Strategies for Developing Cross-Cultural Sensitivity

Developing cross-cultural sensitivity currently is a primary challenge for social work educators. In this article, the authors propose the use of an analogy between child abuse and cultural wounding to provide a metaphorical understanding of minority cultures. From the overtly physical wounding of castration to the more subtle forms of psychological wounding that occur through denying the importance or value of one’s culture, the range of cultural wounding that occurs as a result of oppression, devaluing or stigmatizing is presented. It will be shown that the use of the child abuse metaphor will allow the student to understand the feelings and behaviors of those oppressed and through a new level of empathy, learn to join the oppressed in a different type of problem—solving effort.