What is it about?
This paper challenges some of the methods widely adopted by professionals to work across cultures. Power, discrimination, racism and colonization are some of the issues discussed in this context, and the need for more inclusive and equitable relationships as the basis of cross-cultural interaction is emphasized. Culturally Dynamic Partnership is explored as a framework of practice, and some of the key elements of these kinds of partnerships are delineated.
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Why is it important?
Professionals in fields such as mental health, psychology, social work and community development do not work in a power neutral environment. This is particularly true of work in countries with a history of colonization, and the complex power differentials that exist within them. All interactions between professionals and the people that they work with can fail to produce positive results if these issues are not addressed, and all parties to the interactions do not grow through the process. This paper presents insights into ways of developing better relationships that can support the diverse ways in which individual, familial and community issues are addressed.
Perspectives
I have worked across cultures for several decades, and my work in Australia over the last two decades has been particularly focused on working with refugees, migrants and with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. I have been a trainer and practitioner of frameworks such as Cultural Competence and have witnessed the dis-empowerment that can follow on from inadequately trained professional workers who do not address issues of power, discrimination and racism in the course of their work. This paper draws on my experience of what works to articulate a framework of practice that develops partnerships rather than dependencies or exclusion.
Narayan Gopalkrishnan
James Cook University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Cultural Competence and Beyond: Working Across Cultures in Culturally Dynamic Partnerships, February 2019, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/2516602619826712.
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