This document introduces the concepts of culture, cultural sensitivity, and developing intercultural sensitivity. It defines culture as the knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors acquired by a group over generations, and defines cultural sensitivity as being aware of cultural differences and similarities without assigning value judgments. The document presents a framework for understanding stages of cultural sensitivity development, from initial ethnocentric stages of denial, defense and minimization of differences, to ethnorelative stages of acceptance, adaptation, and integration of multiple cultural perspectives. Empathy is identified as key to developing cultural sensitivity.

1. Cultural Sensitivity:
An Introduction
Jag Garcia, MCDArtDes

2. Culture
It is the cumulative deposit of
knowledge, experience,
beliefs, values, attitudes,
meanings, hierarchies, religion,
notions of time, roles, spatial
relations, concepts of the
universe, and material objects
and possessions acquired by a
group of people in the course
of generations through
individual and group striving.
Culture is defined as the social
behavior and norms found
in human societies.

3. Political Correctness
A term used to describe language, policies, or
measures that are intended to avoid offense or
disadvantage to members of particular groups in
society.
Since the late 1980s, the term has come to refer
to avoiding language or behavior that can be
seen as excluding, marginalizing, or insulting
groups of people considered disadvantaged or
discriminated against, especially groups defined
by sex or race.

4. Cultural Sensitivity
Cultural sensitivity is being
aware that cultural
differences and similarities
between people exist
without assigning them a
value – positive or
negative, better or worse,
right or wrong.

5. Cultural Relativity
Suspending of one's ethnocentric
judgments in order to understand and
appreciate another culture. It is trying to
learn about and interpret the various
aspects of the another culture in
reference to that culture rather than to
your own.

6. Dominant Culture x Secondary Culture

7. Cultural Sensitivity
From Orientation to Worldview

8. A Framework for Cultural Sensitivity
“Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity” (Bennett, Milton 1993)
Denial Defense Minimization Acceptance Adaptation Integration
ETHNOCENTRIC STAGE ETHNORELATIVE STAGE

9. Ethnocentric
Stage: Denial
They believe their
culture is the only
“real” one and they
tend to interact in
homogenous groups
and to stereotype
everyone else.

10. Ethnocentric Stage:
Defense
People recognize some
differences, but see them as
negative because they assume
their culture is the most evolved,
the best one.

11. Ethnocentric Stage:
Minimization
They are unaware that they are
projecting their own cultural
values. They see their own values
as superior. They think that the
mere awareness of cultural
differences is enough.

12. Ethnorelative
Stage: Acceptance
People are able to shift
perspectives to understand
that the same “ordinary”
behavior can have different
meanings in different
cultures. They are able to
identify how experiences are
influenced by one’s culture.

13. Ethnorelative
Stage: Adaptation
People who seamlessly
interact with others from
different cultures by
following the norms of that
culture. They feel that they
can respect their own values
while adapting to the values
of other cultures they
interact with. They use
empathy effectively.

14. Ethnorelative
Stage: Integration
People who are able to
shift easily from one
cultural frame of
reference to another.
They develop empathy
for other cultures.

15. Empathy

16. experiences
influence lead to
resultsattitudes drive behaviors deliver

17. Cultural Empathy
The capacity, within a
person, to identify with
the feelings, thoughts
and behavior of
individuals from
different cultural
backgrounds.

18. Whenever confronted
with questions, most
people answer in this
order
Thoughts Opinions
Ideas Facts
Feelings
Emotions
Underlying
Needs

19. Underlying needs
are the root
motivations that
drive what people
want,
their aspirations,
and deep desires.

20. It’s important to emphasize that cultural empathy is not
sympathy with, agreement with, nor identification with
a specific culture. Rather, it is the appropriate
understanding of a culture’s values and beliefs; it has
been described as “seeing the world through another’s
eyes, hearing as they might hear and feeling and
experiencing their internal world”, which does not
involve “mixing your own thoughts and actions with
those of the other”

22. Cultural Sensitivity:
An Introduction
Jag Garcia, MCDArtDes
Thank you!