The Importance of Embracing Diversity as a Social Worker in the Aruban

Community

Student Number: 148423

University of Aruba

Faculty of Arts and Science – Social Work and Development

Course: Diversity

Final Assignment: Intercultural Communication

Lecturer: Ronald Serrant

Due Date: June 15th 2018

 Introduction

In order to become a culturally competent social worker one must be willing

to embrace differences amongst communities and understand that every individual has

the right to express his or her own identity. It is important for social workers to

explore and understand their participant’s cultural background in order to guide them

in the best possible way through the social work process.

For the final assignment of the course Diversity I was required to conduct an

interview with two members of the Aruban community who represents a group that is

not known to me, and who identify themselves with a group that is totally different

from my own identity. The purpose of this assignment is for me to practice how to

become a beginning cultural competent social worker within the Aruban Context. The

two individuals I had the opportunity to interview were Mrs. D.Hoo a 38-year-old

Trinidadian/Indian female and Mrs. A.Garcia a 35-year-old Philippine female. Mrs.

D.Hoo is married to an Aruban man and together they have two children. Mrs. A.

Garcia is married to her Philippine husband and together they have one child. They

both work in the hotel industry of Aruba.

While conducting these interview I had to use the TOPOI model and write a

reflection paper on how I have experienced using this model. The two theoretical

concept based on the book “Multicultural Social Work’’ that I choose to integrate in

this paper were ethnocentric monoculturalism and microaggression as a form of

oppression.

This reflection paper consists of an introduction, a body, conclusion and

appendix A, which consist of the set of questions I have used during my interview

with Mrs.D.Hoo and Mrs. A.Garcia

 The Importance of Embracing Diversity as a Social Worker in the Aruban

Community

TOPOI Model

The TOPOI Model is a tool that provides an aid in understanding intercultural

communication. “The Topoi model distinguishes five areas, which are: Tongue,

Order, Person, Organization and Intentions/Influence in which cultural differences

and misunderstandings can occur when having a conversation. The TOPOI model also

provides various general communication and intervention strategies. Furthermore, the

TOPOI-model is based on some assumption: Firstly, that communication is universal.

Secondly, that the focus should be on the interaction and not the culture. Thirdly, that

communication is a circular process. Fourthly, it is based on the assumption that

(intercultural) communication asks for an open, reflective attitude and lastly it

proposes that one should be pessimistic about communication and optimistic about

people (Wieringa, 1994)

My Experience using the TOPOI model with interviewee Mrs. D.Hoo

My first interview was held with Mrs. D.Hoo whom is a 38-year-old woman

born and raised in Trinidad. Mrs. D.Hoo was born and raised in Trinidad but has an

Indian background and practices the Hindu religion. Mrs.D.Hoo immigrated to Aruba

when she was 23 years old because she was offered a front desk position at a hotel in

Aruba. She speaks Trinidadian English, Papiamento and Spanish.

When arriving at her house I noticed that everybody’s shoes were at the front

door so I automatically took of my shoes off before entering her house, because I
knew that it was a polite thing to do being aware of her Indian background. I knew

that Mrs. D.Hoo spoke both English and Papiamento but reflecting on the area of

Tongue I decided to ask Mrs.D.Hoo if she would prefer to speak in her mother tongue

or Papiamento. She said that she feels that she could express herself better in English.

After explaining Mrs. Hoo the purpose of this interview and received her consent to

use her story we initiated the interview.

Mrs.Hoo came to Aruba because her mother and grandmother immigrated in

Aruba. Mrs. Hoo explained that the process of moving was hard because her mother

was not stable when she arrived and they were both limited in terms of recourses.

They did not have a car or a stable home. She felt rather accepted on the island,

however not when it came to her workplace. She mentioned that her co-workers used

to always say that she is an outsider and that outsiders come to Aruba to steal the jobs

from Arubans and that she is working and living on the Island and cannot speak

proper Papiamento. According to Mrs. Hoo being an immigrant is challenging you

always have to try harder and work harder because your chances and opportunities

can be easily taken away from you and Arubans often times mistake this for being a

“sycophancy”. Because Mrs. Hoo is married and adheres to the values of the Hindu

religion she wears her “sindoor” along the part of her hair every single day. She often

gets remarks on her sindoor she explained that one time she had a confrontation with

an Aruban associate and the associate got very aggressive and verbal, which led him

to use obscene languages and insulting her religion. These are typical characteristics

of the concept of “Micro aggression as a form of oppression”. “Micro aggression is

those brief and commonplace daily verbal or behavioral indignities (whether

intentional or unintentional) that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial

slights and insults that potentially have a harmful or unpleasant psychological impact

on the target person or group (Rasheed & Rasheed, 2010, p.g.121).

