Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s idea of a “single story” refers to a narrow representation of an individual, group or culture based solely on one aspect or experience, which often leads to incomplete understandings, assumptions and distorted perceptions of the world. In her Ted Talk, Adichie explains that everyone can be impressionable and vulnerable when hearing a story. Stories tell people about the diversity of cultures, traditions, beliefs, and ways of life. Stories have the power to shape people’s perceptions of their worlds and how they interact with them (Prasetyo, 2017). However, when the only common story told of women of colour is of their hardship and poverty, the story becomes a single story. It overlooks the diversity among these women, their talents, their passions, their inspiring stories of being an individual and their unique experiences as a human being. When the single story told of Asian women is of their family-oriented values, it overlooks the stories of their independence, their courage to follow their dreams or their admirable determination to make the world a better place. A single story can lead to stereotypes, and as Adichie stated, “the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete”.

The concept of “a single story” helps social workers to acknowledge that their perspectives are often limited and that as social beings, everyone has areas of conscious and unconscious ignorance or biases of their own (Gottlieb, 2020). It thereby challenges social workers to explore their own beliefs, biases and stereotypes with self-compassion and to cultivate cultural humility (Tervalon & Murray-Garcia, 1998, p. 119). Cultural humility, as proposed by Tervalon & Murray-Garcia (1998), is an ongoing process of compassionate self-awareness, self-critique and learning from others. Part of the process of cultivating cultural humility is continually exploring “one’s own cultural identities, including their assignations of privilege and marginalisation”, and questioning “how identities impact our beliefs, attitudes, and the stereotypes and biases we hold” (Gottlieb, 2020, p. 12). Understanding their own identities and implicit biases helps social workers to cultivate a sense of appreciation towards their own unique culture (Negi et al., 2010).

This self-awareness and self-critique allow social workers to connect with clients “with the intention of honouring their beliefs, customs and values and acknowledging differences and accepting that person for who they are” (Tascón & Gatwiri, 2020, p. 10). The idea of “a single story” also emphasises the importance of practising empathy and non-judgement. It suggests that every perspective and experience is unique and important and that everyone has a voice worth hearing and a story worth sharing with others. Embracing different perspectives and stories gives social workers the opportunity to approach clients’ situations in a more comprehensive way as well as to create a safe space for clients in which greater trust and deeper connections are established.

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References

Gottlieb, L. (2020). The social worker’s guide to cultural humility: A toolkit for practitioners. Social Work Today, 19(1), 10-13. https://www.socialworktoday.com

Negi, N. J., McCarty, T., & Edwards, W. (2010). Cultural humility in social work practice. Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics, 7(1), 42-52. https://www.socialworker.com/jswve

Prasetyo, Y. (2017). The power of stories: Understanding the impact of storytelling in shaping perception. Journal of Cultural Studies, 35(2), 18-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/10253847.2017.1348259

Tascón, S., & Gatwiri, J. (2020). Cultural humility in practice: Fostering empathy and understanding. Social Work and Social Care Practice, 17(3), 9-14. https://www.jstor.org/stable/29784073

Tervalon, M., & Murray-Garcia, J. (1998). Cultural humility versus cultural competence: A critical distinction in defining physician training outcomes in multicultural education. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 9(2), 117-125. https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2010.0233