Multiculturalism And By Providing Valuable Tools And Insights For Working With Latino Families

The decision between the Therapist and Latino client is a remarkable example of the importance of being sensitize and culturally competent. The therapist appeared to have inadvertently added to the client’s stress which potentially negatively affect the worker-client relationship as well as the intervention process. My initial response to the dialog was that of confusion. Although I tried to empathize with the counselor’s method of getting the young lady to take responsibility for her actions. I totally disagreed with his lack of insensitivity to the client’s indirect message. The young lady was trying to convey her feelings about her experiences as a Latino woman. He did not take inconsideration that although humans often have similar stories.

The minority individual experiences feelings of discontent and discomfort with group views that may be quite rigid in the resistance and immersion stage. A Latino individual that may form a deep relationship with a person outside their culture may experience considerable pressure from his or her culturally similar peers to break off the relationship because that person is the “enemy.” However, the personal experiences of the individual at

When it comes to identifying the Latino’s population by a type of skin color most would consider themselves as Caucasian while a few identify themselves as Black. Many others associate themselves with indigenous race while others are increasingly identifying themselves as “other”. Their origins range from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Guatemala. Notable differences among the Latino groups center on the aspects of language refinement, educational status, cultural values and attitudes toward mental health treatment (Brice, 2001).

Culturally competent counselors are aware that clients from European American backgrounds come from a heterogeneous culture. Therefore, it is important for us to be aware of ways to increase multicultural competence when working with European American clients. Essentially, it is important for me to understand that the differences of how a client views their ethnic identity, cultural values, and other personalized beliefs will allow me to best serve European clients as individuals (Hays & Erford, 2014).

The Latino community, from immigrating to United States born Latinos are often known to be depressed. Depression is a medical illness that causes a constant feeling of sadness and lack of interest, it affects how the person feels, behaves and thinks. Many Latinos rely on their extended family, community, traditional healers, or churches for help during a health crisis. As a result, many Latinos with mental illnesses often go without professional mental treatment. But why is it that Latinos are so reluctant to receiving help? Sheila Dichoso states that, “there are only 29 Latino mental-health professionals for every 100,000 Latinos in the United States, compared to 173 non-Hispanic white providers

Many Latinos in the U.S. are descendants of Mexican people who lived in the Southwest when it was taken as plunders of war or acquired in a series of land sales. In many cases, their ancestors became Americans not by their own choice. Almost all other American Latinos or their ancestors migrated here from Latin America in search of a better life and opportunities. As a group, Latinos represent a combination of several ethnic backgrounds, including European,

This paper will be addressing the differences between American and Latino culture. American culture is an individualistic culture in which everyone tries to be unique from one another and more successful. Success in the American culture typically means being wealthy. Americans make decisions based off of their own personal needs unlike Latino culture. Latino culture is based off of collectivism where the family is the most important aspect in their lives. Latinos are more likely to make decisions based off of the best interest of their families not necessarily themselves. The primary language Americans speak is English whereas Latino Americans typically speak Spanish. One thing that both cultures share is the importance of a good education.

In the United States, the Latino American population has risen by over 40% within the past decade and accounts for over 17.1% of the Nations society. In 2050, the Latino Community is expected to make up nearly one-fourth of the population and 2/3 of the U.S. Hispanics are from the Mexican-American Subgroup. In the United States, there has been extensive research examining the prevalence of varying psychiatric disorders among the Latino Hispanic Communities. There are many deeply rooted and socioeconomic factors that may contribute to the diagnosis, treatment, and outcome of psychiatric disorders. Example factors, such as reception of immigrations, history of immigration, experiences involving discrimination, and strength of an ethnic community, are just to name a few. Due to the expansion of the Latino and Hispanic minorities in the United States, this has become a major challenge for today’s healthcare system.

Historians are still unclear on when the first Latinos appeared in North America. The most prevalent theory is that they were nomadic hunters who came from the Asia mainland and across the then frozen Bering Straight into Alaska. Regardless of their origins their main region is now the Americas, both North and South and it is expected that the Latino population in the United States will increase by 40% in the next ten years (US Census 2010). Their culture and society is steeped in tradition and understanding and appreciating their culture is imperative for any person working in the social services field.

One of the major issues Hispanics encounter is acculturation. Acculturation deals with a merging of cultures or even borrowing traits from another culture. Akins, Mosher, Smith and Gauthier (2008) explain that “acculturation stress refers to societal pressures that force immigrants to alter their lifestyles, behaviors and the way they think about themselves”. When treating Hispanics, one must be careful not to push one’s ideals as to how one believes, pressing the client to act or change their

First of all, let’s exchange the term Latino for a much more geographical one; to include as many people as possible. The word Ibero-America is widely used when referring to Latin America in a geographical manner: It encompasses any country that once was a territory of Portugal of Spain regardless of their language. There are more than 800 different native languages in Ibero-America. Saying Latino or Hispanic excludes these ethnic groups. According to the anthropologist Jose Matos Mar, They include the Totonaco (with around 200.000 that live exclusively in México and speak 11 languages) and the Mayans (which inhabit Mexico and Guatemala constituting the larges indigenous group of the region with 6,500.000 members that speak more than 68 languages) (1993 pp. 155-234). Now, we focus on the way Ibero-Americans see each other. Francisco Lizcano Fernandez talks about sixth main ethnical categories, including indigenous

The purpose of chapter 11 in Lum (2011) is to discuss cultural competence work with Latino Americans. The growth of the Latino population in the United States has been greatly increasing. As of 2008, 15.1% of the United States population is Latino. Some concerns that elderly Latinos may face are: “family roles, health, caregiving, end of life issues, protective factors, and effective interventions” (p. 309). Many of the Central American Latino grandparents have not completed high school, which has left them unemployed. Social workers who serve this group, should become more aware of the historical discrimination that this population has faced.

The most that struck me about the myth of the Latinos was stereotypes and how these cause prejudice against this people. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary define stereotypes as “to believe unfairly that people or things with a particular characteristic are the same”. As we all know we live in a society full of stereotypes about Latinos, because they are mostly seen as vulgar, uneducated and very sensual individuals. Latinos are commonly rejected and criticized, in other countries like United States. I disagree with the stereotypes about Latinos, because stereotypes are absurd generalizations created mostly by the media, it creates prejudices and discrimination, and also leads to pessimism and devaluation of culture.

Latino/Hispanic Americans cover a much wider demographic then believed. Latino/Hispanic Americans consist of; Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Guatemalan American to name a few. Latino/Hispanic Americans are the largest ethnic group in the United States. The Latino/Hispanic culture is very different than ours. Their culture differs in economics, politics, family traditions, family structure, religion, education, language, fashion, art, music, dancing, and food. As natural born Americans in the United States it is important for us to learn about the different cultures migrating into the United States. Many United States citizens have a hard time understanding other cultures; being culturally insensitive is a common theme in the United

Multicultural group counseling takes place when a counselor and/or clients are from differing cultural, race, and/or ethnicity groups. Due to the significant demographic changes that are occurring in the United States, multiculturalism is becoming increasingly important. When acting as a multicultural group counselor, it is important to modify techniques to reflect the cultural differences of the client, be prepared to deal with difficulties during the counseling process, and understand the way culturally diverse people conceptualize their problems as well how they resolve them (Gladding, 2012). In order to be an effective multicultural counselor, it is important that one is aware of their cultural heritage, understands how their cultural background affects their attitudes, values, and beliefs, recognizes the limitations of their multicultural expertise and/or competency, and identify the root of their discomfort with different clients (Gladding, 2012). One can implement these through three key aspects Gladding (2012) outlined in his book and effective leadership skills.