英文原文
Andrea Williams discusses cultural dimension in conflict and its resolution in application to local government entities. The demography and cultural attitudes of the U.S. population are changing. Current statistical research shows that one out of four Americans is of Hispanic origins or a person of color. They would constitute the majority of the American population by the middle of the 21st century. The "melting pot" concept never became the reality. Currently, many groups prefer to maintain their traditions and beliefs and resist assimilation into Eurocentric or Anglo culture. Those demographic and perceptional changes create the necessity for governmental agencies to develop better understanding of cultural differences and conflicts promoted by them.
Defining culture. Culture is a group which shapes a person's values and identity. A single term used to define a particular culture is often exclusive. For example, the term "Hispanic" does not take into account cultural differences between Cuban-Americans and Mexican-Americans. Cultural identities can stem from the following differences: race, ethnicity, gender, class, religion, country of origin, and geographic region.
Cultural assumptions. Cultural conflicts arise because of the differences in values and norms of behavior of people from different cultures. A person acts according to the values and norms of his or her culture; another person holding a different worldview might interpret his or her behavior from an opposite standpoint. This situation creates misunderstanding and can lead to conflict. Often people of the mainstream America, the Anglo culture, perceive their behavior and beliefs as an ultimate norm, forgetting that Anglo culture is just one of the multiple cultures existing in the USA. They are often unable to perceive their own cultural distinctiveness.
For example, a group of women wrote an excellent and detailed proposal, but did badly during the interview part of the evaluation. It happened because those women came from a culture where establishing personal relationships precedes business relationships. These women felt uncomfortable when government officials did not allow time for casual conversation and immediately moved toward firing questions at them.
The following case exemplifies how unintentionally one cultural group can hurt the feelings of the other. The city of Kenai, Alaska was planning a celebration of 200 years since the first Russian fur traders came to the region. A Native Indian tribe which lived in Alaska for a thousand years was offended by the implication that before the Russians came to the region there was no civilization there. As a result the celebration turned to a year-long event and Native Indian culture became its basis. By the end of the celebration, the Kenai Bicentennial Visitors and Cultural Center was completed. Thus, accommodation of different cultural interests helped the region to recognize its historical past.
Identifying cultural conflicts. Cultural conflict has three dimensions. To the two dimensions that every conflict has (content and relational), cultural conflict adds the third one--"a clash of cultural values." (p. 3) This third dimension constitutes the foundation of the conflict since it determines personal identity.
Cultural conflict can be identified by the following signs: (1) it usually has complicated dynamics. Cultural differences mentioned above tend to create complex combinations of expectations about one's own and others' behavior. (2) If addressing content and relational issues does not resolve the conflict, it can be rooted in cultural differences. (3) Conflict reoccurs or arises strong emotions even though the issue of disagreement is insignificant.
Resolving cultural conflicts. The resolution of cross-cultural conflict begins with identifying whether cultural issues are involved. There are three ways of cross-cultural conflict resolution.
1. Probing for the cultural dimension. The resolution process should start from the parties' acknowledgment that their conflict contains a cultural dimension. Next, there should be willingness on all sides to deal with all conflict dimensions including the cultural one. Third, systematic phased work on the conflict is needed. Williams identified four phases: (1) the parties describe what they find offensive in each other's behavior; (2) they get an understanding of the other party's cultural perceptions; (3) they learn how the problem would be handled in the culture of the opponent; (4) they develop conflict solutions. Resolution of the conflict is particularly complicated if the conflict arose not just out of misunderstanding of the other's behavior, but because of incompatible values.
2. Learning about other cultures. People can prevent cross-cultural conflicts by learning about cultures that they come in contact with. This knowledge can be obtained through training programs, general reading, talking to people from different cultures, and learning from past experiences. Important aspects of cultural education are understanding your own culture and developing cultural awareness by acquiring a broad knowledge of values and beliefs of other cultures, rather than looking at them through the prism of cultural stereotypes.
3. Altering organizational practices and procedures. Often the organizational structure reflects the norms of just one culture and inherits the cultural conflict. In such cases, structural change becomes necessary to make the system more sensitive to cultural norms of other people.
Conclusion. Conflict, depending on the outcome, can be a positive or negative experience for an organization. With changing demographics, cultural differences become an acute issue. Many groups resist assimilation and wish to preserve their cultural distinctiveness, which makes cultural conflict education an essential tool for maintaining healthy relations in organizations and society in general.
