To address this need, Swartz Kulstad and Martin identi?ed ?ve primary domains of culture and context. Taken together, the ?ve domains provide a nice structure for building a better understanding of client issues .
Ethnocultural orientation is the ?rst domain of culture and context . Ethnocultural orientation is a multidimensional domain that includes gauging the extent to which a person af?liates with his or her culture of origin and the dominant culture. This concept has also been referred to as acculturation . People born in another country who reside in the United States for more than a visit are no doubt challenged with trying to reconcile their beliefs, values, and understanding of social norms with what is required in their new home. A few words of the language creep in. The availability of familiar homeland foods is limited.
The entertainment re?ects and teaches the dominant culture. Obedience to the laws, education for the children, employment, housing-all require an active connection to, and understanding of, the dominant culture.
Even with the decision to engage the dominant culture, some individuals experience great stress when traditional ways of dealing with life situations do not yield predictable results. Integration requires fundamental shifts in a person’s identity and behavior, thus threatening a sense of continuity and equilibrium. However, according to SwartzKulstad and Martin , people who successfully adapt at the psychosocial level and exhibit positive mental health in a dominant culture are able to act within the expected standards of the dominant society while maintaining a clear sense of their beliefs and values. At the same time, they are able to maintain salient aspects of their culture of origin in such a way that they do not lose traditional psychosocial support systems. In other words, adaptation to the dominant culture does not require abandonment of the culture of origin, but rather ?exibility in being able to employ positive aspects of both cultures in the process of adapting to a new environment.
