Читать книгу Multicultural Psychology - Jennifer T. Pedrotti - Страница 24

We invite you, as you begin to read these pages, to take on what might be a different perspective for you: the realization that almost all of what you experience, think, and believe is a function of your cultural beliefs and identities. It can be daunting to realize that all you know is subjective, but it can also be exciting.

Some of you are embarking on a new journey right now—this may feel like uncharted territory for you. Perhaps you’re someone who hasn’t been exposed to very many people who are different from you or whose family didn’t talk about race or culture much growing up. Sometimes people who have had these types of experiences have a hard time hearing about race in general or find it difficult to understand some of the experiences had by those from different cultures. Knowing this now and trying to move past these obstacles will be important for you. For others of you, you’ve had many experiences with people who are different from you, or maybe you’ve experienced some issues related to race, ethnicity, or other cultural facets yourself. The information in this book may not be as new to you, but it may provide you some different insights or some terms and theory to explain things you or people you know have experienced in the past. The study of multicultural psychology is rich, nuanced, and vast. There is something new for all of you to learn regardless of where you are now. At the end of this chapter, we’ll help you to assess your current levels of awareness, knowledge, and skills and give you some ideas of where to start using the new knowledge you are accruing. This may help you to get the most out of this book.

We encourage you to open your mind wide as you read these pages. Turn the ideas presented here over (and over) in your mind. Look at them critically, and expand your understanding. This willingness to work toward true competence and understanding in this area is the key to becoming a more culturally aware individual. There are many benefits to becoming more culturally aware, as you will learn in the following chapters, but perhaps the best reason of all is that it opens your life to a broader overall experience. Being able to understand things from multiple perspectives in addition to your own vantage point, and broadening your knowledge and skills of all different groups of people, makes for a rich life.