A Youth Leader's Guide to Building Cultural Competence 
Chapter One 
Cultural Components 
What Is Culture? 
Anthropologists and other social scientists offer many different definitions of  culture.  Most people 
understand that culture has something to do with the customs and beliefs of a group of people. It is 
common to explain a holiday tradition, a spiritual belief or a child rearing practice as part of someone's 
cultural background. 
A useful definition of culture is: 
An individual's culture strongly influences his or 
The body of learned beliefs, traditions, 
her behavior, beliefs, attitudes and values. This is 
principles and guides for behavior that are 
not a surprising statement; we all have an 
commonly shared among members of a 
understanding that many of our present day beliefs 
particular group. Culture serves as a road map 
and behaviors have their roots in what we learned 
for both perceiving and interacting with the 
growing up in our own particular cultures. 
world.
7
Of course, many Americans do not belong to just 
one cultural group. Our parents may have been of different racial or ethnic groups and our homelife would 
then have been a mixture of the two. Likely, some of the cultural values of both groups were absorbed. 
For most people in the United States, in addition to specific racial or ethnic cultures, the national 
American culture is one that also influences us to some degree.  
Lesbian, gay and bisexual people almost always move within more than one cultural world. They are born 
into and raised as members of at least one racial or ethnic culture. In order to find others who share their 
sexual orientation, however, they commonly become part of larger gay/lesbian communities.  
Important Cultural Components 
The journey towards cultural competence includes gaining knowledge about important components of 
both your own culture and the cultures you work with.  
The following list of cultural components is good to keep in mind, first as you examine your own 
experience and beliefs, and later as you focus on learning about different cultural backgrounds. Keep 
HIV/AIDS prevention in mind; many of the cultural components are directly related.  
Language and Communication Style  
Language and communication style refers to a wide variety of verbal and nonverbal patterns and 
behaviors, including social customs about who speaks to whom   both how and when.  
Questions to consider about cultural groups: __________ 
    
What language or dialect is spoken in the home? How is that dialect or language perceived by 
those who speak Standard English? Is there a generational split among family members, with older 
family members speaking one language and younger ones speaking English better than the other 
language?  
    
What expressions, gestures and posturing (body language) commonly accompany 
communication? Is eye contact considered polite or rude? Is usual tone of voice soft or loud? How 
close do people stand next to each other when speaking? Is touching acceptable? 






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