Summary
Contents
Subject index
Training modules prepared and extensively tested by distinguished professionals in cross-cultural training and research make up this valuable resource for consultants, counselling psychologists and personnel officers. The modules encourage productive and effective intercultural interactions in a variety of settings - business, education and the social and health services. Each module combines experiential exercises, self-assessment instruments, traditional written teaching material, case studies and//or critical incidents, and addresses: awareness of culture and cultural differences; knowledge necessary for adjustment; and the challenges to people's equilibrium brought about by intercultural experiences. Furthermore, each m
The Content of Cross-Cultural Training: An Introduction
The Content of Cross-Cultural Training: An Introduction
Benjamin Franklin once said that there are two certainties in life that all people will face: They must deal with the inevitability of death, and they must pay taxes. To these, another can be added: People must interact with others from very different cultural backgrounds, whether they are well-prepared to do so or not. There are various reasons for this additional certainty, and all of them are addressed in this collection of materials designed to assist people who want to improve the effectiveness of their intercultural interactions.
Movement across National Borders
Many reasons for increased intercultural contact relate to the growing internationalization of business (Adler, 1991; and Chapter 3 in this book by Neal Goodman). Materials for various products move across national borders so frequently that it is now difficult to discover exactly where a certain car, video recorder, camera, or business suit was actually made. Conscious attempts by consumers to support their economy by “buying national” are frequently waylaid given that materials can be produced in one country and assembled in another. The demands of today's business world bring executives, and workers desirous of better jobs, to countries other than their own. At times, they will take on the role of sojourners and will return to their own countries after a few years. At other times, they will become immigrants and will seek permanent residence and/or citizenship in the new country.
If new immigrants or sojourners find themselves in need of help, they may seek out the assistance of the new country's social service agencies and counseling centers (Chapter 11 by Colleen Mullavey-O'Byrne). They will also want to place their children in schools and will be concerned with programs to ease their children's transition from past to present school systems (Chapter 7 by Kenneth Cushner). If sojourners and new immigrants have stress-causing problems that lead to the search for professional intervention, they will be concerned with finding counselors and health care workers who are sensitive to their cultural background (Chapter 12 by Paul Pedersen and Chapter 10 by Colleen Mullavey-O'Byrne).
Culturally Diverse Groups within a Country
Other reasons for increased intercultural contact involve the refusal of minority groups within any large country to become part of a homogenous melting pot. These minority groups can consist of recent immigrants, groups that have been in a country for many generations, and indigenous groups who were in a country when immigrants first arrived. Many people (e.g., Hispanics and African-Americans in the United States, Native Americans in both the United States and Canada, Eastern European immigrants in Australia) who are referred to as “minority group members” in their countries do not want to lose valued parts of their cultures. They do not want to become “carbon copies” of the dominant groups within their country. Further, rather than disappearing on the fringes of society, they want to take respected places within the mainstream of their cultures. As a result, members of various minority groups are placing demands on social service agencies, schools, hospitals, and businesses to recognize and to value cultural diversity (Chapters 6 and 7 by Cushner, Chapters 10 and 11 by Mullavey-O'Byrne, and Chapters 2 and 5 by Richard Brislin).
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