Conflicting Cultures: Ethical Dilemmas

In his books on multicultural education, James Banks describes how we all live as part of various microcultures.   Microcultures are the smaller cultural units that exist within a larger macroculture.  Banks states that while there are “overarching values, symbols, and ideations” in the larger cultural structure, “various microcultural groups…may mediate, interpret, reinterpret, perceive and experience” (p. 56) these ideas differently.  One theme that I have seen emerging from different studies that I am working on is the notion of conflict between different microcultures that create ethical dilemmas for individuals.  

During a focus group study with music therapists, several participants brought up ethical dilemmas that occur when their personal values or ideals are in conflict with the families or institutions they are serving.  One participant described how his institution regularly brings in visitors or potential funders into music therapy sessions.  While the institution prioritizes the need for funding and support, the clinician was concerned about the impact on the quality of clinical sessions.  Another music therapist who worked in hospice care mentioned the concerns that arise when family member have different ideas about pain management then what the clinical team would recommend. 

 

In a different study with frequent visitors at a local children’s museum, one mother described her concerns when she saw other parents that she felt were not engaged with their children at the museum.  She felt that parents should be playing with their children rather than using their phones or other technology.   The same parent talked about inviting other neighborhood children to come to the museum with her family to get them out of the house.  This mother seemed to have a clear idea what children need for healthy development and she experienced a dilemma when she did not observe those same behaviors in other families.  

My dissertation study explored the experience of growing up with a sibling with an autism spectrum disorder.  Several of the young adult participants described tensions with their parents when they felt  their parent was not giving their sibling what they needed.  The siblings faced the dilemma of deciding which family member to support—their sibling or their parent.

 

 Within any large, long standing group, there are smaller subgroups.  As we share a common space with each other, it may be important to recognize the variation in values and ideas that occurs within some of these smaller group structures.  The value and ideas that we have form our sense of right and wrong.  Variations in beliefs can create conflict and other ethical dilemmas. 

Banks, J. A. (1999). An Introduction to Multicultural Education. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Race and Culture

In one of my classes we recently watched the HBO Documentary, Little Rock Central: 50 Years Later (2007).  This powerful documentary juxtaposes the school’s history with current challenges.  Over 50 years ago, this school was the focus on tremendous conflict because of the forced segregation of nine African American students during the height of the Civil Rights Movement.  The segregation was representative of the conflict of long standing racial beliefs and demands for change.   Fifty years later, things have changed and yet they have stayed the same.  The documentary shows that although the African American population is now the majority group at the school students of color continue to be marginalized in many ways.  Students and teachers talk about the barriers for African American students to be involved in advanced placement classes or other achievement oriented school activities.   African American students at Little Rock Central are more likely to be in remedial education or struggling with multiple socio-economic and family challenges.

One of the most compelling scenes of the film is when one of the Little Rock Nine,  Minnijean Brown, speaks to a group of current students.  Ms. Brown talks with the group of students about their own self-segregation within the classroom.  Several students claim that they are just sitting by people they know or one person cannot truly make a difference.  Ms. Brown tells the students that they are not making choices.  Their behaviors demonstrate a set of societal standards.  This scene is striking because we see a woman who engaged in such a courageous act as a teenager confront students who live under an assumption that they don’t have the power to change anything.

The documentary is interesting and provocative on many levels.  The story shows how the culture of the local institution is shaped in such a dramatic manner by larger social and legal issues.  The film also shows in dramatic fashion how culture leads to patterns of thinking that are very ingrained into individual beliefs. 

Minnijean Brown reminds us that one person can make a difference.  Her story demonstrates the importance of breaking out of stereotypes.  Her story reminds us all to examine our own belief systems.  Are we just playing out long standing societal patterns?  Are we aware of our own cultural context?

Little Rock Central: 50 Years Later. (2007). HBO Films

Scene: Minnijean Brown talks to a group of current students http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8Or8OBrMzg

Cultural Awareness

Cultural differences are often talked about in terms of obvious variations in practices and behaviors.  My daughter and I traveled to Poland a few years ago.  We experienced many differences in terms of language, food, shopping, and transportation.  Experiencing differences reveals our own context.  We learned about the normative behaviors that we had developed from our own group.  Cultural context, however, is more than a set of behaviors.   

In their book entitled Culture in Special Education, Kalyanpu & Harry (1999) define three levels of cultural awareness: overt, covert, and subtle.  The overt awareness is the level of awareness that my daughter and I experienced during our travels.  We experienced awareness of obvious differences.  With more sustained contact, one reaches a level of covert awareness.  At this level, one becomes aware of some of the underlying structures and expectations of the group.  The subtle level of awareness is characterized by knowledge of the embedded values and beliefs of the group that members of the group may assume are universal ideas. 

Awareness of overt cultural differences is an important starting place, but to develop a deeper understanding of our own context or that of others it is important be willing to look for the richer meaning.  It is easy to look at the surface behaviors, but understanding comes from a willingness to examine what experiences and beliefs shape those behaviors.