Question

Psychologists need to have an awareness of and respect for individual, cultural, and role differences, including those based on age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, ethnicity, etc. Psychologists are to ensure that they are aware of the scientific and professional knowledge of these differences and acquire the competencies necessary to perform their roles effectively. Psychologists strive to be aware of and eliminate their own and other's prejudices in the professional work (Fisher, 2003). Class: How is homosexuality viewed across cultures and how does this affect the way these individuals are treated? How might psychologist's beliefs, prejudices, preconceived biases, and stereotypes negatively impact the homosexual client in psychotherapy?

Fisher, CAB. (2003). Decoding the ethics code: A practical guide for psychologists. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) Homosexuality is still a fairly sensitive topic of discussion and acceptance in the East and even in the west. Before a psychologist might attempt to be accepting of the orientation of their client, they might first attempt to be sensitive, yet accepting towards individuals of any and all types of differences.

In the field of anthropology, human groups are studied meticulously and extensively. In order to make sure that researchers get a glimpse of the group’s everyday life, it is essential to fit into their normal circumstances and everyday lives. Anthropology involves the life of the researcher becoming one with the lives of the members of the subject group.

This simply means that in order to understand each other, it is necessary to be open to observing and learning about different cultures. In other words, it is necessary for an individual to get to know different tangents of the world with an open mind as opposed to recklessly thwarting anything that is different from their own beliefs.

The major issue that is faced when a psychologist is presented with different cultures is that they might be wary of something that isn’t commonplace to their own environment. It isn’t necessary for us to live like anthropologists and completely be submerged in the life of an obscure tribe in an unusual part of the world. However, it is necessary for us to mimic their method of understanding. The best way to understand something is to get to know it better.

It is essential for any counsellor to conduct research from the case study of their patient in advance. Doing so would ensure that the counsellor would deal carefully with the sensitive subjects and not easily worry or scare the patient with topics that are particularly hard for them to handle.

If the patient is of a different cultural background, it becomes even more essential to have foreknowledge about the patient and the cultural connotations of their convictions. A piece of advice given to a Chinese patient could be different to that of an American patient. Considering the cultural background of the patient, their views on community living, family, individualistic culture, religion etc. the patient should have a session befitting to their beliefs.

It is surely disheartening that individuals of a different orientation, race and ethnic backgrounds are treated with prejudice. However, this issue explores the perspective where the lack of knowledge is the true disease and prejudice is simply a symptom of that disease. If a professional psychologist truly comprehends this concept, there might be no question of giving in to cultural stereotypes.

Also, a psychologist would be able to easily impart these beliefs to a homosexual client. This would make the client understand that any issue they face with prejudice is simply those that stem from ignorance and intolerance and through no fault of their own.