Culture Clash Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Culture Clash - Research Paper Example Each of the group members were to offer an intervention strategy and give their feelings about the recipient of this intervention strategy. After hashing the scenario, all group members were to offer emotional advice to the group member with the new intervention innovation as though to console or criticize how the person chose to handle the given problem. This culture clash was produced by very different personalities and emotional responses and inherent cultural differences were noted. The group activity The scenario involved a hypothetical patient having a difficult time dealing with a parental figure who was both an alcoholic and a perfectionist. The patient was 19 years old, a white American male, still living home and currently unemployed after being let go from a modest-paying production salary. Part of the job perks had been the ability to use deductions from salary to pay for ongoing education, which was unaffordable due to the mother’s excessive costs of drinking and therefore the individual was currently not attending school. To make matters more difficult, the father consistently pressured the now-adult son to find a better path for himself and generally made the environment unsuitable and unsatisfactory living. Coupled with this, the loss of a trusted girlfriend due to an unexpected car accident just four months prior, the hypothetical psychological patient was withdrawing from others, but still remained motivated to become independent of his parents’ unsatisfactory environment. To identify the culture clash involved, it was necessary to outline the entire case study and all of the situations that came along with it. This youth was typically well-adjusted and the group was to come up with social and psychological strategies, or a blend of them both. The person in the group was to take on the role of a trusted friend who happens to be visiting the house during a period where the father is harassing the son in front of the polite company and obviously belittling his talents and attitudes. To add further fuel to the fire, the mother begins the same tirade and the arguments turn into a heated explosion where the entire group is at each other’s throats. In the group, there were primarily white Americans. However, there was one female Chinese group member, one obviously Middle Eastern individual, and an African-American male. The solution offered by the author involved taking a passive stand and just allowing the argument to continue unless the arguing family members asked for opinion or directed comments in the guest’s direction. This was to ensure neutrality in the case. When the group members gave their opinions and emotional responses to how I had chosen to handle this issue, most of the responses from virtually all cultures were criticizing. They seemed to believe that in order to end the chaotic environment that was leading to what looked like physical hostility, it was my responsibility to interven e and try to calm the situation. Conflict negotiation in this case was deemed best to be disruptive and preventative using appropriate soft language. I wholeheartedly disagreed with the group. Most of the responses from the white Americans involved a more passive stand in the situation. This could be due to the sociological norms that exist in the United States in relationship to image protectionism or the lure of curiosity