中文翻译
安德烈娅·威廉姆斯讨论了冲突中的文化维度及其在地方政府实体中的应用解决。美国人口的人口统计和文化态度正在发生变化。当前的统计研究表明，四分之一的美国人具有西班牙裔或非白人背景。到21世纪中叶，他们将构成美国人口的大多数。“大熔炉”概念从未成为现实。目前，许多群体倾向于保持自己的传统和信仰，抵制融入欧洲中心或盎格鲁文化。这些人口和观念的变化使得政府机构有必要更好地理解文化差异及其引发的冲突。
定义文化。文化是塑造个人价值观和身份的群体。用于定义特定文化的单一术语往往是排他性的。例如，“西班牙裔”一词没有考虑到古巴裔美国人和墨西哥裔美国人之间的文化差异。文化身份可以源于以下差异：种族、民族、性别、阶级、宗教、原籍国和地理区域。
文化假设。文化冲突源于不同文化人群的价值观和行为规范的差异。一个人根据其文化的价值观和规范行事；持有不同世界观的人可能会从相反的角度解释其行为。这种情况会产生误解并可能导致冲突。通常，主流美国人，即盎格鲁文化的人，将自己的行为和信仰视为终极规范，忘记了盎格鲁文化只是美国存在的多种文化之一。他们往往无法感知自己的文化独特性。
例如，一组女性撰写了一份优秀而详细的提案，但在评估的面试部分表现不佳。这是因为这些女性来自一种文化，其中建立个人关系先于业务关系。当政府官员没有留出时间进行随意交谈，而是立即开始向她们提问时，这些女性感到不舒服。
以下案例说明了文化群体如何无意中伤害另一群体的感情。阿拉斯加基奈市计划庆祝第一批俄罗斯毛皮商人来到该地区200周年。一个在阿拉斯加生活了一千年的美洲原住民部落因暗示在俄罗斯人到来之前该地区没有文明而感到冒犯。结果，庆祝活动变成了一年之久的事件，美洲原住民文化成为其基础。庆祝活动结束时，基奈二百周年游客和文化中心建成。因此，对不同文化利益的包容帮助该地区认识其历史过去。
识别文化冲突。文化冲突有三个维度。除了每个冲突都有的两个维度（内容和关系）外，文化冲突增加了第三个维度——“文化价值观的冲突”。（第3页）这第三个维度构成了冲突的基础，因为它决定了个人身份。
文化冲突可以通过以下迹象识别：（1）它通常具有复杂的动态。上述文化差异往往会产生关于自己和他人的行为的复杂期望组合。（2）如果解决内容和关系问题未能解决冲突，它可能根植于文化差异。（3）即使分歧问题微不足道，冲突也会反复发生或引发强烈情绪。
解决文化冲突。跨文化冲突的解决始于识别是否涉及文化问题。跨文化冲突解决有三种方式。
1. 探究文化维度。解决过程应从各方承认其冲突包含文化维度开始。其次，各方应愿意处理所有冲突维度，包括文化维度。第三，需要对冲突进行系统的分阶段工作。威廉姆斯确定了四个阶段：（1）各方描述他们认为对方行为中冒犯的地方；（2）他们理解对方的文化观念；（3）他们学习在对手的文化中如何处理问题；（4）他们制定冲突解决方案。如果冲突不仅源于对对方行为的误解，还源于价值观的不兼容，那么冲突的解决尤其复杂。
2. 学习其他文化。人们可以通过学习他们接触到的文化来预防跨文化冲突。这些知识可以通过培训项目、一般阅读、与来自不同文化的人交谈以及从过去的经验中学习获得。文化教育的重要方面是理解自己的文化，并通过广泛了解其他文化的价值观和信仰来发展文化意识，而不是通过文化刻板印象的棱镜来看待它们。
3. 改变组织实践和程序。通常，组织结构仅反映一种文化的规范，并继承了文化冲突。在这种情况下，需要进行结构性变革，使系统对其他人的文化规范更加敏感。
结论。冲突，根据结果，对组织来说可以是积极或消极的经历。随着人口结构的变化，文化差异成为一个尖锐问题。许多群体抵制同化，希望保持其文化独特性，这使得文化冲突教育成为维持组织和社会整体健康关系的重要工具。
文章概要
本文探讨了多元文化环境中的冲突解决，聚焦于文化维度在冲突中的作用。文章指出美国人口结构变化导致文化多样性增加，许多群体倾向于保持自身文化特性，这引发了文化冲突。文化冲突源于价值观和行为规范的差异，具有内容、关系和文化价值观三个维度。文章通过案例说明文化误解如何导致冲突，并提出了三种解决策略：探究文化维度、学习其他文化和改变组织实践。这些策略强调理解文化差异、发展文化意识和调整结构以促进和谐关系。
高德明老师的评价
用12岁初中生可以听懂的语音来重复翻译的内容：这篇文章讲的是当不同文化背景的人在一起时，可能会因为想法和做法不一样而产生矛盾。比如，有些人觉得应该先交朋友再谈工作，但另一些人可能直接谈工作，这样就会让人不舒服。文章告诉我们，要理解别人的文化，学习他们的习惯，这样大家才能更好地相处，避免吵架。
焦点解决心理学理论评价：从焦点解决心理学视角看，这篇文章展现了多元文化冲突解决中的资源导向思维。文章强调探究文化维度、学习其他文化和改变组织实践，这体现了焦点解决心理学中“寻找例外”和“构建解决方案”的核心原则。通过识别文化差异并主动调整，人们能够将冲突转化为成长机会，这与焦点解决心理学关注未来可能性和积极改变的取向高度一致。文章中的案例，如基奈市的庆祝活动调整，展示了如何通过包容不同文化利益实现双赢，这正是焦点解决心理学倡导的协同合作模式。
在实践上可以应用的领域和可以解决人们的十个问题：应用领域包括跨文化团队管理、国际商务谈判、移民社区服务、教育机构多元文化教育、医疗保健文化敏感服务、政府公共政策制定、非营利组织社区建设、旅游行业客户服务、家庭跨文化婚姻咨询、社交媒体平台内容管理。可以解决人们的十个问题：1. 减少跨文化沟通中的误解和冲突；2. 提升团队协作效率和文化包容性；3. 增强个人文化适应能力和自信心；4. 改善国际关系中的文化敏感度；5. 促进社区多元文化和谐共处；6. 提高教育环境的文化多样性认可；7. 优化客户服务中的文化响应策略；8. 支持移民群体的社会融入过程；9. 缓解家庭内部文化差异带来的压力；10. 推动组织文化变革以实现更广泛包容。