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| Georgina and staff member Janelle Boehm |
My cultural project centers on
a Foster Care unit home called TLC at CEDARS that consist of twelve young women
from the ages of 13 to 18 years of age. TLC stands for Teaching Learning and
Connecting. This Group Home is a community based residential center designed to
meet the needs of teen females whose families cannot take care of them. All girls come from different backgrounds,
races, religions, cultures and beliefs, but all of these girls have one thing
in common. They come from dysfunctional families. In other words, their
biological parents or other family members cannot take care of them. Their culture is chaos and unorganized. The mission of TLC is to help these young
girls who have been abused, neglected or homeless achieve safety, stability and
enduring family relationships. The TLC staff consists of six fulltime and four
part time staff members, all whom are female.
This project was a humbling
experience and uncomfortable for me at times.
The gender and age identity coupled with the girl’s family History was a
culture that was completely different than mine. As a white male, my culture is
supported by loving parents who help me make the right decisions. In most cases, these girls are on their own at
a very young age with no one to teach them right from wrong. Their lives can spiral down quickly. That’s why I admire the staff at TLC because
they have the strong task of teaching them in a new culture that is more
structured and loving. It takes time for
these girls to trust and adapt to a new environment. Some do and some
unfortunately do not.
To understand TLC’s culture and its
Intercultural Communications as it relates to this project I’ve collected data
from two administrators, a former client of TLC, Georgina, who is now 19 years
old and one current client of TLC. All
interviews were videotaped with the exception of the one current client who
could not be videotaped. However, I did gather data from our interview. Also,
I received a tour of the TLC Complex.
In my application blog I spoke
about Culture shock which according to Martin and Nakayama, “is a relatively
short term feeling of disorientation and discomfort due to the lack of familiar
cues in the environment.” With this in
mind, I felt this culture shock when entering TLC’s Group Home. I was
uncomfortable due to the appearance of the girls and the lack of respect they
have for one another. As discussed
earlier, their world is chaos and unorganized by their previous Histories. For example, a young girl who I interviewed
whose name I cannot use, said, “We are not use to people liking us so we go on
the offense. We don’t trust anyone for a
long time and this includes the staff.
But after some time, I now understand that they (staff) are really
trying to help me. It’s up to us to
figure things out. All of us in this
house have been on our own and institutionalized. It’s hard at times.” The Cultural Shock for these girls would be
the same if I were to enter their previous culture. I now understand that I’m privileged in the
sense that I’ve been given an opportunity because of my culture and upbringing.
I could be a completely different person if I was in their shoes at an earlier
age.
The first theme that I encountered
when formalizing my data was Life Skills.
These young women come into the TLC Group Home having few skills that
will prepare them for Life after they leave TLC.
For example, the staff helps them understand the importance of
accountability, cooking skills, management of money, how to study in school,
learning to drive or simply how to ride a bike. At 19, Georgina, who lived in
TLC for 24 months, did not know how to ride a bike at 17. TLC staff member Janelle Boehm and Georgina
talked about this during a round table discussion. “It seems simple, but for me it was a big
deal because I wanted to ride a bike to school, but I didn’t know how,” said
Georgina. Both Janelle and Georgina said it was one of the coolest things they
did together. They both agreed it formed
a trusting relationship between the two.
Also, Janelle says that Georgina’s favorite hobby is cooking, thanks to
the Life Sills provided by the staff at TLC.
These are a few examples out of many, but it comes down to each girl
wanting to get better. Forming trusting
relationships is vital to the success of these girls.
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| Georgina learning life skills such as cooking. |
The second theme I found was social
identity. Before they arrive at TLC most
of these young girls formed relationships with other kids who influenced them
to make poor decisions. Through my data
collection I found out that every girl that comes through the program has
experienced drugs and/or violence. It’s
part of their culture. Social identity according to Hogg and Vaughn “is the
individuals self-concept derived from perceived memberships of social groups.”
They go on to say, “In other words, it defines the US with internalized group membership.” Within TLC, these young women hang on to
their social groups and that identity.
They don’t perceive themselves forming new friendships because they are
afraid of failure. They have a hard time seeing their future beyond their own
membership with those who are a bad influence on them. For example the TLC staff of women tries to
educate to these girls that they need to take control of their own lives. This means taking school serious, cutting out
the drugs and stop seeing boys who abuse them verbally and mentally. During my interview with Georgina who is a
senior in High School, says “imagine you, meaning me, trying to surround
yourself with my social group. It’s who I am.
I just need to get better at school and taking care of myself.”
From a bigger perspective this
project has opened up my eyes and ears in that I’ve recognized that I judge and
stereotype too often. At times I don’t
want to understand and learn about the path of other human beings, but judge
based on appearance and status. According, to Martin and Nakayma the first
step in applying our knowledge to intercultural communication is to recognize
the connectedness of humans and the importance of dialogue.” (page 483). We all can be more competent when engaging in
intercultural communications. It starts
with our attitude and knowledge in understanding one’s strength and weaknesses. After completing this project I’ve learned
that I need to keep pushing myself to understand the twist and turns of life
while having the self-assurance to engage in intercultural communication.
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| My interview with Georgina. |
References:
Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2013). Intercultural
communication in contexts (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
Hogg, M.A. & Vaughan, G.M. (2002). Social Psychology (3rd ed. ) London: Prentice Hall.
Janelle Boehm, CEDARS Administrator, Interview
Georgina Hernandez, former client at CEDARS/TLC, Interview
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