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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO CROSSING CULTURES Making friends in a multi-cultural world Patty Lane InterVarsity Press, 2002, 205 pp. ISBN 0-8308-2346-8 |
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Patty Lane is the director of
the Office of Inter-cultural Initiatives for the Baptist General Convention
of Texas. She has worked with more
than 20 different language and culture groups. She conducts seminars to help churches in multicultural
settings. This is a good introductory
text with helpful discussion questions and useful appendices to help us
understand the cultures around us. “Our culture shapes who we are,
what we believe and how we behave.”
“This book is a skill-building journey into crosscultural
relationships....” (11) “What are the keys to understanding culture and its impact on
relationships?” “By understanding ...
six [cultural] lenses and their impact on who we are and who others are, we
will be better able to establish relationships with people from other
cultures.” “Once we recognize our own
perspective we can begin to look at those around us and accept the
perspective from which they see the world.” (168-69) “The United States is like
stew. The individual cultures are
recognizable, yet they influence each other and the flavors mix together.”
(16) “The visible part of the culture
is the objective part. It is the most
easily recognized and the most easily changed. It is supported by the subjective culture.... This is the internal part of the culture
that drives or motivates the visible, objective culture. It consists of motivations, beliefs and
worldview.” (18-19) “It takes more than outward
similarities to have another culture.
It is easy to confuse this visible change with actually changing one’s
culture.” (22) “The second generation immigrant
forms a unique, third culture by combining the parents’ culture with the new
culture. The result is a culture that
reflects a mixture of values and beliefs....” (23) “From a cultural perspective
assimilation represents the death of one’s heritage and identity. No matter where people live, they are
generally proud of their heritage and cultural background.” (23) “Some in the field of
crosscultural studies believe that it takes at least four generations to
completely assimilate.” (24) Stereotypes have three
characteristics. They are ·
From an outsider’s perspective... ·
Restrictive or limiting ·
Accusative Stereotypes originate with
someone making an observation about members of another group.” (25) “Archetypes allow a person to
have a general idea of cultural norms, customs and values without limiting
anyone to be that archetype. An
archetype is developed by an insider and is on-accusative and non-restrictive.”
(26) Misattribution. “By definition, misattribution is
‘attributing meaning or motive to someone’s behavior based upon one’s own
culture or experience.’” “First, our
cultural beliefs are so ingrained that they appear to be either common sense
or universal. Secondly,
misattributions often evoke an instant emotional response.” (27) “This may be one of the biggest sources
for poor relationships across cultures.” (29) “My Texas speech pattern
immediately indicated to my neighbor that I probably was not very bright and
rather backward in my thinking. Her
New York speech pattern told me that she was cold and aloof.” Misattributions! (33) Six responses to another
culture: (27-42) ·
Xenophobia (fear) ·
Ethnocentrism (superiority) ·
Forced Assimilation (Americanization - You’re
welcome if you become like me.) ·
Segregation (remain separate) ·
Acceptance (coexist, accommodate, and build
relationships) ·
Celebration (valuing other cultures in their
diversity) “The U.S. Christian community
has not taken the lead to endorse the acceptance and celebration of other
cultures.” “When our way of life or
our standard of living feels threatened, in general, Christians respond like
the rest of their society.” “In fact
we are so much a part of our U.S. cultural values that we seldom see the
contradictions between the standards we profess and the values we protect.”
(42-3) “Each culture has a unique way
of seeing life and relationships.
When we understand our own cultural lenses and the lenses of others,
we are more likely to make friends with persons of other cultures.” (47) Culture is defined as “a system
of meanings and values that shape one’s behavior.” (47) “Crossing cultures is easier
when one understand which differences are culturally based and which are
not.” (48) Lens #1. Context “Low context cultures place a
small amount of importance on the context while high context cultures place a
large degree of meaning on the context.
Context includes ·
Environment (setting, location, decorations and so
on) ·
Process (How the meeting is conducted, how
participants were invited...) ·
Body language, facial expression and tone of voice
(body language is not a universal language....) (48) High context culture: (49-56) ·
“The context of an event is as important as the
event itself. ·
The listener is responsible for understanding
communication. ·
There is no distinction between the idea and the
person. ·
Experience is equal in value to fact. ·
Life if viewed holistically. [Lane’s
examples clarify these concepts. Dlm] Low context culture: (56-58) ·
Low context cultures do not read subtleties well
and value directness. ·
Define people by their recent achievements. ·
Prefer analytical thinking. Lens #2. Activity “Doing cultures value results
and materialism. Being cultures
values relationships and quality of life.” (61) “For doing cultures, activities that produce results are valued
as are the people who are involved in those kinds of result-oriented
activities. For being cultures,
activities that enhance and build relationships are valued.” (63-4) “Doing cultures do care about
relationships and being cultures do care about results. It is the culture, however, that defines
results and relationships. In being
cultures results are seen from the perspective of relationship, and in doing
cultures relationships are seen from the perspective of accomplishment.” (66) Lens #3 Authority “The authority lens addresses
how a culture group defines and perceives authority. The two perspectives within this lens are
egalitarian/informal and hierarchical/formal.” (72) Egalitarian cultures believe all
persons have equal value and rights (although they may not treat each
individual as equal in practice).
