THE POWER OF OUR STORIES: A participatory conference on culture
July 16, 2013
Ko`olau Ballroom
Framing Statements of
Poka Laenui
(plaenui@hawaiianperspectives.org)
Executive Director, Hale Na`au Pono
Borrowing from bits and pieces of
HNP’s
Training materials
Inasmuch as spiritual development is the supreme end of human existence and the
highest expression thereof, it is the duty of man to serve that end with all his strength
and resources.
Since culture is the highest social and historical expression of that spiritual
development, it is the duty of man to preserve, practice and foster culture by every
means within his power.
Portion of the Preamble, American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man
Organization of American States, Res. XXX 1948, Rev. 1965
Definitions:
CULTURE
The philosophy, ideas, behavior patterns, customs, beliefs, values, skills, arts, religions,
preferences and prejudices of a people.
CULTURAL DIVERSITY
The rich combining of cultural characteristics among and between people, coloring the
community and world environment with a panorama of choices.
CULTURAL COMPETENCE
The ability of individuals and systems to respond respectfully and effectively to people of
all cultures in a manner that recognizes, affirms, and values the worth of individuals,
families and communities and protects and preserves the dignity of each.
Why practice cultural diversity and competency?
It just happens to be a matter of:
a) Accessibility: Accessibility is far more than merely removal of architectural or
physical design barriers. True accessibility means to remove all barriers, to the extent
possible, whether they be political, economic, educational, cultural, religious, sex biased,
etc. In this case, we take a look at removal of cultural barriers for those who come from
cultural patterns outside of Western norms.
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b) Appropriateness of service; In the field of mental health, we have seen
repeated countless number of times where the failure of honoring the culture of a client
can become disastrous to the plan for recovery.
c) Quality of service such that a diagnosis, treatment plan, and outcome measures
give appropriate consideration to the cultural patterns of the person served otherwise we
end up with crap, wrapped up in nice words and fine reports.
d) Human Rights, especially to equal treatment which are to be accorded to all
individuals and groups, irrespective of their cultural differences;
e) Expanding diversity of cultural patterns requiring service providers to be
more attuned to the development of practices which responds to such expanding
diversity; (compare in the last 10 years, the explosion of cultural changes, in ethnicity, in
generational changes, in new appreciation for sexual orientations and developing rights)
f) Continually challenging service provider’s tendency toward an ethnocentric
approach to their field of practice; and,
g) People’s right to choose, such that clients are given choices of treatment forms
from among practitioners who are respectful, understanding, and honoring of other
peoples’ cultures.
What are some of the cultural patterns that impact our practice?
There are three primary areas to begin this search. They can be found by
following the first three golden rules:
First is within the institutionalized
Golden Rule 1) He who has the gold
systems we operate. These cultural patterns
rules.
emerge from the legal, financial, and
traditional history of the bureaucracy we
have inherited. They are found reflected in contractual arrangements between service
providers and HMO, insurance companies, or responsible governmental agencies. They
are also reflected in the service providers’ professional standards, in the legal
requirements, or in the guidelines of accrediting organizations.
These patterns are also found in the servicing agency themselves, including the
history of such agency’s development, the policies developed by its governing board, or
the practices within the agency. The agency’s name or mission statement may be very
informative, or it could be misleading. What is the organization “Teach or America”?
What was the Peace Corp really about?
There are times when, in order to make effective and long term improvements in
culturally competent service, changes must be made with those who hold the gold.
An example of bringing about cultural diversity at this level is in an agency’s
selection of members of its board of directors. A board may give consideration to the
selection of its incoming members based upon the community it serves and the changing
cultural patterns within that community. It may want to consider new directions to take
and the new cultural perspectives it will have to have reflected in its membership as it
moves in such directions.
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The staff an agency selects will also tell you of the cultural direction of that
agency, whether in line staff or in leadership positions. Staff selection should take into
consideration the same concerns as its selection of the board members. These
considerations should not over shadow the rules regarding basic qualifications and
experience as well as the prohibitions of County, State, and Federal discriminatory
practices or the constraints of fiscal and program limitations. But the very elevation of
academic credentials above the community involvement and grass roots connection can
be indicative of the organizational prejudice or cultural preference.
Other examples may be found in how the organization designs its programs, how
it amends its practices to comport to a culturally diverse form of service, how it names its
buildings and services, how it identifies its celebrations and observations, and how it
relates with the community and the variety of cultural nests within the community. One
could also look at how a service organization advocates at the legislature or within
government agencies to obtain a reading on its cultural directions.
The second place to find cultural
Golden Rule 2) Do unto others as
patterns is with the individual service
you would have them do unto you.
provider. Each service provider carries a
cultural baggage founded upon one’s early
experience with one’s family, one’s eating habits, appreciation of beauty,
philosophical/religious beliefs, level and type of education, life experiences, expectations,
etc. One’s introspection, alone or with another, may help to confront, expose, and
identify such patterns, elevating as much as possible these cultural patterns from a
subconscious to a conscious level. By “knowing thyself”, the practitioner will be able to
reach a higher level of conscious application of culturally competent practice,
appreciating one’s own service to person served in the light of understanding one’s self.
