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There is a profound demographic shift in the USA, whereby the majority of children born are non-white. What are the implications of this change in our view of infants and their caretakers? What are the implications for programs and services for these populations?
We will first review findings that show how enculturation, the process of becoming part of a cultural milieu, starts even younger than expected. Language, racial and gender perceptions and differentiations, for example, are molded by environmental input from birth, according to culturally valued prescriptions. In addition, minority status, adds to the complexity of this processes. Two theoretical frameworks will be presented that help us understand the complexity of enculturation and the primacy of these processes in early development.
We are also cultural beings. Culture is not “of the other”, but all humans, even us, are part of organized societies where we have been enculturated. What are our values as infant mental health professionals? What do we consider right or wrong for a caretaker to do? How about what is optimal development? Who defines that? What are the implications for how we interact, serve and work with minority, immigrant and other culturally diverse populations? What are the challenges of intercultural communications and relationships?
We will work together to address and answer these questions, and identify the implications for our own work. We propose that the concept of biculturalism is one where we adopt, for a precious moment, the lens of the other. We see through the eyes of the other: who we are, what we stand for, our differences and our commonalities. For a minority/immigrant parent and child, this work means to navigate daily sometimes markedly different worlds, and developing competencies in all.
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