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How Do You Relate to Various Groups of People in the Society?

Reprinted with permission from: Randall-David E. 1989. Strategies for working with culturally diverse communities and clients. Washington (DC): Association for the Care of Children's Health. p 7-9.

Described below are different levels of response you might have towards a person.

Level of Response

1. Greet: I feel I can greet this person warmly and welcome him or her sincerely.
2. Accept: I feel I can honestly accept this person as he or she is and be comfortable enough to listen to his or her problems.
3. Help: I feel I would genuinely try to help this person with his or her problems as they might relate to or arise from the label-stereotype given to him or her.
4. Background: I feel I have the background of knowledge and/or experience to be able to help this person.
5. Advocate: I feel I could honestly be an advocate for this person.

The follow is a list of individuals. Read down the list and place a check mark by anyone you would not "greet" or would hesitate to "greet." Then move to response level 2, "accept," and follow the same procedure. Try to respond honestly, not as you think might be socially or professionally desireable. Your answers are only for your personal use in clarifying your initial reactions to different people.

Scoring Guide

The previous activity may help you anticipate difficulty in working with some clients at various levels. The thirty types of individuals can be grouped into five categories: ethnic/racial, social issues/problems, religious, physically/mentally handicapped, and political. Transfer you check marks to the following form. If you have a concentration of checks within a specific category of individuals or at specific levels, this may indicate a conflict that could hinder you from rendering effective professional help.