualitative study.’ Journal of Advanced Nursing 68.6 (June 2012): 1247-1255. Print. Read More