Reflecting on My Cultural Identity and Biases
Self-awareness is a critical skill to hone as a behavioral health worker. Understanding how individual traits, cultural influences, and life experience shape perspective and constantly assessing one's thought processes in order to remain as objective as possible can be difficult but is necessary from an ethical standpoint. A lot of harm can be done if personal bias goes unchecked, intentional or not. This paper will define cultural bias and discusses my personal background, cultural identity, and biases and how they may influence my work.
Cultural Bias
Cultural bias is something that develops over time. First it "points out differences among cultural groups ranging from social values, rules of conduct, taboos, and beliefs, to language, ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, and more" (Gilstein, 2016, para. 2). Then it incorporates these judgments into decision making and behavior, resulting in unfair treatment of those viewed as different. Bias can be both explicit and implicit, intentional and unintentional.
The interesting thing about bias is how and why it develops. Often it is rooted in fear and even denial. People are easily intimidated by things that are different, and they are motivated by acceptance. So, sometimes we pretend to be something we are not in order to fit in. The irony in this is that bias may develop against things that are actually a part of our own makeup. If we are honest, it becomes evident that
Implicit bias is bias in one’s judgment or behavior that results from one’s unconscious associations. In order to thoroughly discuss implicit bias, implicit associations must first be examined. Implicit associations refer to one’s unconscious associations between a group and how one feels about said group. For example, a person may subconsciously associate straight people as “normal” and homosexuals as “wrong”. They may have this unconscious association even if they do not express this opinion
Implicit bias plays a significant role in today’s society, whether the members realize it or not. The online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy says,” ‘Implicit bias’ is a term of art referring to a relatively unconscious and relatively automatic features of prejudiced judgement and social behavior” (Brownstein 2015). Implicit biases are often based on stereotypes. Stereotypes, as defined by OpenStax, are “oversimplified ideas about groups of people” (OpenStax College 2015:248). Implicit biases can be problematic for many reasons. One way implicit biases are troublesome is due to the fact that it is unconscious, so it is usually out of a person’s control. People are often unaware of their own and how they use it. A very common way implicit biases are seen in society is through discrimination. Discrimination is defined as “prejudiced action against a group of people” (OpenStax College 2015:248). If a man and a woman are considered as potentials for being hired, the employer may have an implicit bias either towards or against men or women influencing them to hire one over the other based on their gender. This exemplifies a modern concern of gender discrimination as well. Implicit biases can come in many forms from gender, race, weight, sexuality, and many more. These factors can influence an individual’s treatment of others if they have significant bias. In society, these implicit biases can negatively influence minority and other groups and lead to inequality.
There is a Mexican man that enters with the rest of his family. They eat beans, rice, flour tortillas and etc. The family does there every day routine, the dad wakes up at six- thirty to go to work in his truck. The children go to school and the mother stays at home. The things a person does in their all has a reason which goes all back to culture. Culture is what makes up everyone different from one another. Texts such as “What is Cultural Identity?”, “Where Worlds Collide” and “Two ways to Belong” supports that depending on one’s culture it effects one perspective on the world and others.
No matter who you are or what part of the world you are from implicit bias are a constant issue in society. These tendencies typically stem from structural injustice, implicit bias, and personal discretion. Structural injustice is when a category of people are associated with an insufficient status when comparing to other groups of people engaging in the same actions. Implicit bias are stances and stereotypes that affect our comprehension, actions and decisions held by our unconscious manner. These bias are involuntarily and are done without individuals awareness or intentional control. Everyone is exposed to these biases at a young age through the media, parents, and teachers. Each individual holds possession of implicit bias whether they
Any individual on any given day can display subtle biases; these biases are generally automatic, meaning they are done in a manner that can be unbeknownst to the individual who has acted upon them. Subtle biases bring discrimination to the surface while exposing the true nature of certain individuals. Examples Mexicans drink a lot, have
“You are a racist!” is a phrase that produces anxiety and triggers defensive mindsets, especially in work environments. Are you racist? Are you sexist? Are you bias? The answers to these questions might not be as stress-free to answer as you believe. Is it possible to be biased without the intent to be biased? Yes. There are two different types of biases; explicit bias and implicit bias. Explicit bias is when you consciously believe that certain races, genders, or religions are inferior. Implicit bias is when you think that you are unbiased but actually perform unconscious bias actions. Recognizing implicit bias is no easy undertaking which is why there have been theoretical attempts to avert implicit bias before it materializes. In the modern business world, unintentional prejudiced actions happen every day. In his paper “Context and the Ethics of Implicit Bias,” Michael Brownstein attempts to find a solution to these critical issues. In this essay, I will attempt to explain the theories behind the three ‘ethics of implicit bias’ and what problems arise in each situation according to Brownstein. I will then describe the advanced contextualist approach of Brownstein’s and why I consider his strategy to be the most effective in business settings through my own personal experiences.
6. Implicit bias is the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner. It is our honest opinion about something, even if we didn’t know that was our opinion.
Implicit bias is defined as, “a positive or negative mental attitude toward a person, thing, or group that an individual holds at an unconscious level.” People have preconceived ideas about a group and judge them based on how they are portrayed in various forms of socially media.
Racial Biases have specifically come to the forefront in recent times for a multitude of reasons. As research has shown, most racial biases are often not the result of overt racism, more Implicit biases. Implicit Bias describes the automatic association people make between groups of people and stereotypes about those groups (Keesee, 2015).
Bias is the conviction that with people from no less than one race are below average contrasted with people from various races. Generally, this perspective furthermore incorporates the conviction that one 's own race is superior to anything distinctive races. People are
Regardless, bias will form due to one reason or another. There are several forms of bias one can have towards ethnicity, sex, weight, religion, and/or culture. Everyone has a bias opinion on certain stances, but there are ways and certain thought processes that can be used to challenge a negative assumption to a neutral view.
Bias, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is an inclination of temperament or outlook, or a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgement. We face bias in our everyday lives when dealing with all aspects of life and not necessarily the criminal justice system. As a part of society, like conflict, bias helps our society function. While not always in a positive sense, bias does have a place in society that helps it function the way we know it today. Bias in society can be compared or categorized under the sociological perspective of Functionalism. The sociological theory of Functionalism is essentially when all aspects of society that are interdependent contribute to the functioning existence of society as a whole. If there was no bias in society,
The purpose of this essay is to critically reflect on the new ideas I have learnt throughout this semester, ideas that has changed the way I understand the experiences of the Aboriginal and Torres strait islander people. The essay will also link my understanding of how cultural identity can influence health equity, using the CATSINaM’s definition of cultural safety.
All people were born equal, but discrimination excites everywhere, especially racial discrimination. The effects and consequences of racial discrimination are extremely serious, the victims may suffer from physical or emotional problems, even commit suicide. A report from CDC shows that suicide was the sixteenth leading cause of death for Blacks of all ages and the third leading cause of death for young Black males ages 15–24(CDC). In most of the time, bias appears at the time when people communicate. Bias itself is nothing but an attitude, however, the influences of it are extremely serious, including effects on people’s cognation, judgement and behavior. Without properly preventions, the bias would eventually evolve into discrimination.
Cultural identity is the basis in which identification is used to express different aspects pertaining to identity and heritage. A person's cultural identity may be created by social organization, as well as traditions and customs within their lives. The two aspects that construct my cultural identity are the frequent chores I must complete every day in order to fulfill my behavioral expectations, and the youth group I attend weekly. These aspects are important to my family and me. Therefore, my identity has an immeasurable effect on my upbringing into this multi-cultural world I live in.