WEL201A Managing the needs of diverse client groups Section 2: Cultural diversity and identity Section 2 Cultural diversity and identity WEL201A Managing the needs of diverse client groups Section 2: Cultural diversity and identity Section 2: Cultural diversity and identity Section overview In this section we will examine the patterns of ethnic and cultural diversity to have arisen through successive waves of immigration to Australia. This includes a consideration of government policies and legislation which have been formative in developing Australia‘s multicultural identity. This section begins with a consideration of the notion of cultural identity and how ethnic identity intersects with Social class, gender, sexuality, age and so forth . Learning outcomes Once you have successfully completed this section, you should be able to: understand cultural identity identity patterns of ethnic and cultural diversity in Australia distinguish between intersectionality positionality and critical consciousness Outline how colonialism influenced the direction of Australian immigration explain multiculturalism and its importance in a diverse society understand policies of assimilation and the impact on Indigenous Australians. Textbook reading In the following chapter Diller explores cultural diversity, contextualising his discussion with a series of practical examples and case studies. Diller, J.V. 2015. Cultural diversity: A primer for the human services, Cengage Learning, USA, chapter 5. Understanding cultural identity WEL201A Managing the needs of diverse client groups Section 2: Cultural diversity and identity To understand cultural differences, we must first understand what defines a culture. As we saw in the previous section, culture is what shapes how we see the world, and influences all our behaviours and interactions. Culture is constantly changing as communities and individuals interact and respond to different environments and situations. In an Australian context, for example, second-generation migrants might mix the culture of their parents with Anglo-Australian culture, in the process creating their own, new cultural practices. Cultural identity plays an important role in how people perceive who they are and their place in the world. Cultural identity assumes a sense of belonging to a group that shares similar traits and experiences. A strong identity is often associated with high self-esteem and a stable sense of who you are and how you interact with others and operate in life. People who are adopted often seek out their biological parents to help them understand their identity and explain traits that differ from those of their adoptive parents. People who are adopted into cultures different from their biological culture often seek a connection with their origins to help them achieve a sense of belonging, understanding or resolution of who they are. O‘Hagan (2001, pp. 28–30) describes several aspects of identity: People can have many different cultural identities. For example, a woman may be Cambodian, Buddhist, a mother and a teacher, each of which elements contributes to her sense of who she is. Identity is dynamic and undergoes constant change as people take on new roles or attain new understanding of who they are. Identity forms a polarity of sameness or belonging vs. difference. The sense of belonging can be threatened by difference. Identity has become a prominent discourse across different disciplines exploring identity within political and social contexts. Self-awareness WEL201A Managing the needs of diverse client groups Section 2: Cultural diversity and identity Practising self-awareness of your own world view and of your perceptions of others in relation to their cultures can enable you to become a more culturally competent practitioner. According to Smith (2004, pp. 11-12) self-awareness involves an understanding of your: own world view, values, cultural heritage and how these influence your perceptions of others stereotypes, biases and assumptions about different cultural groups communication style and its social impacts unearned privileges efficacy, confidence, anxiety and defensiveness with others actions taken to increase cultural competence. Activity 2.1 Please refer to the Learning Portal for this activity. Belonging to certain cultures may attribute members with a sense of power or powerlessness, discrimination or acceptance and give access to or exclude from important institutions that enable survival and participation in society. When working with others it is important to be aware of these disparities and how we often play roles without realising we are being influenced by our own inherent expectations and cultural biases. For example, mental health professionals need to be aware of the power of their role when working with clients diagnosed with mental illness. The label of a mental illness can be disempowering owing to stigma and behaviour being interpreted as part of mental illness. The individual within a culture Cultural awareness also calls for openness to individuality and refraining from presumptions of cultural influence. Everyone has individual traits that differ from the next person within and across cultures. For example, it might be easy to assume someone is powerless because WEL201A Managing the needs of diverse client groups Section 2: Cultural diversity and identity they are Aboriginal when, in fact, that individual might feel confident, empowered and entirely comfortable with who they are and their place in the world. It is also possible