I. Core Dimensions of Human Diversity - CAP220 - The Counselor in a Multicultural Society - LibGuides at Paradise Valley Community College

Let's look at the core dimensions of human diversity such as race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, religion/spirituality, age, disability, gender, and sexual orientation and how they are defined in a multicultural society.

I. Human Diversity
   A. Definitions
   B. Theories
   C. Intersectionality

I.A Human Diversity - Definitions

Human Diversity
The word diversity derives from the Latin root diversus, meaning “various.” Thus, human diversity refers to the variety of differences that exist among people who comprise humanity (the human species). The relationship between humanity and human diversity may be viewed as similar to the relationship between sunlight and the spectrum of colors. Similar to how sunlight passing through a prism is dispersed into the variety of colors that comprise the visual spectrum, the human species spanning planet Earth is dispersed into the variety of groups that comprise the human spectrum (humanity). Human diversity expresses itself in a multiplicity of ways, including differences in external features, national origins, cultural backgrounds, and sexual orientations. Some of these dimensions of diversity are obvious; others are subtle, and some are invisible.
Race
In order to fully comprehend the development of the concept of race, the psychological mechanisms underlying the process of identification of racial differences should first of all be analysed. It is important that such mechanisms are properly understood as many race-related controversial and difficult issues are partly based on the fact that the perception of racial differences triggers certain deep-seated psychological reactions related to the wider context of the perception of diversity (DIVERSITY-SIMILARITY). Such reactions are particularly dangerous and difficult to address because they stem from emotion rather than from the logical mind.
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The need to categorize events, objects and other humans, in order to identify and control them, is part of the psychological makeup of all human beings and plays a fundamental role in the definition of diversity and, by definition, also of racial diversity. The idea of race predates the actual origins of the term, which are rather obscure. Long before this word became part of our language, human beings had attempted to understand why various populations (PEOPLE) presented different somatic, psychic and cultural characteristics. However, had all the inhabitants of the earth been physically similar, spoken the same language, followed the same religion, moral standards and behavioural patterns, abstract, if not objective, theories - based on another form of distribution of diversity - would very likely still have been formulated in order to establish the differences between one individual and another. Human beings share a deep-seated psychological urge to identify diversity and similarity as terms of comparison in an effort to establish their essential IDENTITY. This urge implies a fundamental conflict, in that we require diversity in order to distinguish ourselves from others and therefore to individuate, while at the same time we find reassurance and comfort in the experience of similarity and belonging to the human race. It follows that both experiences, of difference and of sameness, are desired and feared in equal measure, as sameness implies the risk of loss of individual identity while diversity is perceived as a threat to unity. Kierkegaard (1946) probably best expressed this ambivalence when he spoke of the irrational ‘dread’ which assails people when confronted with the feeling of precariousness engendered by the infinite possibilities presented by diversity, which on the other hand also enables them to envision a range of choices otherwise absent. These ambivalent feelings also come into play with the perception of racial diversity.
Ethnicity
Ethnicity, derived from the Greek word ethnos meaning “people” or “nation,” refers to people who identify with one another on the basis of a shared culture and background. People may share a sense of belonging with one another based on national origin, religious affiliation, physical characteristics, and cultural distinctiveness. Shared history, distinctive foods, dress, family names, language, music, customs, religion, and national origin may bind people together into an ethnic group.
Socioeconomic Status
The concept socioeconomic status is an amalgamation of terms used to denote one's social status within society and is measured by one's relative relationship to wealth, power, and prestige. In sociological and psychological studies regarding the effects of social status, the concept of socioeconomic status has been widely adopted in place of social class. While social class is typically measured by income or economic wealth, socioeconomic status recognizes the importance of one's relationship to power within the social institutions of education, media, the economy, and the polity. In particular, socioeconomic status takes into consideration one's occupation, level of education, income, ascribed and/or achieved wealth, and possession of cultural and political capital.
