© 2010
  University of Idaho
  All rights reserved.
  Psychology Dept.
  University of Idaho
  Design - P&D  CTI

    This section covers the important issues of 1) diversity and multicultural competence, and 2) ethics.  For our prevention strategies and interventions to be credible and effective, we must adjust them to the sociocultural context within which we are working and the specific population we are working to influence.  In addition, we must apply them in an ethical manner, respecting the rights, beliefs and dignity of others.
    Diversity is defined as the condition of being diverse, or different.  We differ from one another due to an array of factors we encounter in our developmental experience, including race, ethnicity, skin color, gender, family system, socioeconomics, and the community in which we grew up.  Collectively, these factors add up to one’s culture in the broad, inclusive definition of multiculturalism.  All of these things and more contribute to who we have become and are becoming, and we all have had different life experiences.  Consequently, we are all diverse to some degree, and to be effective prevention specialists, we must be aware of and appreciate these differences.  We tend to define multiculturalism more narrowly into culture-specific categories such as nationality or ethnicity, dividing people into groups such as Native American, Latino, Asian American, African American and so on as these groups tend to be easily identified and in many cases share distinct characteristics.  However, it is important to appreciate the broader definition in order to avoid inaccurate and offensive stereotyping.
    Various professions that fall into the category of human services, such as social work, counseling and prevention, have developed codes of ethics that are binding on the members of professional organizations.  These codes serve as guidelines for ethical and professional conduct.  Prevention specialists should be aware of the codes that apply to their profession as well as the consequences of practicing in ways that are not sanctioned by their professional organization.  In addition, practitioners in human services fields will encounter situations that present ethical dilemmas with no obvious answers that are not specifically addressed by ethical codes.  These situations will require the exercise of sound judgment, and practitioners must have their own personal ethics to bring to bear in these situations.  Prevention specialists need to become sensitive to ethical issues likely to arise in their profession, hone their own ability to reason about these ethical issues, and develop their own personal code of ethics to enhance their ethical decision-making capability.