Introduction
Current trends of globalization have brought about some immense changes in the business environment making it increasingly complex and dynamic. The patterns that occur in the field of multicultural and diversity continue to develop in a rapid manner that is promoted by aspects of competition among organizations in different spheres. Human service professionals that work with objectives of meeting human needs find themselves in positions that require good comprehension of the aspects of multiculturalism and diversity. Current trends even show that organizations are increasingly adapting measures of diversity; there is a “shift from policies of multiculturalism to integration” (Metykova, 2016, p. 3). This is because they bear commitment to improving and maintaining the quality of life of workers or persons in service. Human service professionals also concern themselves with remediation and prevention of problems towards clients. Professionals in the field ought to have a capacity of cultural competence to comprehend mechanisms of management in culturally diverse settings of organizations. This will allow them to achieve effectiveness and efficiency in organizational settings. Even more importantly, those in leadership also need to know the appropriate leadership styles that they should employ in particular situations and the ways of executing them.
Definitions of Multiculturalism and Diversity
Because of current trends in the global business environment, organizations are increasingly recognizing that important success factors of leadership involve elements of multiculturalism and diversity. A look at the definition of the terms shows that diversity refers to the actuality of different ethnicities or persons of diverse backgrounds in an organization. On the other hand, multiculturalism refers to the establishment of systems that take into account people who are than one culture (Sue, Rasheed, & Rasheed, 2015). Directly, culture always influences the way that people in an organization interact, think and behave. As such, it affects the overall ability of an organization to perform concerning the accomplishment of its objectives.
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Diversity implies the manner in which a particular group of people may differ from another in one aspect or seen through an individual’s current perspective on race, gender, and ethnicity. In modern times and the organizational setting, diversity is more encompassing of social variables, which make the view of an individual or a group to be different from others (Ramos et al., 2016). Comprehending multiculturalism, on the other hand, implies going a little further than the scope of diversity. It involves the more significant aspects of equality of different groupings of people based on ethnicity, sexual orientation, race, and socioeconomic status among others. It is manifested as a dominant element for bringing about relevance to specific groups of people. According to Vorauer, & Quesnel, (2017, p. 260), multiculturalism, “focuses on the idea that ethnic group differences should be appreciated and celebrated and emphasizes that each group makes unique and important contributions to the society.”
Summary of Discussion of Philosophy
People have different experiences, which means people have different views about lie. For this reason, is why there are different philosophies about life in general and in relation to multiculturalism and diversity. Two major philosophies in this case are that of feminism and humanism. In the occupation of a human service professional, I observe the philosophical perspective of humanism as being the most pertinent for the application. The philosophy promotes establishment and maintenance of desirable forms of human-on-human interaction. For purposes of understanding the condition of humans, existential therapy poses as a major philosophical approach of applauding the capacities that people portray in different settings. The philosophy sensibly focuses on the concerns, needs, interests, and value of people as the most important factors for consideration. As such, it emphasizes the self-worth of a person as an important element in the processes of acceptance of people (Hutchison, 2018). The philosophical perspective informs my view of multiculturalism and diversity by posing as a foundation for the establishment of the moral sense in people. It postulates that if people have self-respect, they will also show others respect, allow them to take responsibility for their own lives and actions in an effort of fulfilling their purpose.
Explanation of Philosophical Perspective
The perspective of humanism also implores one to observe multiculturalism and diversity as key elements that promote the productivity in working groups of people. It must be remembered that the individual contributions of people are what sums up to make the overall performance of a group. Humanism emphasizes a need of observing groups of individuals as a whole instead of groups of different persons regarding race, ethnicity, appearance, religion, and gender among other things (Sue, Rasheed, & Rasheed, 2015). It acknowledges the differences that always exist between people. By this approach, the philosophical perspective entitles people to a sense of belonging in organizations by the function of good interpersonal relationships. From another perspective, however, the humanistic philosophical view implies that one cannot be fully capable of tackling or solving issues of others. It establishes that the influence one may have on others is limited. Nonetheless, the view does not refute nor discourage initiatives of offers of encouragement and empowerment of others.
