Examples Of Multicultural Values

Perspectives of Multicultural Values

In a multicultural context, people should be able to recognise the complexity and distinction of cultures and value the diversity of beliefs and values. Diversity also includes individual differences such as age, gender, sexual orientation, religion and physical ability or disability. Multiculturalism refers to a term which indicates any relationship between and within two or more contrary groups whereas cultural diversity the term used to explains the spectrum of differences which presents among groups of people with definable and versatile cultural backgrounds. Through multicultural counselling one would be able to apply suitable approaches and defines goals consistent with the life experiences and cultural

This is due to the existence of within-group and between- group differences. For instance, there are value differences pertaining to socio-economic status or social class. In a multicultural context, for example in Malaysia, it is easier to deal with between-group through counselling process as the between-group differences are more noticeable and easily recognised than the within-group differences. Between –group difference in Malaysia refers to the multi-ethnic groups in Malaysia, there are distinct value differences between the Malays, Chinese, and Indians. Whereas, the within-group differences refers to some value differences due to differences in age, gender, religion and education. For instance, older Malays have different values on religion than younger Malays and this may affect the way they think, feel and act thus producing within-group differences. Therefore it is important for those in counselling profession to be aware of the cultural distinction. For example, it is common for counsellors to assume that self-disclosure is essential for the therapeutic process to work. However, in some cultures, it is not acceptable to share personal problems because this will give wrong perception about their family. For instance,

This helps in diversity-sensitive counselling which introduces the concept that includes age, culture, disability, education level, ethnicity, gender, language, physique, race, religion, residential location, sexual orientation, socioeconomic situation and trauma (Corey et al., 2010). From this perspective, practising counsellors should be able to be multiculturally competent professionals in order to recognise their practices as ethical. In order to provide proper aid American Psychological Association has established specific guidelines in 2003 Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice, and Organizational Change for Psychologists (APA, 2003). Besides from being an ethical reference, these guidelines are also published to aid psychologists to increase their knowledge and skills in multicultural education, training, research, practice and organisational