Intercultural sensitivity

For my Ministry and Culture class this week we are reading “Towards Ethnorelativism: A Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity” by Milton J. Bennett. Bennet’s thesis is that we grow from cultural insensitivity toward cultural sensitivity. Bennet suggests that if we are to become interculturally sensitive we must move through 2 phases of development. First an ethnocentric phase where we are focused on our own cultural, then an ethnorelative phase where we develop awareness of an outside culture.

The ethnocentric phase is made up of 3 stages. First a cognitive stage of denial in which the individual through isolation and separation denies the existence or validity of other cultures. Second an affective stage of defense in which the individual may denigrate a foreign culture or claim cultural superiority in an effort to defend his or her own culture from a perceived threat. Third a behavioral stage of minimization in which the individual attempts to prove that all people all ultimately the same; we are all born, die, created by the same creator, etc.

An individual can then move to an ethnorelative phase made up of 3 stages. First a cognitive stage of acceptance in which the individual through respect for behavioral and value differences can appreciate another culture. Second an affective stage of adaptation in which the individual chooses to empathize with the foreign culture and recognizes that there is more than one correct way of interacting with the world. Third a behavioral stage of integration in which the individual is able become a part of and apart from a given cultural context through contextual evaluation and constructive marginality.

I have difficulty fully grasping the complexities of the integration stage. I believe that I am still working on empathizing with cultures I am not a part of. As I look around me it seems that many of the people I most respect are those that are able to become a part of and part from the cultural contexts they interact with.

I would be interested to discuss where most Christians in the average church tend to stay in this developmental model. It appears to me that there are many (if not a majority) who function in the ethnocentric phase. What are the ways that we can develop our congregations toward the ethnorelative phase. Bennet gives a few suggestions, but I will not go into those thoughts at this time. How do we move people beyond defending their cultural and minimizing differences, and toward acceptance of cultural differences and the value inherent to those differences? It is a difficult task I think the church would benefit from pursuing.

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