Do not confuse lack of education with stupidity. Few Third World people have enjoyed the privilege of education, but the distribution of intelligence there is about what it is here. If your client cannot read, or cannot tell time, help him or her to understand the forms that need to be signed, the appointments that need to be kept. Do not assume that people from rural areas in Central America have been exposed to elevators, complex transit systems, telephones, courtrooms, lawyers, or psychologists. All these, and much else, might frighten or bewilder them, and your appreciation of the difficulties they face in this alien environment can make a difference.
Events also carry different meaning in different cultures.
A client's reticence may have to do with embarrassment, and crucial information may sometimes be withheld out of shame, though to us the incident may not evoke shame or embarrassment at all. Try to be sensitive to cross-cultural differences. Evasiveness As mentioned, evasiveness may be rooted in psychological denial, reflecting an inability to deal with certain experiences. It may also be the result of shame, and explained by an unwillingness to discuss certain events. A third reason refugees may evade issues is that many of them, following traumatic, stress, have physical symptoms that are exacerbated when the trauma is recalled.