for someone not to feel that they fit into a culture and to prefer to take on different cultural roles. For example, a person may have American parents but feel more English because they were born in England and have always lived there. Those whose parents and/or grandparents belong to a certain culture but who have grown up in another culture tend to adopt elements from both cultures. Culture and social structure There is a dynamic interchange between cultural identity and that which sets an individual or a group apart from others. Cultural diversity explores differences within and between groups. Belonging to a group does not mean that every member is exactly the same. Within groups, members have diverse traits and ways of being. Identifying and belonging to a group can, however, differentiate a group member from other groups. To understand diversity is to recognise that while members of cultural groups do share characteristics they also have individual traits. To focus on stereotypes and bias is often to miss individual uniqueness. A number of social theories explore the concept of cultural diversity. We will look at three important theories: Intersectionality Positionality Critical consciousness Intersectionality Intersectionality is a sociological theory that explores how social and cultural categories intertwine to form an individual‘s experiences, including discrimination and oppression (Knudsen 2006). The theory of intersectionality was developed by Crenshaw (1989) to create awareness of the fact that feminist theory reflected predominantly white middle-class women‘s experience and not that of African American women, in other words race and WEL201A Managing the needs of diverse client groups Section 2: Cultural diversity and identity gender intersected in the experiences of discrimination and oppression. Fozdar et al. (2012, p.215) point out that the goal of intersectionality is to look at ways ethnic identity is influenced by intersections with factors such as social class and gender. The premise of the theory is we have multiple identities, that an ethnic group is divided internally by class, gender and other differentiating factors such as the length of migration, sexuality, religion, age and disability status. Each of these factors is an important determinant of our life chances and identity. Reading 2.1 Read the following article, which is available via the learning portal. Knudsen, S. 2005. ‗Intersectionality—A theoretical inspiration in the analysis of minority cultures and identities in textbooks‘ in Bruillard, E, Aamotsbakken, B. Knudsen, S. V. & Horsley, M. 2007 Caught in the web or lost in the textbook? International Association for Research on Textbooks and Educational Media. Canada, pp. 61–76. Activity 2.2 Please refer to the Learning Portal for this activity. Positionality Positionality is a concept in cultural anthropology that explores the implications of where a person stands in relation to others. A person‘s belonging, within a culture or outside of a culture, influences who they are and their understanding of the world (Takacs, D., 2002). Each person occupies one or more positionalities according to their culture and place in society. These can shift, depending on changes in cultural identity and experience, and such shifts can be intentional or unintentional. Critical consciousness Critical consciousness is a concept developed by Brazilian Paulo Freire that entails encouraging heightened awareness of and critical thinking about what is occurring around us socially, politically and economically and how such occurrences lead to oppression (Freire, WEL201A Managing the needs of diverse client groups Section 2: Cultural diversity and identity 1997). Freire developed the theory of critical consciousness while teaching third-world people to read and encouraging them to become aware of conditions in which they were oppressed. Freire introduced critical consciousness into the educational system to: encourage teachers to be more aware and critically analyse presumptions of knowledge encourage students to critically analyse what they were taught Freire also believed Western society‘s support of individual over communal interests discouraged or diminished opportunities to oppose oppressive practices. Activity 2.3 Please refer to the Learning Portal for this activity. Reading 2.2 Read the following article, which is available via the learning portal. Merriam, S.B., Johnson-Bailey, J., Lee, M-Y., Kee, Y., Ntseane, G. & Muhamad, M. 2001. Power and positionality: negotiating insider–outsider status within and across cultures, International Journal of Lifelong Education, 20(5), September–October, pp. 405–16. This article explores the impacts of being positioned inside or outside a culture. Cultural and ethnic diversity in Australia Ethnic communities The word `ethnic‘ literally means ‗relating to or peculiar to a population‘ (Macquarie Dictionary). Furthermore, again in a literal sense, ethnicity refers to ‗the origin, classification, [and] characteristics of such groups‘. Ethnicity, then, refers to the characteristics of a group of people who share a common linguistic and cultural background. Thus it stands to reason that all cultures have characteristics of ethnicity, and that we are all, in essence, of particular WEL201A Managing the needs of diverse client groups Section 2: Cultural diversity and identity ethnic backgrounds. However, the way the word ‗ethnic‘ is used implies something else altogether. Ethnicity is commonly confused with race; there can be