Ingredients and Outcomes:

The idea of ingredients and outcomes is important. If you make a cake, the flour, sugar, and other things are the ingredients. The flavor, texture, and aroma are outcomes. The same is true for culture. Some elements are ingredients and others are outcomes.

For example, inner-city children see a lot of violence. They see people use violence to solve problems. They learn to value violence. Violence is then an ingredient in their culture. It is something that gets added to who they are.

Inner-city children also are likely to get into trouble with the police. Their violent behavior gets them into trouble. Getting into trouble is an outcome and not an ingredient. The difference is important.

Think about the cake again. There could be a problem with the ingredients. The flour or sugar might be bad. The same is true for culture. For example, violence is a bad ingredient. What do you learn from this? Just because an ingredient is cultural does not mean it is good or desirable. It usually is but may not be. The same holds for outcomes. Some cultural outcomes are not good. Sometimes cultural ingredients lead to things no one wants or thinks is acceptable.

You will see culturally significant behavior in your foster child. Usually, you will want to support and nurture the behavior and the child's cultural heritage. At times, though, what you see is neither good nor acceptable. It is a bad cultural outcome. At those times, you need to discuss the behavior with the child and deal with it as a problem needing solved.