Transcript Slide 1

Evaluation in Minority Communities:
Culturally Engaged Evaluation
Anthony J. Alberta
Sonoran Research Group
Collaborators
NDNS4Wellness, American Indian Prevention Coalition
Bonny Beach, John Whiteshirt, Jr., John Whiteshirt, Sr.,
Boyd Tsosie,Sr., Boyd Tsosie, Jr.
Larry Robinson, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community
Elizabeth Stadick, Valle del Sol
Ramon Valle, San Diego State University
Sonoran Evaluation Group
Molita Yazzie
Acknowledgements
The presentation of these ideas is meant to convey my
personal respect for the cultures, communities and
people who have allowed us to work with them to
develop new ways of knowing.
Limitations
I specifically intend to speak about my experiences
trying to integrate indigenous wisdom and scientific
knowledge, not to speak for anyone with whom we
have worked.
Financial Acknowledgements
United States Department of Health and Human Services,
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration,
Center for Substance Abuse Treatment
Center for Substance Abuse Prevention
Center for Mental Health Services
Grant Numbers
TI13309, TI4254, TI14051, SMS4814
Definitions
Western European Culture: The culture of the
industrialized democracies of central and northern
Europe, identified by belief in humankind as dominant
in the world.
Western European Science: The positivist,
reductionist approach to the creation of knowledge
through the application of specific, predefined
methodologies documented through written
communications.
(My primary experience is with U.S.
variant of Western European Culture)
Definitions
Indigenous Culture: The culture of agrarian or laborbased communities identified by belief in humankind as
having a place in the world.
Indigenous Wisdom: The body of knowledge gained
through the experience of a community in the world
and maintained through an oral tradition.
Definitions
Minority Community: A social unit whose access to
power/resources is limited because their physical and
cultural attributes do not conform to those established
as “normal”, “good”, or “right” by a dominant community.
Dominant Community: A social unit who have
asserted control over definitions of “normal”, “good”,
or “right” and use these definitions as the basis for
allocating power/resources.
“I came, I saw, I conquered.”
Julius Caesar
Culturally Engaged Evaluation
During the past twenty years, a rich literature concerning
the affects of culture on the outcomes associated with
behavioral health interventions.
Sue, D. W., et al, 1982; Cross et al., 1989; Isaacs &
Benjamin, 1991; Davis, 1997.
Culturally Engaged Evaluation
This work relies on a now widely recognized tripartite model
of cultural competence through:
Awareness of Cultural Differences
Knowledge of Another Culture
Specific Skills for Acting Competently
Culturally Engaged Evaluation
In more recent literature, a number of authors have noted the
value of recognizing communities’ strengths and the
necessary role that members of minority communities must
play in the definition of cultural competence.
Delgado, 1998; Reynolds, 2001; Sue, 2001
These same concepts can inform our practice of evaluation in
communities with cultural foundations outside that of the
dominant, western European culture.
Culturally Engaged Evaluation
Affective Communication
Relationship Building
Diunital Reasoning
Customs and Practices
Community-based Oversight
Acknowledgment of Wisdom
Shared Findings
Model Management
Affective Communication
Although many authors refer to communication skills as a
necessary component of culturally competent interactions,
these references typify the “specific skill” approach referred to
above.
Affective Communication
Thomason (1991) for example, describes a specific approach
to initiating counseling with American Indians;
Delgado (1998) refers to the importance of language and
other methods of conveying thought and meaning in
Latino culture
Locke (1989) discusses specific methods for addressing
differences in speech patterns between AfricanAmerican children and school counselors.
Affective Communication
Culturally engaged evaluation calls for the use of observation
to adopt the communication style of the people or person
immediately at hand.
Affective Communication
Evaluators should attempt to emulate the tone of voice,
use of hand gestures, amount of eye contact, pace of
speech, and voice volume of the group s/he is working
with.
Note that the model does not call for the evaluator to
mimic the communication style of the others, but to
emulate it – to try to bring her/his own behavior in line
with that of the people s/he is working with, instead of
attempting to precisely act it out
Affective Communication
The model refers to “affective communication” because
language represents both an important aspect of cultural
competence and, at times, an overrated one.
Members of different cultural groups, for example, may
share a language but still experience a sense of
disaffection in their relationships with one another.
This example also demonstrates the difference between
cultural competence (the ability to speak the language of
another culture) and cultural engagement (the ability to
effectively interact with members of an unfamiliar
culture).
Relationship Building
Western European culture presupposes the development of
professional relationships based on credentials, market-based
criteria and other “objective” factors
Indigenous cultures, on the other hand, tend to rely more
heavily on personal relationships as the foundation for
professional relationships (Ramirez, 1998, pp 18 - 21).
