Canada and the United States are considered pluralistic societies due to the presence of large numbers of individuals from diverse cultures. All leisure professionals will increasingly be called upon to facilitate opportunities that enhance leisure lifestyles in pluralistic societies. If recreation and leisure professionals want to address individual needs and facilitate meaningful leisure opportunities in a pluralistic society, multicultural issues need to be addressed. The purpose of this article is to explore how recreation and leisure professionals can become pluralistic leaders by understanding minority/ethnic identity development of individuals from diverse cultures.
Culture is a difficult construct to understand. Culture is a learned system of beliefs, feelings and rules for living in which groups of individuals organize their lives. Culture is the way people act and live their lives, which consists of shared assumptions, values, learned responses and ways of being. Simply put, culture is the thing a stranger would need to know to behave appropriately in a specific setting.( Allen, 1991)
Diversity refers to the awareness and celebration of differences among people. Diversity encompasses both primary and secondary characteristics of individuals. Primary characteristics are the obvious impressions upon meeting an individual. Examples of primary characteristics are gender, age, physical abilities, and race. Secondary characteristics reveal themselves after primary characteristics, and are generally learned; chosen, and can often change. Examples of these are: religion, culture, economic status, education, geographic location, and so forth. Multiculturalism is the appropriate consideration of ethnic and racial diversity, poverty, native languages and disabilities.
Although multiculturalism and diversity are separate entities, there can be considerable overlap. Diversity can encompass multiculturalism and multiculturalism can encompass diversity. All interactions are multicultural because all people are cultural beings. The opposite of multiculturalism is cultural encapsulation.
Cultural encapsulation is the practice of ignoring cultures. Some authors have noted the lack of cultural sensitivity in the leisure profession and in parks and recreation education curriculums. Researchers have identified five identifying features of cultural encapsulation. First, reality is defined according to one set of cultural assumptions and stereotypes.