According to Mrs. D. Hoo she often times gets stereotyped as a Guyanese or

Surinamese but she mentioned it does not bother her, what bothers her is when people

dismiss her for not being Aruban. She thinks it is important for Arubans to understand

that Aruba has a diverse population and that Arubans should be more open-minded

towards other cultures and not discrimatory. I share the same point of view as Mrs.

Hoo and believe that our community should be more accepting of one another despite

our differences. When in comes to diversity Mrs. D. Hoo is very accepting. She gave

an example about religion, she said that she practices the Hindu religion and her

husband is catholic but that never bothered them. They have an “Om” sign on their

front door and a cross in the house. They respect each other’s choice of religion and

understand that it is a part of their identity. She values both the Trinidadian and Indian

culture. Mrs. D. Hoo believes in bi-langualism and believes it is important for

immigrants to learn the Papiamento language. Mrs. D.Hoo stated that the values she

holds from Trinidad is the importance of family and sticking with each other, and the

difference is with Elders she feels that the Elders in Aruba are being neglected and not

respected and in Trinidad that is different.

I am aware that my future participants are going to have different backgrounds

and will be confronted with different challenges. It is my responsibility to recognize

and embrace these differences and tailor their interventions according to their wants

and needs. In the case of Mrs. D. Hoo it is important for me to take her Trinidadian

nationality her Indian background her Hindu religion and the fact that she has lived in

Aruba for several years into consideration and understand that all these aspects can

influence her point of view, norms and values, behavior and personality. It is crucial
for me to explore how she feels about being oppressed and discriminated through her

verbal and non-verbal communication. It is never okay to assume, because maybe she

might be experiencing oppression in a different way that I might think. Because I will

be working with such a diverse population I think it is important for me to obtain the

knowledge of intercultural communication. Because I can use intercultural

communication as an ability to help me bridge cultural differences, mitigate problems,

and assist in achieving more harmonious, productive relations with my participants.

(Samovar, Porter & McDaniel, 2010). During the interview I made sure to

acknowledge and respect her point of view and perspective, accept our differences

and made sure to listen actively and show interest in her story.

My Experience using the TOPOI model with interviewee Mrs. A.Garcia

My second interview was held with Mrs. A. Garcia whom is a 35-year-old

Philippine woman. Mrs. A. Garcia was born and raised in the Philippines and

immigrated to Aruba when she was 17 years old. Mrs. A. Garcia was recently

baptized in a Christian church and practices Christianity. Before I started the

interview I realized I made a mistake of not asking Mrs. A. Gracia which language

she wanted to express herself with, knowing that she can speak Papiamento, English,

Spanish and her native tongue Tagalog. I just assumed she would want to speak

English. After I realized this I apologized and asked her which language she would

want us to hold the interview and she said that English would be just fine. She offered

me Philippine pastries and in order not to be rude I acknowledge it and ate it.

Mrs. A. Garcia identifies herself, as she would like to call it an “Phil-Aruba”

She feels more Aruban than Philippine because she said she has lived most of her life

in Aruba and she feels like it has become a part of her and shares the same values of
the Aruban culture together with the ones from the Philippines. When Mrs. A. Garcia

mentioned this I still made sure to emphasis on her Philippine culture and observed

why she thinks or express the way that she does. Mrs. A. Garcia explained that the

move from the Philippines to Aruba was rather depressing, because she felt like there

was nothing else for her to do after she experienced all the beaches and was used to

her big country. Mrs. A. Garcia stated that now she is happy and that she has been

“islanized”. Prior to moving to Aruba Mrs. A. Garcia was suffering from asthma and

after she came to Aruba it went away, she also mentioned that in the Philippines you

have to boil your water everyday you cannot just drink tap water like here in

Aruba.Mrs. A. Garcia mentioned that she did not experience a language barrier when

she came to Aruba because she started school immediately and learned the

Papiamento language very fast. Because she had Colombian neighbors she was also

able to learn Spanish. She believes it is absolutely important for immigrants to learn

the Papiamento language she said “ If you one to be one of the locals, you have to

learn the Papiamento language’’. She explained that she believes that Arubans often

times mistake “Emigrate” and “Immigrate”. I made sure to respect her point of view

and showed her empathy. During the interview she mentioned that she is also

experiencing discrimination for being an immigrate her Aruban colleagues would tell

her to “ Go back to the Philippines’ ‘or say “ you come here to work to send money