Relationship Building
At times, evaluators confuse “methodology” with “objectivity”.
Western European science requires evaluators to use a
specific, pre-defined methodology. It does not require us
to have no interest in the outcomes of our work.
Relationship Building
Evaluators seeking to practice successfully in multi-cultural
situations, then, should consciously set out to establish
personal relationships with members of the communities in
which they work.
Within Culturally Engaged Evaluation, we recognize
our ethical obligation to methodology, not objectivity.
Diunital Reasoning
Described by Myers (1988), diunital reasoning is the skill of
recognizing the validity of two competing, even exclusionary,
world views. In some of the cross-cultural psychological
literature diunital reasoning is sometimes known as cognitive
dissonance (Valle, 1998).
Customs and Practices
Evaluators can use a number of resources to develop an
understanding of the customs and practices of a culture
other than their own.
Any of these sources may provide either erroneous
information, or information that does not accurately
describe the practices of a particular subgroup of some
larger cultural group.
As a result, evaluators cannot rely solely on any source
outside the members of a specific cultural milieu as they
enter culturally unfamiliar territory.
Customs and Practices
In Culturally Engaged Evaluation, understanding customs and
practices begins with observation. Within the model,
observation consists of three distinct components:
Identifying patterns of behavior;
Identifying the values and expectations that underlie the
behavior;
Using the information to enlarge one’s understanding of
the world view supported by the culture (Valle, 1998).
BE HUMBLE
Community-based Oversight
Members of the community involved in the Evaluation are
best suited to provide oversight of participant protection
activities.
Institutional Review Boards and Ethics Committees
with a majority of members who share the
cultural/ethnic/racial background of study participants
can inform the oversight process.
The requirement to avoid conflicts of interest usually
precludes participation on IRB’s/EC’s by people from
the community actually involved in the Evaluation.
Community-based Oversight
Community-based advisory groups comprised of members
of the community involved in the evaluation can help
select methods, review instruments, and guide evaluators
as they work in the community.
Members of the advisory group may also become involved
in letting community members know about the evaluation
– it’s purpose, what it means for the services, and what it
means for the community.
Acknowledge Wisdom
“I’m trying to figure out how to work your
science thing into what I know to be true
about the world.”
Boyd Tsosie, Sr.
Acknowledge Wisdom
Indigenous communities have always created knowledge.
That’s “knowledge”, not “folklore”.
Acknowledge Wisdom
This knowledge has included individual technological
innovations such as:
Hammers
Blades
Wheels
Levers
Fire
Acknowledge Wisdom
As well as entire fields of knowledge, including things like:
Cooking
Ceramics
Agriculture
Astronomy
Education
Weaving
Engineering
Acknowledge Wisdom
Indigenous cultures also developed knowledge with
regard to healing practices.
The teleological, holistic and collectivist approach of
indigenous healing practices capitalizes on the demonstrated
role of expectation, belief, and human relationship in the
healing process.
Acknowledge Wisdom
1. 50% of the effect of anti-depressants has nothing to
do with the medication.
'Listening to Prozac but Hearing Placebo' Sapirstein
and Kirsch, presented at the 104th convention of the
American Psychological Association, 1996.
2. Open administration makes pain killers work better.
Response Variability to Analgesics... Amanzio et al,
Pain, 90 (2001) 205-15.
Acknowledge Wisdom
What’s my point?
Indigenous knowledge is as valid and legitimate
as scientifically derived knowledge.
Asking community members to share their community’s
wisdom with us – and incorporating that wisdom into our
work - begins to address the power imbalance that defines
relationships between “majority” and “minority” community
members.
Acknowledge Wisdom
Grounding Evaluation in the knowledge base of the
communities in which we work will enhance the relevance of
the our work in those communities.
Applying Culturally Engaged Evaluation, then, may lead
to the development of new ways of knowing through the
integration of indigenous and scientific knowledge.
Share Findings
Share data with community members on a regular basis.
This sharing should include involving community members
in the interpretation of findings.
Model Management
One might think of the model as a circle, with each of the skills
fused with the others and forming a whole. Failure to employ
one of the skills will break the circle and significantly reduce
one’s ability to conduct culturally engaged practice.
Culturally Engaged Evaluation
Affective Communication
Relationship Building
Community-based Oversight
Diunital Reasoning
Acknowledgment of Wisdom
Customs and Practices
Shared Findings
Model Management
Anthony J. Alberta
602-369-0075
[email protected]
www.sonoranresearchgroup.com