different ethnic groups within a race. There is also controversy over what defines ethnicity (Morning, 2005. U.N. 2003) The Macquarie Dictionary (Butler, S. ed. 2009) describes an ethnic group as ‗a group of people, racially or historically related, having a common and distinctive culture‘. In sociological terms, ethnicity relates to socially constructed groups based on common heritage, customs, language or religion and other aspects of culture; it is also subjective, your ethnicity is the group/s you self-identify with. Immigration and cultural diversity It is worth revisiting here some of the material covered in introductory sociology. Immigration is one of the more dominant features of Australia‘s sociological makeup. Migration can be defined `as the movement of people over space‘ (Van Krieken 2006, p265). Notwithstanding the indigenous heritage of this country which spans at least 40,000 years the colonial settlement of Australia is little over two hundred years old. It is with the start of colonisation that migration began to shape Australian society, although many would also argue that Australia‘s first experience of migration occurred with the influx of the original indigenous peoples so many millennia ago. In any case, it is the colonial settlement of Australia that began to shape ‗white‘ Australia‘s sense of itself, and which has formed the basis of our national identity since. Colonial settlement was also our first taste of the impact of immigration on our sense of identity. Changes to migration trends in the last two centuries have had considerable impact on the formation of Australian society and national identity. While the majority of migrants to Australia continue to be of Anglo Celtic origin, growing numbers of European and Asian immigrants to Australia have influenced how we consider ourselves as a nation and how we respond to others. The table below illustrates the migration trends to Australia since 1954. Close examination also reveals how migration trends have changed during this time. WEL201A Managing the needs of diverse client groups Section 2: Cultural diversity and identity Table Top 10 Countries of Birth, Australia 1954-2010 Source: Migration Australia (3412.0); data from ABS Census of Population and Housing The above table demonstrates how almost a quarter of Australia‘s current population is of overseas origin. This is considerable, particularly when we bear in mind that these figures do not take into account second and subsequent generation offspring (born in Australia) of migrant descent. These figures alone reflect the enormous impact that immigration has had on the formation of Australian society. Since the 1950s, the patterns of immigration to Australia Country of origin 1954 ‘000 1971 ‘000 1996 ‘000 2001 ‘000 2006 ‘000 2010 ‗000 United Kingdom New Zealand China (excludes SARS and Taiwan) India Italy Vietnam Philippines South Africa Malaysia Germany Total overseas born Australian-born 664.2 43.4 10.3 12.0 119.9 Na 0.2 6.0 2.3 65.4 1286.5 7700.1 1 088.2 80.5 17.6 29.2 289.5 Na 2.6 12.7 14.9 110.8 2579.3 10176.3 1 164.1 315.1 121.2 84.8 259.1 164.2 102.7 61.8 83.0 120.8 4258.6 14052.1 1 126.9 394.1 157.0 103.6 238.5 169.5 112.2 87.0 87.2 117.5 4482.1 14931.2 1 141.0 445.1 259.2 180.1 227.3 185.5 140.0 120.3 107.1 124.4 5090.1 15607.8 1 192.9 544.2 379.8 340.6 216.3 210.8 17.4 155.7 135.6 128.6 5994.0 16334.9 Total population 8986.5 12755.6 18310.7 19413.2 20697.9 22328.9 WEL201A Managing the needs of diverse client groups Section 2: Cultural diversity and identity have changed and the diversity of the population has increased markedly. Despite shifts in Asian migration, the United Kingdom continues to remain the largest source country representing 20 per cent of all migrants in 2010, and despite having fallen from 27% in 1996. In terms of trends, the ABS notes that, ―Some of the older migrant streams, such as people born in Italy, have been declining in absolute numbers as their populations‘ age and the number of deaths exceeds net gains from more recent migration. The New Zealand-born population living in Australia was the second largest overseas-born group making up 9 per cent of the overseas-born population in 2010 compared with 7 per cent in 1996. Some other migrant streams that have increased their proportion over recent decades include those born in China, India, the Philippines, South Africa and Malaysia. For example, the China-born population trebled from 121,200 people in 1996 to 379,800 people in 2010 (making up 6% of the overseas-born population). The Indiaborn population increased its share from 2% in 1996 (84,800 people) to 6% in 2010 (340,600 people)‖. According to Germov and Poole (2007) ―over 6 million people have settled in Australia since the end of World War II … and we are witnessing a continuing increase of ethnic diversity, particularly since the end of the White Australia policy‖. The authors go on to state, however, that ―this trend notwithstanding, there appears little possibility that this increasing ethnic diversification will soon erode the dominance of the European-descended population… [given that] 33.1 per cent of [overseas born Australian inhabitants] were born in North-West Europe (primarily the United Kingdom and Ireland)‖ (p 270). Language diversity The 2011 Census (ABS, 2014) notes 81 percent of Australians spoke only English at home. The next most common languages spoken at home are Mandarin (1.7%), Italian (1.5%), Arabic (1.4%), Cantonese (1.3%) and Greek (1.3%). Due to the process of acculturation, first generation