Page 55 - Reading Between the Sign Intercultural Communication for Sign Language Interpreters

40 Reading Between the Signs

Although these scenarios are exaggerated, they serve to illus-
trate the fact that what is considered normal and desirable behav-
ior in one culture can be deemed maladaptive or even indicative
of mental illness in a different culture. They more specifically in-
dicate that the differences between collectivist cultures and indi-
vidualist cultures encompass such issues as identity, loyalty, obli-
gation, and independence.
More than 70 percent of world cultures can be labeled collec-
tivist, or group oriented. They include much of Africa, Asia, and
Latin America. In all such cultures, members of a group (family,
work group, tribe, caste, or even the entire country) help each
other to survive. Individuals subordinate their personal goals to
the goals of the group. American Deaf culture clearly qualifies as
a collectivist culture with its emphasis on pooling resources, the
duty to share information, the boundary between insiders and
outsiders, and loyalty to and strong identification with the group.
The Deaf Community…is a central part of life in a way
that a neighborhood, township or professional group is
not for mainstream Americans…. Deaf adults…feel a
strong connection and obligation to the Deaf
Community…and allocate more time and energy to it
[than mainstream Americans do to theirs]. (Smith 1996,
88)

In collectivist cultures, rules for group membership are rigid,
and one must essentially be born into and grow up within that
culture to qualify as a member. For example, even if foreigners
can speak perfect Japanese, it is said that they will never be able
to think like the Japanese. The same feeling is found in Deaf cul-
ture.
Deaf people seem to agree that a hearing person can
never fully acquire that identity and become a full-
fledged member of the deaf community. Even with deaf
parents and a native command of ASL, the hearing per-
son will have missed the experience of growing up deaf,
including attending a deaf school, and is likely to have
divided allegiances. (Lane 1992, 17)

Insider/outsider distinctions are crucial to determining behav-
ior in collectivist cultures. The lines that are drawn around the
center of the group show who is an insider. In some cases outsid-
ers are not trusted; in others they just don’t qualify for member-

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