Cultural Diversity: A Primer for the Human Services

Offering a balance of clinical and theoretical information, Jerry Diller provides a practical book focused on how to provide cross-cultural services effectively. You'll find coverage of general principles of cultural diversity and multiculturalism, the process of cross-cultural service delivery, and cultural information on specific client populations. The author builds a general understanding of what cultural diversity is and why it is important. He considers the related dynamics of prejudice and racism, as well as the meaning of culture and cultural differences. He also helps students better understand their own prejudices so they can be more effective counselors when working with culturally-different clients. The author includes captivating interview with four professionals, each from a different ethnic background: Latino/Latina, Native American, African American, and Asian American. Their interviews, presented verbatim to retain their personal and cultural flavor, are filled with rich cultural material and hands-on clinical suggestions and cautions. This topic, seldom covered in multicultural texts, is explored thoroughly. Students will consider such questions as What is racism? How does it operate in individuals and institutions to oppress people of color? Why is it hard for mainstream whites to acknowledge it and their own privilege? How do prejudices of human service providers compromise the helping process? How can one become aware of and alter negative racial attitudes. To assist students in personalizing these questions, the author provides a series of self-awareness exercises.