Australians had the highest proportion of people who spoke a language other than English at home (53%). It was lower for second generation (20%) and third generation (1.6%). The ABS (2014) notes ―Just under a third (32.6%) of newly arrived migrants aged 5 WEL201A Managing the needs of diverse client groups Section 2: Cultural diversity and identity years and over spoke only English at home. This was followed by Mandarin (10.8 %), Punjabi (3.7%), Hindi (3.3%) and Arabic (3.0%)‖. Reading 2.3 Access the ABS (2014) website ‗Cultural Diversity in Australia‘ based on the 2011 Census data. The site comes from catalogue no.2071.0-Reflecting a Nation:Stories from the 2011 Census, 2012-2013. Read the summary of cultural diversity in Australia, taking note of the indicators of cultural diversity- language, migration, religion and so forth, and the intersectionality with gender. The site is accessed below: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/lookup/2071.0main+features902012-2013 Activity 2.4 Please refer to the Learning Portal for this activity. Multiculturalism: Dealing with the cultural mix Migration and multiculturalism The concept of multiculturalism in Australia is one of cultural inclusiveness, which seeks to support immigrants and promote tolerance and cultural diversity. Multiculturalism promotes the notion that diverse cultures can exist harmoniously in the same country, with equal opportunities and mutual acceptance. Multiculturalism is considered an important building block of Australian society. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) describes multiculturalism as the ‗cultural and linguistic diversity of Australian society [as] cultural and linguistic diversity was a feature of life for the first Australians, well before European settlement‘. DIAC supports the advantages to be derived from multiculturalism in terms of social, cultural and business development. Countries such as the UK, US, Canada and New Zealand have many similarities in their approaches to cultural diversity awareness. The US does not have a specific government program or directive that fosters the principles of multiculturalism though it does support its WEL201A Managing the needs of diverse client groups Section 2: Cultural diversity and identity diverse population with programs and research initiatives. Discussion has centred on the experience of African Americans and the provision of services that will meet their needs. The US, like Australia, follows a predominantly white European model of community services. Issues of cultural competence have been explored, particularly in relation to African Americans, including challenges that are the legacy of slavery and other discriminatory practices. The Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s was responsible for the first wave of reform in the treatment of African Americans. Cultural competence continues to be sought in community service settings for all minority groups in the US, including health, education and politics. Poverty remains a primary difficulty for many in minority groups. Indigenous peoples of the US and Canada living in the aftermath of colonialism and paternalism know firsthand the harmful repercussions of white perceptions of superiority and have attempted in recent years to raise awareness and increase acceptance of indigenous peoples in their countries. Canada has made a formal apology to its indigenous inhabitants for past wrongs. New Zealand has been particularly active in recognising Maoris and their central place and culture in New Zealand. The UK has a large African, African Caribbean and Asian population, and there have been calls recently for more culturally competent health care. Across Western countries culturally competent community services have been actively considered only in the past twenty years and have actually made it onto agendas only in the past decade owing to globalisation making an imperative of such considerations. In Asian cultures, attitudes to cultural competence vary widely. With regard to disability, many Asian cultures are highly family-oriented and there is a strong sense of social responsibility for caring for disabled and aged family members at home. Notions of disability vary widely from belief in supernatural and karmic forces to acceptance of biological causes and can affect how someone with a disability is treated. A strong sense of community over individualism can contribute to a robust sense of identity, which is a source of support for members of those communities. However, discrimination by race, ethnicity, gender, class and other cultural differences remains a reality in most countries and is not confined to predominantly white nations. In many cultures, for example China and WEL201A Managing the needs of diverse client groups Section 2: Cultural diversity and identity India, patriarchal beliefs and preference for males over females mean many women are relegated to carer roles. There are few matriarchal systems in our society and women tend to be the carers the world over. Perceptions of practitioners, particularly in relation to health care, can vary across cultures. Some cultures expect professionals to know everything and will answer any question put to them with a polite yes. In other cultures, families that are used to an elevated position in a hierarchy can look down on professionals, demand to consult the best-qualified practitioner and generally make unreasonable demands by virtue of a system of hierarchy and privilege to which their culture