SOWK 2501 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Enculturation, Active Listening, Ethnocentrism

• School: Carleton University
• Department: Social Work
• Course: SOWK 2501
• Professor: Kehoe Mcleod Krystal

Document Summary

Culture: a set of customs, traditions, and beliefs. Socially defined: manifested in patterns of language and behaviours and how we interact; these differ between cultures. Provides a framework within which people process information, think, communicate, and behave. To be on guard that perceptions, communication and actions are not unduly influenced by ethnocentrism, enculturation and stereotyping. The opportunity for misunderstanding is great when individuals from different cultures exist. Verbal: same words may have different meanings within different cultures. Non-verbal: without an understanding of the meaning of non-verbal communication symbols (ex. facial expression, gestures) it"s easy to misinterpret signs. Different cultural groups have different methods of gathering data and making decisions. Orientation to data: north america= positivist paradigm; hard data", dialogue oriented is other cultures is a thing; more attentive to relationships. Decision-making: is the data in a form they value in the culture. Tradition: change oriented culture vs tradition oriented, some cultures may not like change.