Action Theory, Cultural Sensitivity, and the Heuristics of Theory

Richard A. Young

University of British Columbia

Abstract

Counselors are faced with how to deal with clients culturally based projects and careers within the defined space of particular social representations, daily practices, political ideologies and legal systems.  Many career theories have developed either without explicit attention to these particular spaces and contexts or presuming that theories developed in one context are applicable to other contexts.  Nevertheless, career theories have been applied in a variety of contexts.  The primary question is whether and how career theories can be more culturally sensitive without losing value as conceptual explanations.  In this presentation, we propose action theory as a means to address the issue of cultural sensitivity.  In developing culturally sensitive explanations, this conceptualization recognizes the importance of including the naïve observation of the cultural community and subjective reports of those involved, collected in such a way that ongoing processes are recognized.  The systematic observations of practitioners and researchers can complement these perspectives.  This approach offers a middle ground between those who would abandon career theory in the face of cultural diversity and diverse cultural groups on whom external theories can be imposed.

A copy of this paper may be obtained from Richard Young at <richard.young@ubc.ca>