YOU ARE HERE:    HOME » Church Development » Hispanic/Latino Ministry
  • North Indiana Conference
  • PO Box 869
  • Marion, IN 46953
  • 1.800.783.5138
  • info@nicumc.org

The Challenges of Multiculturalism for the American Church

Malcolm Webber, Ph.D.

What is Culture?

To understand the differences between monocultural and multicultural approaches to church organization and leadership, it is necessary to understand the primary ways in which the cultures of the world vary. Adler (1997) quotes one of the most comprehensive and generally accepted definitions of culture:

Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievement of human groups, including their embodiment in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional (i.e., historically derived and selected) ideas and especially their attached values; culture systems may, on the one hand, be considered as products of action, on the other, as conditioning elements of future action. (pp. 14-15)

In an organizational context, Hofstede (1984) treats culture as "the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one human group from another" (p. 21). Therefore:

  1. Culture is a collective phenomenon. It is shared by all or almost all members of some social group.
  2. Culture is learned, not inherited. It derives from one’s social environment, not from one’s genes. Moreover, it is something the older members of the group intentionally try to pass on to the younger members.
  3. Culture shapes behavior and structures one’s perception of the world. (cf. Alder, 1997, p. 15; Hofstede, 1997, p. 5)

As Hofstede (1997) notes, "culture should be distinguished from human nature on one side, and from an individual’s personality on the other, although exactly where the borders lie between human nature and culture, and between culture and personality, is [debated]" (p. 5).

Figure 1 depicts the three levels of uniqueness in "human mental programming."

Figure 1

At the core of culture are values.

Values

According to Williams (1979),

all continuing human groupings develop normative orientations – conceptions of preferred and obligatory conduct and of desirable and undesirable states of affairs…The most important types of normative elements are norms (specific obligatory demands, claims, expectations, rules) and values (the criteria of desirability). (p. 15)

Thus, values are core conceptions of the desirable within every individual and society. Milton Rokeach (1979, pp. 2-3) makes the following observations regarding values:

  1. The number of dimensions of human values is small.
  2. The dimensions of human values are the same the world over.
  3. Human values are capable of different structural arrangements.
  4. They are the result of societal demands and psychological needs.
  5. They are learned and determined by culture, society, society’s institutions, and personal experience.
  6. They are determinants in turn of attitudes, judgments, evaluations, rationalizations, choices, attributions of causality, and actions.
  7. They are capable of undergoing change as a result of change in society, situation, self-conceptions, and self-awareness.
  8. Changes in values represent central rather than peripheral changes, thus having important consequences for other cognitions and social behavior.

Are Cultures Converging?

In spite of the increasing "globalization" of business, etc., there is no evidence that the cultures of present-day generations from different countries are converging. "In the sphere of values, i.e., fundamental attitudes towards life and towards other people, young Turks differ from youn ricans just as much as old Turks differed from Old Americans" (Hofstede, 1997, p. 17). Hofstede (1997) further asserts:

Research about the development of cultural values has shown repeatedly that there is very little evidence of international convergency over time, except an increase of individualism for countries that have become richer. Value differences between nations described by authors centuries ago are still present today, in spite of continued close contacts. For the next few hundred years countries will remain culturally very diverse. Not only will cultural diversity among countries remain with us: it even looks as though differences within countries are increasing. Ethnic groups arrive at a new consciousness of their identity and ask for a political recognition of this fact. (p. 238)

Assimilation

Of particular significance to this present study is the concept of assimilation. The situation faced by migrants who leave their own country to settle in a new one is basically the problem of learning to adapt to an unfamiliar culture. This problem can be dramatic if the new culture is very different from the one they left. They may have to learn a new language, and they will be exposed to some patterns of values and forms of behavior that are quite foreign to them. The society they enter may be organized differently, with new forms of institutions and social structures. As they begin to live and interact with others within their new environment, some of the values that they brought with them may alter as they are exposed to the influences of the new culture. According to Gordon (1964), there are seven different but interrelated subprocesses of assimilation:

  1. Cultural or behavioral assimilation, or acculturation, where cultural patterns have changed toward those of the host society.
  2. Structural assimilation, where large-scale entry of the migrants into institutions has occurred within the host society.
  3. Marital assimilation, where extensive intermarriage has taken place.
  4. Identificational assimilation, where migrants have developed a sense of peoplehood based exclusively on the host society.
  5. Attitude receptional assimilation, where social relations involve an absence of prejudice toward members of the migrant group.
  6. Behavioral receptional assimilation, where there is no discriminatory behavior toward members of the migrant group.
  7. Civic assimilation, where conflict between migrants and the host society is absent over issues concerning values and power.

For some migrants, assimilation may go no further than acculturation (Feather, 1979), and Eisenstadt (1954) observes that "full absorption," which occurs when the migrant group populates the society’s institutions and ceases to have a separate identity, never occurs. Usually a pluralistic structure arises in which different groups coexist, with each group maintaining some degree of separate identity. In other words, culture and diversity in values never quite "go away." Consequently, Christian leaders in America must understand how cultures vary, if they are to disciple effectively the multicultural society of the new millennium.

« Multiculturalism: The Good and the Bad What is Culture? How Do Cultures Vary? »

© Malcolm Webber, Ph.D., www.healthyleaders.org.

Reproduced on this web site by permission.