Appreciating Diversity

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Appreciating Diversity
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Why the growing concern about diversity?

• Changing Demographics
• Native Americans/Alaskan Native
• Increase of 26
• Asian American
• Increase of 48
• Hispanic American
• Increase of 58
• African-Americans
• Increase of 16

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Who Cares!!!!!!!!!!

• Although changing demographics are the true
  source of concerns about diversity, I (and
  community psychology for that matter) argue that
  regardless of demographics understanding and
  appreciating diverse groups is a necessary
  process.

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Importance of Diversity

• Wade Nobles
• Culture is to humans as water is to fish
• It is our total environment and necessary for
  survival (anonymous)
• In order to understand humans you must understand
  their culture
• An understanding of the interaction between
  culture and environment is also necessary
• Oppression or disenfranchisement
• Secondary cultural characteristics

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Language

• Labels/Names Voice
• Labels/Names
• dualism

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Label/Names

• Negro, Colored, Black, Afro-American,
  African-American
• Hispanic, Chicano, Latino
• Handicapped, Disabled, Physically-challenged
• Girl, Woman, Lady
• Miss, Misses, Miz

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Identity

• Groups
• Target or Agent
• Oppressed or Oppressor
• Interaction between group and environment

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The Agency

• How do agent groups oppress target groups?
• Categorization
• Stereotype
• Prejudice
• Paternalistic vs. envious
• Discrimination
• Oppression

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Research on Oppression

• Elliots Iowa Eyes
• Blue vs. Brown
• See youtube.com
• Sherifs Robbers Cave
• Eagles vs. Rattlers
• Tajfels Artists
• Klee vs. Kandinsky

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Overcoming Oppression

• Open dialogue
• Target has to have a mode of expression
• Agent has to listen
• Factors preventing open dialogue
• Target
• Lack of voice
• Fear of stereotype
• Agent
• Acting as expert
• Fear of emotion
• Denial of Impact through justification of intent
  (e.g. Blaming the Victim)

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Working Together

• Stopping oppression is only step one in
  appreciating diversity. Step 2 is working
  together.
• Increasing working together
• Contact hypothesis
• Superordinate goal
• Boundary spanners

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• Increasing societys appreciation of diversity
  will require methods and strategies to end
  oppression at various levels of the ecology and
  promoting cohesion between diverse groups. In
  order to accomplish these goals, SOCIAL CHANGE
  must occur.