This kind of introspection can occur at one’s initial hiring as part of an orientation into
the organization. It may also be included as part of an annual review, as the organization
considers its own cultural sensitivity. Or it can be done at a conference, or in a dark
corner, or when confronted by a client.
The third place to find cultural patterns Golden Rule 3) Do unto others as
affecting service delivery to a client or patient
they would have you do unto them.
is with the people being served. Their cultural
patterns should be understood and used in all
aspects of service to them from their initial interview and assessment to the development
of treatment plans to outcome measurements.
Customers must be understood from a comprehensive rather than a singular
approach. A customer is more than an individual. A customer is a member of a family.
He may be isolated or unified with the family at the present time, but the family should
be considered an important aspect of understanding the cultural patterns which impact the
person served. He may be of a particular religion, have strong political views on current
issues, follows a sport with abandonment.
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Below, let’s take a look at the paths upon which cultures are rooted?
A: Creation Stories:
Book of Genesis, the Old Testament – an approach common to the major
monotheistic religions of the Jews, Christians, and Islam.
From the orient, especially the influence of China, the concept of Wu chi and Tai
Chi, from Daoism
Hawaiian and other people of the Pacific – Kumulipo
Indic – Mahabharata , the Sanskrit Story out of India, the story of the Humanity.
ETC.
B: The levels of cultures:
Surface – “accommodations, folklore, survey”
Internalized- Subconscious Kungkung’s story of Poi, Pua’s Eye surgery
Deep Culture – DIE – OLA paradigms, Yin – Yang, “Se la vie”, “Que Sera Sera”
C: Distinctions between Religion and Culture:
How Buddhism changes according to cultures – Tibetan expression with its
strong influence of Lamaism (taken from Mongolia) within Buddhism,
How Christianity differ from its practice in Catholic El Salvador as opposed to
Episcopalians in S. Africa, or Hawaiian Pentecostals.
D: Generational changes while remaining within the same ethnicity:
Japanese, Chinese and Puerto Ricans in Hawaii as compared with the cultures
(and languages) of those recently arrived from those respective homelands.
Hawaiian Culture and the changes of that culture along the generations.
E: Culture and Class – Economic, Social, Educational
Culture of the Homeless, of the Poor, of the Middle Income, of the Rich;
Culture along the Social plane, along the educational plane,
F: Ethnicity - Race defined “cultures”Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese, Haole, English, American, Black, Spanish,
G: Cultures affected by “geography and society”
African, Afro-American, Afro-American mixed with Native Americans, Southern
Afro-American v. Northern Afro-American,
H: Others – The drug culture, the political culture of Hawaii, Gambling culture, the
Underworld, Cops, Military, Culture of the “disabled,” Cultures around sexual
orientations and liberations
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Another Frame - Deep Culture Perspective:
There are cultural codes in the collective sub-conscious of all societies which
defines within that society what is right and wrong, what is moral and natural, what
forms of behavior is appropriate in given circumstances. These codes derive from
the myths and legends, from the deep national memories, from the environmental
conditions, from the internal conflicts and from a multitude of other processes
which have taken place over long periods of time in a society. These codes are
generally unwritten. They do not form a constitutive document or are in some
explicit statement. They are generally unspoken. But they are so ingrained in a
society that they become the driving force of the society. You can oftentimes see
them in the routines and habits of people, in the fears and pleasures of a people, in
their dreams and expectations and the systems of reasoning.
These codes create the deep culture of a society.
The deep culture lies at the foundation of a society. Sitting immediately upon that
deep culture is a wide social system including economic relations, health care, families,
shelter and clothing practices, food and eating customs, education forms and
environmental attitudes. A political system develops upon and protects the social system
and a security, usually police or military system upon that, protecting, of course, the
political system.
Let’s examine the Hawaii society from the perspective of this ‘deep culture”
optic.
The culture which governs the formal systems of Hawaii: Education,
Economics, Governance, Bureaucracy, Environment, Judiciary and Law, Medicine,
Social Services,
D-Domination (Superiority, Power, Financial Wealth, Title)
I – Individualism (Singularity, Extracting from the whole, Seeing the tree but not the
forest, Myopia, compartmentalization, silo-sization)
E- Exclusion (Rejecting the Other, Intolerance)
The culture which governs the informal systems of Hawaii: Families, friends,
local neighboring, school during recess,
O - `Olu`olu (compatible, comfortable, easy-going, respectful, kind and gentle)
L – Lokahi (Group consciousness, Long term views)
A – Aloha (Inclusive, loving and kind relationships, kokua, concern for all others)
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Another Frame: The ABC Triangle
Attitudes, Behavior and Conditions
The five Golden Rules
Review and Summary:
I: He who has the gold rules,
II: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,
III: Do unto others as they would have you do unto them,
IV: Help others do for themselves,
V: Transcend the differences between self and others.
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