Behavioral Health Services “Don’t Work for Us”: Cultural Incongruities in Human Service Systems for Alaska Native Communities

Community psychology emphasizes the importance of context in the study of people’s lives, and culture influences this in profound
ways. To develop programs that effectively address diverse communities’ problems, it is essential to recognize how Euro-American
human service systems are understood and responded to by the many different people being served by them. The article describes
how some broadly defined social services—conceptualized and implemented within a Euro-American framework—are ill suited for
the everyday realities of Alaska Native villages. The cultural discontinuities are illustrated through ethnographic vignettes.
The article concludes with suggestions for developing more culturally-responsive ways to conceive of and do programming for
Alaska Native and possibly other Indigenous and minority communities.