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The concept of socioeconomic status is categorized generally as low, middle, and high statuses; although these categories are often defined specifically within the context of the academic research methodologies, using income, occupation, and wealth as measures. Individuals with low socioeconomic status do not generally have access to wealth and political power, and their income (or lack thereof) serves to maintain their status as below, at, or slightly above the established poverty line. Individuals with middle socioeconomic status earn a livable wage and may have achieved educational degrees and/or trade certifications that allow them access to goods and services and may provide the cultural capital necessary to wield political power on a local and/or regional scale. Individuals with high socioeconomic status possess considerable wealth through inheritance, income, and/or investments. High socioeconomic status individuals also have better access to private and public institutions of education, which allow them greater opportunity to gain the social and cultural capital necessary to influence the institutions of the polity, economy, and media.
Religion / Spirituality
Religion exerts a major influence in the lives of many people in our culture. When asked in a recent Gallup poll “How important would you say religion is in your own life—very important, fairly important, or not very important?” 27% responded as fairly important and 57% responded as very important (Gallup, 2007). A separate but related issue, spirituality, also influences the lives of many people (Zinnbauer et al., 1997), guiding their decisions, choices, and how they view the world. Taken together, religion and spirituality have been a part of our world since time began, defining cultural boundaries, influencing the arts, affecting the direction of health care, causing and ending wars, and generally impacting the development of humanity (Zinnbauer & Pargament, 2005).
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Religious and/or spiritual clients bring their beliefs and values into the consultation room as a part of their identity and culture. Increasingly, these clients, who once were avoiding the consultation room out of fear that the counselor may see their faith as a symptom of pathology, are now venturing in and seeking services from both secular and faith-based mental health professionals, expecting their beliefs and values to be accepted and respected (Belare, Young, & Elder, 2005). Additionally, they view the discussion of religious and/or spiritual concerns as part of the counseling process and expect their counselor to be capable of including that discussion as part of the therapy (Rose, Westefeld, & Ansley, 2001).
Age
It is difficult to imagine a world without age. Children would not grow up and then grow old. Humans would not have lives. Age is so central to the experience of living, that we have little reason to question the phenomenon. In the scientific study of aging, we scrutinize the ways we conceptualize the targets of our investigations (Schroots and Birren). In the English language age has two meanings. The first connotes time. Simply put, this is the time a person has existed since birth. The second meaning refers to specific stages of life, especially adulthood and old age. This will (1) examine the temporal meanings of age; (2) consider how age organizes human lives; and (3) reflect on age as a variable.
Disability
Disability, and what it means to be a disabled person, is socially, culturally, and historically created. Disability studies, and associated disability research, is a relatively recent and burgeoning arena within the social sciences. This entry shall first summarize the shift in understandings by contrasting the individual and social models of disability—a model being a set of assumptions about how an event or process operates. The entry then explores the implications of this shift in disability research and policy. Finally, the entry looks toward future possibilities in establishing the full participatory citizenship of disabled people.
Gender
In defining gender - In popular discourse, the terms “sex” and “gender” are often used interchangeably. However, social and behavioral scientists frequently differentiate between the two. Sex refers to an individual's membership in a biologically distinct category based on genital appearance (e.g., male, female, intersex, or hermaphroditic). Gender is a socially constructed classification system which categorizes individuals, traits, and institutions based on societal definitions of male and female.
Sexual Orientation
Sexual orientation generally can be described as the integration of the ways in which individuals experience the intersection of sexual desires and available sexual social roles. For some people, this intersection is experienced happily as an unproblematic confluence of personal and social expectations. For others, it is experienced as a persistent conflict. For still others, issues of sexual orientation are experienced as an occasion for experimentation, compromise, and sometimes change in how they see themselves, how they present themselves to others, and how different segments of social life respond to such outcomes.
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Sexual orientation is also part of the conceptual apparatus of contemporary scientific and popular discourse; it has become a way in which people recognize and "explain" sexual behavior. It is as if establishing an individual's sexual orientation, however inaccurately, were enough to explain most of what has to be known about that individual's sexuality. As a result, the discourses of sexual orientation often become a point of contact with the discourses of age, gender, morality, and law.