subscribes. When people move across cultures as immigrants, the experiences can make them more tradition-bound than their counterparts in their countries of origin. Activity 2.5 Please refer to the Learning Portal for this activity. Asylum seekers Globalisation has had a significant effect migration patterns, especially in recent years as technological advances and improved transport networks enable people to move more easily across borders and to distant countries. The ABS (2008) states that more than 43 per cent of the Australian population was born overseas or had one or more parents born overseas. In Australia, asylum seekers are a small proportion of those who seek to live in Australia. Moving to a new country can present a range of challenges for migrants and asylum seekers, including: adapting to a new culture and language financial difficulties tension between traditional and new cultural systems of belief and practice (Groce in Stone (ed.) 2005, p 4) WEL201A Managing the needs of diverse client groups Section 2: Cultural diversity and identity displacement—loss of belongings, lack of personal emotional and physical preparation and choice of destination fear of being sent back to their country of birth—political refugees or illegal aliens fleeing a lack of services in their own countries difficulties accessing institutions and services adapting to perceptions of disability, race or culture coping with trauma for those who have moved to other countries to escape conflict and disasters. Australia applies tight border controls to asylum seekers, requiring them to be detained indefinitely at detention centres until their applications are processed. A number of humanitarian concerns have been raised with regard to detention centres, including a lack of appropriate access to counselling and support and lack of a definite timeframe within which asylum seekers can expect their applications to be processed. Reading 2.4 Read the following article, which is available via the learning portal. Mares, P. 2010. ‗No easy fix for refugee policy‘, ABC online, accessed 23 December. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/23/3100168.htm?site=thedrum The article was written following the Christmas Island tragedy in which more than 50 asylum seekers were killed when their boat disintegrated on the island‘s cliff rocks and examines refugee policy. Indigenous Australians Indigeneity is a term used to refer to people who have inhabited a space for thousands of years, and people who have intimate relationship with the land. Henslin et al (2014, p.274) explain that assimilation is the process by which a minority group is integrated into mainstream culture. In forced assimilation, the dominant group refuses the minority to WEL201A Managing the needs of diverse client groups Section 2: Cultural diversity and identity practice culture, religion, language and so forth. Permissible assimilation in contrast, allows minorities to integrate in it‘s their own time with the host culture. This form of assimilation more reflects the sort applied to European migrants to Australia during the post World War 2 periods. In Australia until the 1960s, Indigenous children were removed forcibly form their families and sent to institutions and homes of white families where they could not practice their own culture. Colonialist policies meant Indigenous peoples in Australia were thought of as inferior, as ‗primitive‘ and without recourse to the land. The country regarded as ‗terra nullius‘ meant Indigenous people were dispossessed of their land, this had serious consequences for the livelihood of indigenous peoples. Traditional cultural knowledge including customs, language and spiritual know ledges suppressed by European colonialists in favour of European culture, nor did colonialist policies recognise legal, civil and political sovereignty of indigenous communities Over time there have been attempts to assimilate indigenous people into mainstream Australian society, this resulting in the so-called ‗Stolen Generation‘ of children, many of both indigenous and European parentage, who were removed forcibly from indigenous mothers to be brought up in white households. For much of Indigenous history, the policies of forced removal of children were deliberate attempts at forced assimilation of children of mixed descent, while ‗pure‘ Aboriginal people were excluded from mainstream society and put into reserves to live. Despite gains in economic and political rights, Australia‘s Indigenous peoples still lag behind mainstream Australians in social indicators such as levels of education, health status and life expectancy. Although there have been some positive changes from ‗Closing the gap‘ policy, reduced infant mortality for example, the inequality ‗gap‘ between the Indigenous and nonIndigenous community is still large. With growing awareness of civil rights during the 1960s, challenges came from Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians to poor living conditions, land rights and lack of equal treatment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) peoples. In the 1970s the emphasis shifted to land, with some indigenous people focusing on native title. In Canada, New Zealand and America significant amounts of land have been recognised WEL201A Managing the needs of diverse client groups Section 2: Cultural diversity and identity as belonging to indigenous peoples as a result of legal tests of historical treaties, but no such treaties existed for Aboriginal Australians. In 1992, the High Court