Cultural validity of diagnosing multicultural clients Essay

In chapter 18, the authors of this text question the cultural validity of diagnosing multicultural clients. In order to ensure the best outcome a person's background, gender, religious belief, and family interactions must be taken into account during the assessment. If the assessment is not conducted in this manner, it may penalize people from other cultures. As quoted by the authors "Assessment can powerfully influence clinical decisions, specifically those related to decisions about what is a normal or abnormal" (Hays & Erford, 2014). It is the believe of these authors that when assessing a client, cultural validity is necessary to examine the cause and effect of the relationship between culture and society and the way people react to it and also that culture can definitely impact the diagnosis multicultural client's mental problems. ((Hays & Erford, 2014). For example the texts states that "the wording, illustrations, layout and contextual information in a test item may reflect the language, way of thinking, and experience of a particular cultural group" (Hays & Erford, 2014,). Therefore, it is stated that "ignoring the importance of cultural differences when diagnosing and assessing individuals from diverse backgrounds can lead to unfair and unethical testing" (Hays & Erford, 2014). I agree with the statements made by the specialists, which is it almost impossible to alter a person's lifestyle from the culture that has played a role in molding their identity (Hays& Erford, 2014). I also agree that every assessment should be conducted as fair and ethical as possible. When you are able to assess a client's background and cultural differences it could explain why they answer assessment questions in a specific way. It is very necessary to know a multicultural client's background information. This will help understand the client's issues much better. Conducting every assessment this way will test the individual client.
In conclusion, according to Hays & Erford) "ignoring the importance of cultural differences when diagnosing and assessing individuals from diverse backgrounds can lead to unfair and unethical testing and diagnosis" (Hays & Erford 2014). Therefor authors do not support the idea of ignoring cultural validity in assessing multicultural clients. This issue is one that should be addressed because conducting an assessment in this manner is probably the best way of having a client respond to counseling intervention. If clinicians handle an assessment this way, they will be able to conduct a fair assessment for everyone. In this way cultural differences as well as their backgrounds will be considered. In my opinion, when dealing with cultural differences, this is the best and fair way to conduct an assessment. I agree with the valid point s made by the authors in reference to how the assessment should be conducted in that all people regardless of culture is entitled to be given a fair assessment. As Helms (2007) noted Groups do not take tests, individuals do" (Hays & Erford 2014).
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Reference
Hays, D. G. & Erford, B. T. (2014). Developing multicultural counseling competence A system Approach. United States Pearson Education, Inc.