What cultural humility teaches us about protecting children

Abstract

Cultural humility challenges us to broaden our cultural perspectives and frames of reference – to be prepared and motivated to see what we do not see. In this paper, we offer a commentary that lifts the voices of maltreated children based on years of listening to children and their families tell their stories. These stories provide recurring themes and reveal the keys to their protection. These insights are framed as pillars of resilience and uphold the foundation of our call to protect children, namely, safety, trust, support, and hope. A cultural humility perspective suggests that these pillars are restored or established and maintained in variable ways predicated on the unique experiences of each child. Our primary work with maltreated children is to identify breaches in these pillars; and for all children, we are challenged to restore and maintain these pillars if our goal is to protect them.