In this section, you will also learn about the needs of some of the diverse subgroups peer support specialists work with and how cultural humility can increase our understanding and promote inclusion. Upon completion, you will be able to
- Define cultural competence, cultural responsiveness, and explain the importance of cultural humility as they pertain to peer support services.
Overview
Cultural competence refers learning about the service needs of all the people you work with, especially those from cultures different from your own, and developing skills and competencies that allow you to work more effectively with people from diverse background. Cultural competence is sometimes considered an impossible standard to achieve, since no one can understand every culture. At the same time, research shows that most bias is unconscious and often unintentional. Cultural competencies allow people to reduce unconscious bias by becoming more aware of the underlying assumptions that perpetuate it.
Once peer specialists acquired the requisite knowledge skills and awareness, they can generally increase their ability to deliver culturally responsive support. This includes becoming familiar with culturally specific, faith-based, and welcoming (of LGBTQ+ individuals) recovery community resources. It is also important to be informed about services available (or not available) in different communities, trends in overdose deaths and how they may be affecting the racial and ethnic groups you work with.
Cultural humility is a mindset or an attitude that can help peer support specialists learn more about the needs of the diverse individuals they work with. Cultural humility asks you maintain an attitude of openness and respect towards another person regarding the aspects of cultural identity that are important to them. It is the willingness to ask questions, admit what you don’t know, and to draw upon the knowledge of friends and co-workers as appropriate. Sometimes if you are unsure of something, respectfully asking the person you are working with is best course of action!
Watch What is Cultural Humility?
Questions to Consider about Your Cultural Identity
Once peer specialists acquired the requisite knowledge skills and awareness, they can generally increase their ability to deliver culturally responsive support. This includes becoming familiar with culturally specific, faith-based, and welcoming (of LGBTQ+ individuals) recovery community resources. It is also important to be informed about services available (or not available) in different communities, trends in overdose deaths and how they may be affecting the racial and ethnic groups you work with. Considering your own cultural identity is a good place to begin exploring how culture has impacted you.
| Age and generation |
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| Developmental disabilities |
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| Disabilities acquired later in life |
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| Religion or spirituality |
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| Ethnic and racial identity |
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| Socioeconomic status (SES) |
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| Sexual orientation |
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| Gender |
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| Indigenous heritage |
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| National origin |
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Cultural and Historical Trauma and Resiliency
Some families emigrate to the US because of traumatic conditions in their homeland such as poverty, violence, and oppression. They often arrive after dangerous journeys and may be subject to conditions at the border that the children experience as traumatic. Once they enter the US, they may live with discrimination, poverty, and work long hours under dangerous conditions while living with the constant fear of deportation.
Other families can trace their ancestry back to people who were bought and sold to labor in this county’s fields and farms. Others were brought up on reservations where generations carried the trauma of exile from native lands and relentless exclusion. And still others were raised in poverty with intergenerational addictive and mental illness, or incarcerated parents and placements in foster homes.
These are examples of issues that can cause toxic levels of stress in the lives of individuals that can contribute to the onset of mental health and substance use problems and are often ignored by helping professionals that have not had these experiences. Peer support specialists can remain mindful of the impact these stressors can have on recovery.
Many cultures also have strong taboos against LGBTQ + and non-binary identities that people may face the threat of social isolation and exclusion from their family of origin. Exclusion tends to heighten the effects of trauma, while close ties to cultural, religious, and family traditions are protective factors that promote resilience, especially for youth.
In different cultures, addiction and mental health problems can be highly stigmatized or embraced as normal. Mental health problems tend to be more acceptable for women than alcohol or drug problems, and when women seek help, they are more likely to do so through the mental health system. The opposite tends to be the case for men who are more likely to seek treatment for an addictive disorder.
These are examples of some of the complex issues related to culture, trauma, gender, etc. that people must resolve with their new identity as a person in recovery. Peer support specialists can listen, encourage thoughtful consideration, and remind people that working through these issues takes as much time as takes, and there isn’t a deadline.
Ultimately, it is important to remember that “Hurt people hurt people, but healed people heal people (Rivera, 2018).”
Tips for Peer Specialists
- Sometimes we really don’t know what it’s like to go through something. It’s okay to say so.
- It is important to not avoid talking about experiencing discrimination.
- Recognizing health disparities, historical struggles, and the need to promote health equity in communities of color helps build trust.
- Leadership opportunities, peer-led initiatives, and diverse representation on advisory boards helps build culturally responsive recovery supports and services.
- Several studies found that perceived discrimination was highly related to depression among minorities—including one on adults of Mexican origin (Finch et al., 2000).
- Trauma responses among women from non-dominant cultures may differ and can be easily misinterpreted (NCCMH, 2005; Zimmerman and Mattia, 1999).
- Many minorities have legitimate reason for their deep mistrust of what they perceive to be a “White” health care system.