made judgment on the Mabo case, and the transfer of land has occurred based on Indigenous peoples rights rather than privilege, this over turning the notion of Australia as ‗terra nullius‘ prior to European settlement. From 1991 to 2001 the Australia Federal government sponsored reconciliation, a way to find common ground between non-Indigenous and Indigenous groups, to acknowledge wrongdoings of the past and to find solutions. Some see reconciliation as more about symbolism than change, and the disadvantage experienced by Aboriginal Australians is still a pressing issue. Indigenous Australians have also strongly adopted programs of selfdetermination, meaning controlling their own lives; as we shall see later in this course there are policies in community development of participatory decision-making by Indigenous people in their own affairs. Reading 2.5 Read the following article, which is available via the learning portal. Gray, M., Coates, J. & Bird, M. Y. 2008. Indigenous social work around the world, Ashgate, UK, pp. 13–29; 83–93. This reading focuses on social work, globalisation and the presumed universal core of the social-work profession. It further discusses the importance of understanding culture in a social-work discourse. Legacy of colonialism The legacy of colonialism continues to influence government decision making and the operation of the main social institutions of education, health care and the media in countries colonised by white Western races. The cultures of Indigenous groups in these colonies were WEL201A Managing the needs of diverse client groups Section 2: Cultural diversity and identity considered inferior and attempts were made to ‗assimilate‘ the members of these groups into white culture. The legacy of these policies still persists. The Howard government‘s policies were often criticised for assuming the values and approaches of white models to be right. Approaches to health care and service delivery across predominantly white cultures in countries colonised by white Western cultures assume that the Western model is right. Activity 2.6 Please refer to the Learning Portal for this activity. Resources Fozdar, F; Wilding, R. & Hawkins, H. 2012. Race and Ethnic Relations. South Melbourne, Australia:Oxford University Press. Fuller, Robert W. 2003. Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank. Gabriola Island, Canada: New Society Publishers. Quinn, M. 2009. ‗Towards anti-racist and culturally affirming practices‘ in Allan, J., Pease, B. & Briskman, L. (eds) 2009. Critical social work: theories and practices for a socially just world, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, pp. 91–104. Ranzijn, R., McConnochie, K. & Nolan, W. 2009. Psychology and Indigenous Australians: Foundations of cultural competence, Palgrave Macmillan, UK. Robinson-Wood, T.L. 2013. The Convergence of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender:Multiple Identities in Counselling (4th ed.), Pearson, U.S. Online Resources The Institute for Cultural Diversity is an NGO established to promote the value of cultural diversity for a democratic, creative and productive Australia. WEL201A Managing the needs of diverse client groups Section 2: Cultural diversity and identity http://www.culturaldiversity.net.au/ Multicultural Disability Advocacy Association of NSW www.mdaa.org.au/faqs/culture-mdaa.doc Randi Gressgård‘s ‗Mind the gap: Intersectionality, complexity and ‗the Event‘ from the Centre for Women‘s and Gender Research (SKOK), Norway. http://theoryandscience.icaap.org/content/vol10.1/Gressgard.html The Department of Immigration website contains information for new migrants and refugees to Australia, including links to the history of immigration policy. http://www.immi.gov.au/Pages/Welcome.aspx WEL201A Managing the needs of diverse client groups Section 2: Cultural diversity and identity Resources Crenshaw, K. W. 1991. Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Colo., Stanford Law Review, Vol. 43, No. 6., pp. 1241–1299. Diller, J.V. 2011. Cultural diversity: A primer for the human services, Cengage Learning, USA. Freire, Paolo 1997 Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum Publishing. O‘Hagan, K. 2001. Cultural competence in the caring profession, Jessica Kingsley Pub., London. Sotnick, P. & Jezewski, M.A. 2005. Culture and the disability services. In J. H. Stone (ed.), Culture and disability: Providing culturally competent services, SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 15–36. Takacs, D. 2002, Positionality, epistemology, and social justice in the classroom, Social Justice, Vol 29, pp. 168-81 Additional online resources Exploring the promises of intersectionality for advancing women's health research, International Journal for Equity in Health, accessed at: http://www.equityhealthj.com/content/9/1/5 The article looks at the health effects of sex and gender, and at inequities among women caused by racism, ethnocentrism, heterosexism, and able-bodism. Multicultural Disability Advocacy Association of NSW www.mdaa.org.au/faqs/culture-mdaa.doc Randi Gressgård‘s ‗Mind the gap: Intersectionality, complexity and ‗the Event‘ from the Centre for Women‘s and Gender Research (SKOK), Norway. WEL201A Managing the needs of diverse client groups Section 2: Cultural diversity and identity http://theoryandscience.icaap.org/content/vol10.1/Gressgard.html Now that you have completed this section, visit the learning portal to participate in the latest discussion forum and check on your progress by completing the self-check questions.