Summary of Discussion of Theory
The role of human service professionals in managing clients continues to be increasingly important with time. Concerning my theorization of the field, I am familiar with behavioral theory, cognitive theory, humanistic theory, and the psychodynamic theory (Rogers, 2012). The humanistic and behavioral theories have capacity of being regarded as the most pertinent in human services in my opinion. The theories offer important guidelines for cases of dealing with clients. An understanding of the humanistic theory can be derived from the explanation of the philosophy of humanism that is described in this paper. On the other hand, I have come to understand the provisions of the behavioral theory by interaction with members of staff at SAFFT (Supporting Adaptive and Foster Families Together) and through efforts of personal research and study. The theory points out that people adopt different types of behaviors as a function of conditioning, relating to elements in their environment as stimuli. Such behaviors may well be observed by looking at patterns of interaction that people achieve in group settings (Wandersman, Poppen, & Ricks, 2016). I am confident that regarding theory and delivery of human services, the humanistic theory also informs significantly based on its provisions. According to the theory, people have innate abilities of resilience. They are able to heal themselves given time and desirable surroundings or environments. They have capacity of identifying ideal purposes or activities to engage in for meaningful use of their mental wellbeing.
Explanation of Theoretical Perspective
For groups of people to be comprehended based on culture and diversity, they ought to exhibit some specific characteristics that are only manifested by the function of participation of the group members. In the organizational setting, it is important for group members to recognize that the differences among people form an aspect of strength for the group. Overall, using the theory appropriately goes a long way in helping to understand the mechanisms by which people in different cultures and diversity may coexist together meaningfully and peacefully. Indeed, being able to bring different capacities to the group implies that the group is exposed to different lines of thought regarding new matters. Different solutions may be developed for a problem- making the group more capable of coming up with a most viable one.
The aspects of the theory also associate with the humanism philosophical perspective because human beings have a natural capacity for seeking and adopting ways of promoting their welfare as well as making healthy choices in life. Even though all people are relevant and unique in their ways, they all incline the realization of self-growth and self-actualization (Lisak, & Erez, 2015). Human beings always tend to have natural impulses that they portray from time to time, but which are often affected by forces from their external environment, especially along socioeconomic circles. The forces may be observed as dysfunctional convictions of people that are promoted by aspects of culture. As a human service professional in future, I plan to make good use of the philosophical approach of humanism on the platform of concepts of structuralism.
Summary of overall view and examples of diverse cultures that I need to research
Overall, all the elements of multiculturalism and diversity discussed in this paper have a high capacity for enhancing the performance of professionals in human services. Webster (2015, p. 133) indicates that for human service practice in organizations, “A multicultural diversity perspective in social work management and leadership would add significant strength.” The philosophical and theoretical perspective may serve to inform my work as a human service professional by enlightening me on how to help others to solve their problems. By aligning with the directives, the desired performance remains achievable even as I conform to ethical standards that require professional helpers not to impose their beliefs and values onto the clients. Such often becomes a challenge because of self-determinism. Additionally, I would also establish a significant focus on aiding clients to adopt ways of doing away with negative influences of forces from the external environment indicated above in this paper. Examples of diverse cultures that I need to research to know more about include the Asian, Native Americans and the African-American community.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the working environment of today is characterized by physical boundaries that are somewhat blurry if not becoming transparent. For any organization to achieve meaningful success and growth, it has to adopt mechanisms of multiculturalism and diversity. The comprehension of the two factors by professionals in human services also goes a long way in enabling them to achieve great on-the-job performance. Such is also apparent from the perspective of leadership by the employment of the humanism philosophical perspective, which values the multiculturalism and diversity.
References
Hutchison, E. D. (2018). Dimensions of human behavior: Person and environment. Sage Publications.
Lisak, A., & Erez, M. (2015). Leadership emergence in multicultural teams: The power of global characteristics. Journal of World Business, 50(1), 3-14
Metykova, M. (2016). Diversity and the Media. Macmillan International Higher Education. Ramos, M. R., Hewstone, M., Barreto, M., & Branscombe, N. R. (2016). The opportunities and challenges of diversity: Explaining its impact on individuals and groups. European Journal of Social Psychology , 46 (7), 793-806. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ejsp.2261
Sue, D. W., Rasheed, M. N., & Rasheed, J. M. (2015). Multicultural social work practice: A competency-based approach to diversity and social justice. John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Multicultural-Social-Work-Practice-Competency-Based/dp/111853610X
Van Wormer, K., & Besthorn, F. (2017). Human behavior and the social environment, macro level: Groups, communities, and organizations. Oxford University Press.
Vorauer, J. D., & Quesnel, M. S. (2017). Salient multiculturalism enhances minority group members’ feelings of power. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 43(2), 259-271.
Wandersman, A., Poppen, P. J., & Ricks, D. F. (2016). Humanism and behaviorism: dialogue and growth. New York: Elsevier Science. Retrieved from http://psycnet.apa.org/record/1977-11725-000
Webster, M. (2015). The Organisational Context of Human Service Practice.
