Cultural Lenses

How we experience the world around us is filtered through our own unique set of cultural lenses. Examples of these cultural lenses include our ethnicity, gender, religious or spiritual beliefs, socio-economic level, relationship orientation, and association or group membership (i.e. blue-collar worker, lawyer, social worker).

Each of us sees the world through these multiple lenses which bring with them values, customs, norms and expected behaviours. This layering of lenses makes us complex and unique individuals.

Cultures are living, changing systems that influence our interpretations of the past, starting points, and currencies or values. It is therefore inescapable that they also influence our conflicts. Cultures operate out of conscious awareness most of the time, imparting rhythm, melody, and tone to actions. They function as invisible, shared codes, defining “common sense.” The challenge is that everyone is singing a different song, drawing on his or her own unique multicultural makeup. Common sense is not necessarily common. As our identities and ways of making meaning fail to harmonize, we look more closely at conflict. (LeBaron, 2003, pp. 10-11)

In conflict, each person sees the problem through their own cultural lenses which are often unique to the individual. Recognizing that these differences exist is a prerequisite to understanding how they affect our perception and contribute to the conflict.