CULTURAL SENSITIVITY IN MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING - A PERCEPTUAL SCHEMA MODEL

A critical review of the multicultural counseling literature revealed 4 limitations of previous conceptualizations of cultural sensitivity. These limitations are definitional variance, inadequate descriptions o f indicators of cultural sensitivity, a lack of theoretical grounding, and limitations in measurement and research designs. After these limi tations are explored, cultural sensitivity is defined as a distinct pe rceptual process. A model of cultural sensitivity is proposed that con textualizes the construct in perceptual schema theory. Five possible n omological processes are described. Implications for future research a re discussed.