Culture is a rich tapestry of distinctive traits, traditions and identities that emerge from around the globe. It can be a force for oppression and domination, but it also provides a foundation for creativity and self-actualization. For these reasons, it is essential to celebrate and protect diversity of cultural expression.
Although much work has been done to show that culture matters, we still do not fully understand how it influences behavior and development. Increasingly, it is recognized that in order to make a significant difference in the lives of marginalized populations, organizations must move beyond simply showing that culture matters by addressing how.
This involves going beyond simply identifying differences in beliefs and values, and understanding how those beliefs and values influence behavior and development. A key concept in this regard is cultural competence, which refers to an organization’s or program’s ability to honor and respect the beliefs, language, interpersonal styles and behaviors of families who receive services and the staff that provide those services.
In terms of the study of culture, there are many different theories that have been developed over time and from a wide range of academic disciplines. One of the earliest attempts at refining the concept came from British anthropologist Edward Tylor, who defined culture as “a system of inherited conceptions embodied in symbols by which men communicate and perpetuate their knowledge about life.”
As research continues to illuminate how culture informs the processes of human development, it is becoming increasingly clear that cultural context has a major impact on people’s experiences in healthcare settings. As a result, achieving true cultural competence is no longer just an option for some, but a necessity for all.
The concept of cultural competence is well established in the health care field, and has been incorporated into state and federal legislation, programs, standards of practice and professional training manuals. It has become a central theme in the work of national and international organizations, such as the National Institutes of Health, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Medical Association.
However, the task of defining culture is no easy one. The complexities of human phenomena mean that there is no one definition that is universally accepted or applied. Scholars have offered a number of different definitions for culture, but all of them are flawed in some way. The best approach is to view cultural analysis as an ongoing and iterative process that is intrinsically incomplete. As Jose Causadias argues, it is better to present the idea of culture as an ever-expanding smorgasbord rather than as a rigid formula or set of stipulations that can be used and applied with complete accuracy. This is the only way to ensure that the concept of culture remains useful in the pursuit of justice and the advancement of humanity.