Working with Diversity in Youth and Community Work by Sangeeta Soni

Author:Sangeeta Soni [Soni, Sangeeta]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Social Work
ISBN: 9781844457816
Google: AWHV--B0kU8C
Publisher: SAGE
Published: 2011-09-09T05:37:51+00:00

In situations where difference is a significant element of the relationship between people, this process can be difficult and daunting and, in fact, anything that leads to a change in us is feared. Where trust is a significant basis of a relationship, then perhaps it becomes easier to engage with such a process, because the existence of trust facilitates Rogers’ (1983) congruence and empathy and enables us to be open and ask what we need to ask to deepen our understanding, especially, of those who are different from us. It, in fact, facilitates the shift in our perceptions and attitudes from what Parekh (2000) describes as closed views to more open views of the other. This discussion reminds me of a heated exchange that took place between an African-Caribbean colleague and me some years ago. We were working on an inter-faith/religious/cultural weekend residential, where she was a volunteer and I had taken along a group of young Asian women. Other workers had come along with young women from different cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds. The focus of the weekend was to celebrate difference and affirm inter-cultural links.

The young Asian women in my group were all bi-lingual, but I knew from my prior relationship with them that they felt self-conscious about admitting to this and using their Punjabi-speaking skills. They seemed almost embarrassed about admitting to being able to speak Punjabi. On the first day of the residential, at lunchtime, my African-Caribbean colleague came and joined my group at our table. At some point during lunch, I asked one of the young women to pass the salt and pepper in Punjabi, a language that I had in common with the young women in my group and I consciously used it with them whenever possible, because I thought this would help them to be less self-conscious about using it. I have never forgotten the reaction from my African-Caribbean colleague. She said angrily, ‘Have some manners; don’t be so rude; you should speak in English’. The episode escalated and led to fiery debate and lots of soul searching but, ultimately, what I realised was that there was clearly little or no trust in the relationship that we had with each other. It was simply all to do with trust or the lack of it. I had, unknowingly and without thinking, used my first language to communicate about something mundane to the young women in my group, but my colleague perhaps had assumed that I was making a comment on her behind her back and therefore at the very least I was being rude and at worst, utterly unprofessional. Recovering from such a position in a public forum was difficult for both of us. However, I really learnt a lot from the incident and hope that it proved just as educational for her.

The following activity illustrates some of the dilemmas faced in situations where difference and the inter-play between being an insider or an outsider to a group can pose challenges to the decisions faced by practitioners.

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