to your family” she also gets treated badly by her colleagues whenever she gets a

promotion or recognitions. Mrs. A. Garcia explained that in the Philippines they value

their job a lot so they work harder in order to achieve their goals because they know

how it feels to have nothing. She mentioned that some Arubans think just because

they are locals they are entitled to get a certain job without working hard for it, she

mentioned in the Philippines this is totally different they don’t think like that about
immigrants. Mrs. A. Garcia feels like she can never express her opinions because she

would get bashed at and she feels like there is nothing she can do about it because

being submissive is part of the Filipino culture. This can be linked to the concept of

ethnocentric monoculturalism, which asserts that “ it is the individual, institutional,

and culture expression of the superiority of one group’s cultural heritage over

another’s, combines with the possession of power to impose those standards broadly

on the less powerful groups”(Rasheed & Rasheed, 2010). This demonstrates how

some Arubans have a chauvinist mindset towards immigrants and that the minority

groups in this case Mrs. Garcia from the Philippines needs to abide to their ways, and

feel like minority groups cannot succeed professionally because they are not “100%

Aruban”.

As a future social worker it is important for me to approach my participants

with a non judge-mental attitude, by avoiding this attitude I can encourage my

participant to share his or her stories and challenges more willingly. It is important to

have the ability to understand the worldview of my culturally diverse participant and

show my willingness also to hear her story and concerns. In the case of Mrs. A.

Garcia it is important for me to take her submissive behavior, which is normal in the

Filipino culture into consideration. I am aware that my beliefs and values can push me

to hold certain attitudes, which are learned tendencies to act or respond in a specific

way to events, objects, people, or orientations (Samovar, Porter & McDaniel, 2010). I

made sure to reflect on this aspect during both interview because I know that this can

cause major conflict when providing guidance to my participant. Just like my first

interviewee I made sure to acknowledge Mrs. A. Garcia and respect her point of view

and perspective, accept our differences and made sure to listen actively and show

interest in her story.

 Personal Reflection

Culture has a big influence on every individual’s life. Culture can shape a

person’s point of view, personality, and behavior. It also has a big impact on a

person’s belief system, values and norms. Through the course Diversity and the

different assignment I was required to make I realized that in order to become a

culturally competent social worker it is important for me to embrace diversity because

by embracing diversity one can understand cultural differences between individuals.

Every individual has their cultural differences, which forms their identity. Being

aware of my participants cultural background will aid me in developing the

appropriate intervention strategies and techniques for their further development. This

course has thought the importance of holding a deep respect for cultural differences

not only for my future participants but every individual I will encounter on my life

path. I am now more eager to explore and learn more about cultures and it made me

accept that there are many ways of viewing the world. I am now more aware of

different forms of oppression that different groups experience in their daily life. I

believe being culturally competent is an ongoing process because one can never truly

know or understand everything about a culture, so it is important to keep an open

mind.

By applying the TOPOI Model to my interviews I was able to be more aware

on how to communicate with my interviewees paying attention to their cultural

differences, proper use of interpreters, verbal and non-verbal skills, culturally

appropriate formalities and to be culturally sensitive. It made me pay attention to non-

verbal communication because people can say a lot with non-verbal communication.
 Reference List

Rasheed M.N. & Rasheed J.M. (2016). Multicultural Social Work Practice (2nd ed.).

Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Samovar. L. A., Porter. R. E. & McDaniel. E. R. (2010). Intercultural

Communication: A Reader. Thirteenth Edition. Retrieved from:

file:///Users/genesismaduro/Downloads/Samovar%20et%20al%3B

%20Intercultural_Communication%20Chapter%201%20(2).pdf

Wieringa. F. (1994). “ The TOPOI-model: A Challenging Model for Intercultural

Communication”. Retrieved From http://www.communicate-

europe.co.uk/fileadmin/files_youngsietar/fileshare/Documents/YSCongress_Ravensbr

ueck_2007/Documentation/Francien_Wieringa_1.pdf
Appendix A

Interview Questions

1. What is your primary language and can you speak any other languages?

2. Where were you born and raised?

3. Can you describe your cultural background?

4. Did you experience any culture clash when moving to Aruba?

5. You do think it is important for immigrants to learn the Papiamento language?

6. Have you ever been stereotyped? If yes, how did that make you feel?

7. Do you practice any religion, if so which one?

8. What are some of your norms and values that are similar to of the Arubans,

and which ones are totally different?

9. Do you feel like diversity or foreign cultures are appreciated in Aruba?

10. Do you feel like you can express yourself at your workplace?