Cultural Diversity
Law Enforcement I
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Cultural Diversity
Cultural Diversity –
differences in age,
ethnic heritage,
gender, physical
ability/qualities, and
sexual orientation
 Cultural Diversity –
Tips for
communicating with
cultural awareness
Video
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Key Terms

Culture: an integrated pattern of learned human
behavior traits including thoughts,
communication, actions, beliefs, and values; the
institutions of an ethnic, religious, or social
group; a body of learned beliefs, traditions,
principles, and guides for behavior that are
shared among members of a particular group
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Key Terms (continued)
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Ethnicity: sharing a
strong sense of
identity with a
particular religious,
racial, or social
group
Race: a biological
concept that defines
groups of human
beings based on a
set of genetic
characteristics
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Key Terms (continued)

Cultural sensitivity: the ability to be
open to learning about and acceptance
of different cultural groups
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Key Terms (continued)
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Racism: a belief that racial
differences produce an
inherent superiority in a
particular race
Stereotypes: a
generalization of
characteristics that is
applied to all members of a
cultural group
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Key Terms (continued)

Internalized oppression: a subconscious
belief in negative stereotypes about a
group that results in an attempt to fulfill
those stereotypes and a projection of
those stereotypes onto the members of
that group

Heterosexism: a belief in the inherent superiority
of heterosexuality over all other patterns and
thereby the right to dominance
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Key Terms (continued)
Discrimination: to
make a difference in
treatment on a basis
other than individual
character
 Prejudice: an attitude,
opinion, or feeling
formed without
adequate prior
knowledge, thought, or
reason

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Key Terms (continued)
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Multiculturalism: the recognition and
acknowledgement that society is pluralistic. In
addition to the dominant culture, there are many
other cultures based around ethnicity, sexual
orientation, geography, religion, gender, and
class
Ethnocentrism: to judge other cultures by the
standards of one’s own, and beyond that, to see
one’s own standards as the true universal way
and the other culture in a negative way
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Key Terms (continued)

Sexism: the belief in the inherent superiority of
one sex (gender) over the other and thereby the
right to dominance
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Dimensions of Culture

Primary Dimensions – there are five
dimensions that form the core of cultural
identity. Social scientists believe that
NONE of these dimensions can be
changed.
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Age
Gender
Physical abilities/qualities
Race
Sexual orientation
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Dimensions of Culture (continued)

Secondary Dimensions of culture can
be altered
 Educational
background
 Geographic location
 Income
 Marital status
 Parental status
 Religious beliefs
 Work experience
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Theories of Prejudice

Cultural Transmission Theory
 Stereotypes
and social distance
 Children
are taught stereotypes
 Social distance: the desired distance that
their group sets on contact with other
groups. Social distance begins when certain
traits are identified as “good” or “bad” and
then linked with stereotypes or particular
groups
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Theories of Prejudice (continued)

Personality Theory
 Frustration
and aggression
 Asserts
that social frustration caused by
struggles for power within society causes
aggression by members of one social group
against members of another group
 Social scapegoat: lower level of power
structure
 Cognitive dissonance: thoughts
(social/moral) that sharply conflict with
each other
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Theories of Prejudice (continued)

Group Identification Theory
 Ethnocentrism
causes people to gather
in groups that view outside groups as
different and inferior
 Strong
communities through familial and
social ties based on intimacy
 Ethnocentrism causes prejudice
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Theories of Discrimination

How can discrimination cause
prejudice?
 Children
learn to discriminate before
they learn to be prejudiced
 Preexisting discrimination can create a
“vicious circle” of discrimination
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Theories of Discrimination
(continued)

Situational Pressure Theory
 People’s
actions under pressure in
particular situations do not always
match their professed beliefs and
attitudes
 The gap between belief and action is
called creed/deed discrepancy
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Theories of Discrimination
(continued)

Group Gains Theory
 Dominant
social groups discriminate
against subordinate groups because the
individual members of the dominant
groups enjoy concrete gain as a result
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Theories of Discrimination
(continued)

Institutional Structure Theory
 Steady
decline in the living standards of
racial and ethnic minorities
 Shame combined with prejudice results
in discrimination
 Segregated schools/neighborhoods
emerge
 Built into the structure of society
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Culture vs. Subculture
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Culture: the sum total of the learned behavioral
traits, values, beliefs, language, laws, and
technology characteristics of the members of a
particular society
Cultural relativity: belief that no culture can be
judged by the standards of another and that
every culture must be approached on its own
terms
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Culture vs. Subculture (continued)

Subcultures: small groups of people within a
society whose values differ from those of the
majority
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Culture vs. Subculture (continued)

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Counter-Culture: made of
subcultures that sharply
challenge and reject some
of the norms and
expectations of the
dominant culture
Contracultures: social
groups that have developed
values and models of
behaviors which are in
continual conflict with
prevailing culture
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Resources
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North Texas Council of Governments (Cultural Sensitivity Course)
http://www.nctcog.org/
Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (TCLEOSE)
http://www.tcleose.state.tx.us/
Arlington Police Academy
http://www.arlingtonpd.org/index.asp?nextpg=academy/default.htm
0887441858, Nature of Communication Disorders in Culturally and Linguistically
Diverse Populations, O.L. Taylor, San Diego, CA: College-Hill Press, 1986
Do an Internet search for the following:
 80's Trailers - "The Breakfast Club" (1985)
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