Working Across Difference Example

Working Across Difference Example Working Across Difference â€" Assignment Example > Examine the issues involved in working with a client that is different from oneself in term of ethnicity. An ethnic group is a culture or subculture whose members are readily distinguishable by outsiders based on traits originating from a common racial, national, linguistic, or religious source. Members of an ethnic group are often presumed to be culturally or genetically similar, although this is not in fact necessarily the case. Ethnic groups share a common origin, and exhibit a continuity in time, that is, a history and a future as a people. This is achieved through the intergenerational transmission of common language, institutions, values and traditions. It is important to consider this characteristic of ethnic groups if we are to distinguish them from a group of individuals who share a common characteristic, such as ancestry, in a specific point in time. On the political front, an ethnic group is distinguished from a nation-state by the former's lack of sovereignty. While et hnicity and race are related concepts, the concept of ethnicity is rooted in the idea of social groups, marked especially by shared nationality, tribal affiliation, religious faith, shared language, or cultural and traditional origins and backgrounds, whereas race is rooted in the idea of biological classification of Homo sapiens to subspecies according to arbitrarily chosen genotypic and/or phenotypic traits. Power issues, involved in working across difference(a)Religion issuesIn general, religion plays a major role in people’s lives. There are some very useful resources, which provide extensive guidelines for the management of patients from different religions. Religious beliefs have a major impact on attitudes toward many procedures in the hospital, e.g. organ transplantation, birthing practices, death and dying, diet, gender issues, abortion and modesty, to name a few. Certain religions require prayer at certain times of the day, so being sick or hospitalized can be very dis ruptive to an important routine. Prayer rooms are a valuable resource and patients need to be informed about them. In addition, hospital chaplains can sometimes co-ordinate visits from the appropriate priest, (b)Community issuesSubsequently, because of varying preferences, communities form their own respective preferences in their modus operandi. The fact of essence lies in the fact that due their respect priorities, they form specific notions, and resultantly form a community. The evolution and dynamics of a community is not an overnight process. Quite the contrary, it is a process that is long overseen by issues that are specific and exclusive to the group of people now referred to as a community. (c)Practice/ritual based issuesDiffering priorities in social values and norms obviously means a difference in rituals as well. These rituals in effect may not be threatening to fellow communities, yet the exclusive nature that they determine makes it ‘untouchable’ for others, and h ence creates a credible barrier between them and the majority group. (d)Minority political rightsThough a delicate issue, yet its impact is quite otherwise. Minorities shall often complain about the lack of rights that they are given in a community. Yet contrastingly, they are the ones who are given the maximum rights. This is because rights for them are defined according to their needs and desires, whereas for the majority community, it is a vague concept. Minority ethnic groups always know who is the epicenter of their group, who to approach when a legal matter arises, where are their religious institutions etc. however, the same may not necessarily be the case with the dominant ethnic community. Thus a political struggle is born, and the tug-war remains ever so volatile.