Providing a Service In A Culturally
Diverse Society
Why??
 Demographic reality
 Multicultural Policy – State/Cth/Local
 Good Practice
 Legal Obligations – eg. Anti
Discrimination legislation
Why Do It? Because
Diversity Impacts…..
1.
Culturally specific assumptions embedded in practice –
notions of public library/borrowing etc
2
Communication – language barriers, interpreters, non
verbal communication
3
Taking cultural factors into account in providing services
– what is ‘culture’/what does ‘culturally appropriate
mean’
4
Administrative and procedural problems – slower pace
when interpreters are used/budgets/planning
5
Knowledge and understanding of the library system –
previous experiences/expectations impact
6
Specific issues for refugees/torture and trauma
survivors
Earth's Village
If we could shrink the Earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people,
with all existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look like this:
•
57 Asians
•
21 Europeans
•
14 from the Western Hemisphere (north and south)
•
8 Africans
Of these:
•
51 would female, 49 would be male
•
70 would be non-white, 30 white
•
50 would be non-Christian, 30 Christian
•
50% of the entire world's wealth would be in the hands of only 6
people and all 6 would be citizens of the United States
•
80 would live in substandard housing
•
70 would be unable to read
•
50 would suffer from malnutrition
•
One would be near death
•
One would be near birth
•
Only one would have a college education
•
One would own a computer
At the 2001 Census, Australia had
18,769,074 people. Of this
population:
• 43% were either born overseas or had
at least one parent born overseas.
This represents just over eight million
Australians
• Over 200 languages were spoken,
with the most common being English,
Italian, Greek, Cantonese, Arabic,
Vietnamese and Mandarin.
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Individual: Understanding
Our Identities
DIVERSITY –
ABOUT US NOT THEM
Contrast Between
Individualism and Collectivism
Individualism:
1.
Fostering independence and
individual achievement and
self sufficiency
2.
Promoting self expression,
individual thinking, personal
choice
3.
Associated with egalitarian
relationships and flexibility in
roles
4.
Understanding the physical
world as knowable apart
from its meaning for human
life
5.
Associated with private
property, individual
ownership
Collectivism:
1.
Fostering interdependence
and group success
2.
Promoting adherence to
norms, respect for
authority/elders, group
consensus
3.
Associated with stable,
hierarchical roles
(dependent on gender,
family background, age)
4.
Understanding the physical
world in the context of its
meaning for human life
5.
Associated with shared
property, group ownership
Managing Diversity:
Personal/Interpersonal
Competencies
• Understanding Diversity and its impact at all
levels on you and others
• Understand personal lens and paying
attention to the interpretive lens of others
• Understand personal values, beliefs and their
impact on providing services
• Explore the impact of conscious and
unconscious prejudice upon decision making
The Reticular Activating
System
Stereotypes are a cognitive component
of human interactions
Prejudice is the evaluative component
Discrimination is the behavioural
component
Racism/isms is the institutionalised
component
Communication Challenges
might arise from:
Differing assumptions and values regarding the
situation and roles of the parties
Cultural differences in structuring information
Different use or understanding of linguistic
symbols or conventions
Insensitivity/misunderstanding to non-verbal
language
Inability to work effectively with an interpreter.
NON VERBAL BEHAVIOUR
CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN NON VERBAL BEHAVIOUR CAN BE
CATEGORISED AS:
1. KINESICS
Movements of various parts of the body. Gestures in one country
may well be inappropriate in another country
2. OCULESICS
Use OR avoidance of eye to eye contact.
3. HAPTICS
Where, how and how often people touch each other while conversing
are culturally determined patterns of behaviour
The web of culture
Famous Global Marketing Mistakes
-Author Anonymous
These are the nominees for the Chevy Nova Award. This is given
out in honor of the GM's fiasco in trying to market this car in
Central and South America. ‘Nova’ means, of course, in Spanish,
"it doesn't go".
1. The Dairy Association's huge success with the campaign "Got
Milk?" prompted them to expand advertising to Mexico. It was
soon brought to their attention the Spanish translation read "Are
you lactating?"
2. Coors put its slogan, "Turn It Loose," into Spanish, where it was
read as "Suffer From Diarrhea."
3. Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the
following in an American campaign: "Nothing Sucks like an
Electrolux"
4. Clairol introduced the "Mist Stick," a curling iron, into Germany
only to find out that "mist" is slang for manure. Not too many
people had use for the "Manure Stick."
The web of culture
Famous Global Marketing Mistakes (cont)
5. When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used the
same packaging as in the US, with the smiling baby on the label.
Later they learned that in Africa, companies routinely put pictures
on the labels of what's inside, since many people can't read.
6. Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the
name of a notorious porno magazine.
7. Pepsi's "Come Alive With the Pepsi Generation" translated into
"Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back From the Grave" in Chinese.
8. The Coca-Cola name in China was first read as "Kekoukela",
meaning "Bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with
wax", depending on the dialect. Coke then researched 40,000
characters to find a phonetic equivalent "kokou kole", translating
into "happiness in the mouth."
9. Frank Perdue's chicken slogan, "It takes a strong man to make
a tender chicken" was translated into Spanish as "it takes an
aroused man to make a chicken affectionate."
SUMMARY: Providing Appropriate and
Accessible Library Services
• Develop and Maintain profile of
multicultural community
– Differences between migrant and refugee
communities
– Current government terminology: CALD/NESB
– History of the community/settlement
– Avoid homogenising
Determine the type and range of services
and resources required
- access issues – barriers to library services
- understanding of concepts etc
- Provide appropriate signage to facilities,
resources etc
- Cross cultural training for staff/managers
SUMMARY: Providing Appropriate and
Accessible Library Services
• Provide a Range of Multicultural
resources
– Ensure Collection reflects the needs of
the multicultural community
– Promote resources across the community
– develop promotion and advertising
strategies
• Consult with Local Communities re
Needs
- importance of building relationships
Building a Relationship
• importance of credibility
– Using appropriate ‘language’
– Getting naming systems right
– Building trust
• identifying key stakeholders
• observing appropriate protocols
– Elders
– Religious leaders
– Getting permission
• understanding preferred communication channels
– Are ‘meetings’ the best way to proceed
– Importance of face to face for many communities
– Be cognisant of indirect communication
• establishing the parameters
Communication