A Cultural Formulation Approach to Career ... - ResearchGate

466 Journal of Career Development 37(1)
The current article applies cultural formulations approach of Leong, Hardin, and
Gupta (2007) to career assessment and career counseling to Asian American clients.
Consistent with the recommendations of Leong et al (2007), we illustrate the
approach by using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,
fourth edition (DSM-IV) Outline for Cultural Formulations, which consists of the
following five dimensions: (a) cultural identity of the individual, (b) cultural explanation
of the individual’s illness, (c) cultural factors related to psychosocial environment,
(d) cultural elements of the relationship between the individual and the
clinician, and (e) overall cultural assessment of the case (Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition, text revision [DSM-IV-TR], pp.
897 898). Translating those dimensions into the career assessment and career counseling
arena, we then discuss the cultural formulation approach with Asian
Americans along the following five dimensions, which parallels the DSM-IV:
(a) cultural identity of the individual, (b) cultural conception of the career problems,
(c) cultural factors related to psychosocial environment, (d) cultural element of the
relationship between the individual and the counselor, and (e) overall cultural
assessment for career counseling and intervention.
Finally, we illustrate the approach with a case study. Because of the salience of
collectivist influences for virtually all Asian cultures, themes tied to collectivism and
interdependence permeate our discussion of a cultural formulations approach to
career assessment and counseling with Asian Americans. Before applying the cultural
formulations approach to Asian Americans, we briefly review the distinctions
between individualism and collectivism, particularly as they pertain to the career
counseling process. For the purposes of this article, individualism and collectivism
are described as extreme, static, and dichotomous cultures, whereas, in reality, this
level of clear demarcations of biculturalism does not exist. Culture is a complex phenomenon
and usually manifests as a multicultural entity within individuals, where
the emphasis is on cultural salience. Various factors will determine which culture
is important in what situation. The details of these various factors are beyond the
scope of discussion for the purposes of this article.
The Western world (i.e., North America and Europe) often adhere to individualistic
cultural factors, where the individual is the smallest unit of survival and is the
focus of the therapeutic process. Emphasis is usually placed on the individual’s
goals, with less consideration toward the goals of others, the community, and/or the
group. However, collectivism, where the group/collective is the smallest unit of survival,
focuses to a higher degree on the interests, values, and goals of the group; and
‘‘group’’ here can refer to various forms such as extended family, work group, tribe,
caste, country, and so on. Collectivism usually involves the subordination of personal
goals to be able to attain the goals of the group/community. As will be discussed
in more detail below, this does not mean that individuals from
collectivistic cultures reject their own personal needs and goals; rather, the goals and
values of the group have been internalized to the point that distinction between personal
goals and collective goals are hard to make.
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