I.B Human Diversity - Theories

Sociological Theories - Encyclopedia of the Life Course and Human Development(Vol. 2: Adulthood. )
A sociological theory is “a systematically developed consciousness of society and social relations” (Smith 1987, p. 2). Sociology is a multiparadigm science, having developed a number of important general theories.
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Sociological theories may be understood in terms of two competing but complementary commitments: A commitment to science and a commitment to justice. Commitment to science theories focus on discovering general principles of social life without assessing whether outcomes are ultimately just.
Organizational Behavior Theories
Organisational Behavior refers to the performance demonstrated by an individual in an organization, Individuals build up the organization and organization on its own is inanimate. It is the “study of human Behavior in an organizational setting”. Being an amalgamation of the fields of Psychology, Business, Sociology and Economics, this is such a field that not only helps in uplifting the productivity of the organization but also improves the overall efficiency of the individual at a personal level, social and professional level. In other words, Organisational Behavior is the make or break factor of any organization.
Organizational Behavior - Oxford Research Encyclopedia
Organizational behavior (OB) is a discipline that includes principles from psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Its focus is on understanding how people behave in organizational work environments.
Social Theory - The SAGE Encyclopedia of the Sociology of Religion
Classical sociologists demonstrated a high interest in religion. In the 1960s, the sociology of religion also enjoyed prominence because the influential social theorists Peter Berger, Thomas Luckmann, and Robert Bellah thematized religion. In the 1970s and 1980s, sociologists of religion studied religious attendance, new religious movements, and globalization, while religion was largely ignored in general sociology. A decade later, sociologists of religion explored the shift to spirituality, gender, and the growing public role of religion. Influential social theorists like Jürgen Habermas and sociologists of religion began to examine multiculturalism and equal rights for religious minorities. In the early 21st century, several interdisciplinary research projects focused on religious diversity, and religion became a more central theme in sociological theory. Today, general sociology and the sociology of religion share an interest in religion’s public role; the intersection of religion, gender, ethnicity, and race; and human rights, justice, and religious diversity in liberal democracies.

I.C Human Diversity - Intersectionality

Intersectionality - International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences(Vol. 4. 2nd ed.)
The premise of intersectionality theory, first articulated by feminists of color, is that social differentiation is achieved through complex interactions between markers of difference such as gender, race, and class. In order to comprehend how an individual’s access to social, political, and economic institutions is differentially experienced, it is necessary to analyze how markers of difference intersect and interact.
Intersectionality - Encyclopedia of Race and Racism (Vol. 2. 2nd ed.)
Intersectionality refers to the interaction between gender, race, and other categories of difference in individual lives, social practices, institutional arrangements, and cultural ideologies and the outcomes of these interactions in terms of power (Davis 2008, p. 68). As a framework and concept within the social sciences, intersectionality has its roots in a seminal paper written by UCLA law professor Kimberlé Crenshaw titled “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics” (1989).
Intersectionality - Prejudice, Bias & Discrimination (2nd ed.)
Intersectionality, one of the foundational concepts within the social sciences, complicates traditional approaches toward the study of race, gender, class, and sexuality by treating these factors as interconnected variables that shape an individual's overall life experiences, rather than as isolated variables. Power, privilege, and oppression are often much more complex than has been traditionally thought, as an individual may be relatively privileged in one or more aspects of their life, while simultaneously experiencing prejudice, discrimination, or oppression stemming from other aspects of their social background or identity.
Intersectionality: A Model for Addressing the Complexity of Oppression and Privilege
Intersectionality is a model that effectively addresses complex individual, relational,
structural, and ideological aspects of domination and privilege arising from forms of difference treated oppressively
Towards an intersectional model of desistance for black offenders
Intersectionality is an understanding of human beings as shaped by the interaction of different social locations. These interactions occur within a context of connected systems and structure of power. Through such processes independent forms of privilege and oppression are created. The paper aims to discuss these issues.