Microaggressions

Microaggressions

According to Sue et al. (2007), microaggressions refers to common or daily verbal, environmental or behavioral indignities that can be either intentional or unintentional that communicate derogatory, hostile or negative racial insults towards people of different race or culture or gender. These words or behaviors demean minorities on various grounds such as gender, ability and sexual orientation. Perpetrators of these microaggressions are sometimes not aware that they are engaging in such interactions when interacting with minorities. These microaggressions can be prevented from occurring in a professional psychological practice by remaining sensitive in the way an individual communicates and behaves in a group. For instance, when people meet people from other cultures or races, they must be sensitive to ensure that they do not behave in a manner that look hostile to others (Sue et al. 2007). This can be a challenge to many people, but they need to internalize this and to weigh their words and actions when amidst or in a group.

Personal biases of an individual about other people’s cultures may lead an individual to commit microaggressions. An example of how the western culture and world views of the western cultures are falsely portrayed as a terrorist oriented might conflict with a person’s professional practice leading to microaggression on the basis of race or color (Nezu, 2010). The personal bias may result from the color of the skin, which triggers negative perception in the mind of an individual. Even though professionally an individual may understand about the microaggression, because of the experience of the feelings or the impression that many of the terrorists attacks are perpetrated by them makes an individual to exhibit this microaggressions to people from the west.

Biases and worldviews may cause ethical challenges to an individual’s professional practice in different ways. An individual is usually faced with a challenge in making appropriate choices or decisions leading to some compromises and mistakes. Ethics requires that an individual is able to make appropriate decisions by understanding how to differentiate between right and wrong. This also depends on the individual perception of what is right and wrong. As a professional, one is required to make decisions that meet the ethical standards set. Bias and worldviews may therefore compromise on this especially because of various factors (Vargas & Wilson, 2012). One of the factors is the experience the individual has gone through. Personal bias is formed through learning from the environment and therefore, an individual that believes that a certain race is inferior will have a negative perception about them and therefore, such an individual is likely to engage in microaggressions when interacting with such an individual hence compromising on his/her professional practice.

Another way these biases and worldwideviews may present ethical challenges is when dealing with clients from different cultures. Every individual has his or her own self-supervision, which may affect the establishment of cordial relationship. Because of these differences in the cultural and worldviews and socialization of the two people, it then becomes very challenging to manage ones macroaggressions. For example, because Chinese people have smaller eyes, one may utter a word to a Chinese in connection with the eye without ill motive but this may culminate to a conflict. It is also an ethical issue because, it is not appropriate to use terms or words that are insulting and demeaning. Therefore, it is prudent that professionals and people be sensitive when interacting with other people to avoid microaggressions and ethical problems. This problem is manageable if every person appreciates each other’s culture and beliefs.

References

Nezu, A. M. (2010). Cultural influences on the process of conducting psychotherapy: Personal reflections of an ethnic minority psychologist, Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 47(2), 169–176.

Sue, D. W., Capodilupo, C. M., Torino, G. C., Bucceri, J. M., Holder, A. B., Nadal, K. L., & Esquilin, M. (2007). Racial microaggressions in everyday life: Implications for clinical practice, American Psychologist, 62(4), 271–286.

Vargas, H. L., & Wilson, C. M. (2012). Managing worldview influences: Self-awareness and self-supervision in a cross-cultural therapeutic relationship, Journal of Family and Psychotherapy, 22(2), 97–103