(73) Hierarchical cultures
have rules for much of life and accept and expect unequal treatment based on
gender, race, caste, etc. (73) Egalitarian cultures are usually
more informal, having a casualness to society that is expressed in diverse
ways of dressing, behaving, and relating to others. “The informal nature of U.S. culture can also make it easy for
one to be insensitive to the need others have for cultural uniformity and
structure.” (75) “Most hierarchical cultures
adhere to some degree to ascribed status or status given to one by virtue of
position in life.” Egalitarian
cultures more typically base status on achievement. (77) “Small power distance refers to
a low tolerance for unequal distribution of power and great discomfort when
there is little access to power.”
“If your culture is a large power distance culture, having an
authority (supervisor, politician and so on) tell you what to do with no
opportunity for input may not be troublesome for you. If your culture is a small power distance
culture, however, this sort of situation may be virtually intolerable.” (80) Lens #4 Relationship “Collective cultures view
themselves as part of a group, which usually is their family, tribe or
community. [They] related to persons
not only as unique individuals but as part of a greater whole.” “One for all and all for one.” “Individualistic cultures
see each person as an individual, separate from family or community.” They relate on a one-on-one basis. Every one for himself. (86-7) “For collective cultures, the
fear of ‘losing face,’ feeling shame or losing honor seems almost innate,
...and as devastating as not breathing.
It is a guiding force behind most interactions....” “To lose face is to bring shame either on
oneself or on one’s family (or group...).”
“Loss of face can be caused by dishonoring oneself by not living up to
certain goals, actions of a family member, not fulfilling another’s
expectations, causing a person to be out of unity with the group, suggesting
that one is responsible for a problem or a difficulty, or losing in a real or
perceived competition.” Losing face is often a hidden barrier. (89) “Learning the art of being
indirect will be a valuable skill.” (90)
Use words designed to avoid having to admit failure or error. (91) Lens #5 Time Is time limited and pointing to
the future, a possession, a means to achieve results? Or is abundant and historical? (98-9) “Is time a “limited resource to be
managed or as an abundant gift to be used freely without constraint?” (102) Some groups start on time, no
matter what the clock starts, because they start when all the people who need
to be there are there. (99) “The past is part of the present and
cannot ignored or just ‘gotten over.’”
(101) “They talk about serving God and
loving people, but I don’t see how they can when they are so busy and have so
much to do.” “They have their
schedules and that is their god. How
can real Christians survive here?” (101-2) Lens #6 Worldview “Our worldview is at the core of
who we are.” “It is the bedrock of
subjective culture.” “Worldview is the ‘culturally agreed upon perception of
reality....’” (105-6) Worldview sets
the boundaries for what one understands as reality. (112) Three perspectives: premodern,
modern, and postmodern. Figure 8.1
shows how truth, knowledge, perspective, and evidence comprise each
worldview. (107) “Much of what is called
Christian in the United States is really syncretism, a blending of U.S.
cultural values and Christian teaching into a system that reflects more of
who we are culturally than who God has called us to be as His followers.” (114) “When the one sharing the gospel
message cannot distinguish essential Christian truth from cultural values, it
is easy to communicate one’s culture as Christianity.” “If you can’t see that
your own culture has its own set of interests, emotions, and biases, how can
you expect to deal successfully with someone else’s culture?” (114) Chapter 9 is on resolving
conflict. “Misattribution is the
greatest cause of conflict and misunderstanding.” (118) Assumptions,
different expectations, differing values, differing behaviors, and
preconceived impressions of speech patterns, are often causes of wrong
information. (119-125) Chapter 10 expresses the
author’s understanding of God’s view of crosscultural relationships. God loves the alien (Lev 24:22 and many
others). We too are strangers to an
unbelieving world. There is no longer
Jew or Greek (Col 3:11). (139) “To understand and apply the
Bible one must see it within the framework of its culture.” (140) Appendices: A.
Old Testament References to Stranger, Alien B.
Culture/Feature Chart – relating to Power Distance,
Collective vs. Individualistic, Doing vs. Being C.
Worksheet on Preparing to Share Your Faith Across
Cultures D.
Preparing to Minister within a Diverse Community E.
How Does Culture Influence Your Values? F.
Building Intercultural Relationship G.
Checklist of Intercultural Church Relationships ***** |
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