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What is Multicultural Psychology?
Mo Farrah: Illustration * Black man (Somali) racing for Great Britain; trains in USA * Biracial couple * After the win he prayed: Muslim
What is Multicultural Psychology?
Psychology- the systematic study of behavior, cognition and affect
-Multi- many -al: pertaining to
Multicultural Psychology: the study of human behavior, cognition and affect as it occurs in many different cultures---can be studied through: travel
Related Fields: * Ethnic Minority Psychology * Cross-Cultural Psychology * Cultural Psychology * Multiculturalism: ideology, philosophy that influences many fields
Multiculturalism as a Philosophy * Basic Assumptions: * Tolerance * Respect * Sensitivity * Inclusion * Equality * Broad definition of culture * Action Oriented: * Empowerment * Social Justice * Social Change
Key Terms * Culture (book): the values, beliefs and practices of a group of people (often from a particular geographic region), shared through symbols and passed down generation to generation * Narrow vs. Broad Definitions * Race * Biological Construct: a group of people who share similar physical characteristics * Sociocultural Construct: characteristics, values, and behaviors associated with a group who share similar physical characteristics * Ethnicity: the intersection of race and culture * Nationality: country of origin (where you were born) * Diversity: refers to recognition and acknowledgement of human differences * Diversity vs. Multiculturalism
Why do we even have this field? * The “Browning of America” * The two main places immigrants are coming from: Asia and Latin America * Birth rates have increased * What effect does this have? * Recognition of the impact of culture on behavior * Increasingly global society * Multiculturalism as the “Fourth Force”
The Cultural Context of Behavior: The Bio psychosocial Model * Biological * Cognitive Affective * Something having to do with your thinking and emotions * Social Interpersonal * Social Institutional-large complex networks of social relationships designed to meet some need of society * Cultural
Multicultural Counseling and Therapy (MCT) Theory
The Major Assumptions of MCT * All behavior is learned and occurs in a cultural context * Our cultural identities are a major determinant of our behavior * Cultural identities are formed and imbedded in multiple layers and contexts * We have multiple cultural identities * Cultural identities influence attitudes towards self, others * Liberation of consciousness is a major goal of multiculturalism
The Brief Historical Perspective: The Rise of Multiculturalism * Early studies on racial superiority and inferiority * Early minority psychologists react against this * Focus on the effects of racism, discrimination, etc… * Race/Ethnic-Specific Research * APA’s response to multicultural issues
APA’s Response to Multicultural Issues * Late 60s/Early 70s—Poor response led to groups breaking away from APA * 1973- Vail Conference (held in Vail, Colorado) training for Psychologists; they voted that graduate programs had to have a multicultural component but did not specify what that should include * 1978—Dulles Conference * 1979-Office of Ethnic Minority Affairs Established * 1987—Division 45 Founded (Society for the Psychological Study for Ethnic Minority Issues) * 1992—APA Ethics Code first addresses diversity * 2003—APA Publishes Multicultural Guidelines
Issues in Research and Testing
The Scientific Approach * Psychology is a science * Question * Hypothesis * Methods * Underlying Assumptions * Objectivity * Unbiased * Quantification * System and Precision * Universal Principles: the principles that apply to all human beings
Research Methods: Quantitative * True Experiments * Independent Variable: the one you manipulate; experimenter controls * Dependent Variable: the one being measured * Experimental Group: the one that receives that IV * Control Group: the one that has the DV * Random Assignment of Participants: Anyone of the participants has chanced to be in the experimental or control group; eliminates the bias * System and Precision: precise procedures conducted to avoid any other explanations * Causes and Effect * Quasi-Experimental Designs * Correlational Studies * Correlation does not imply causation * Survey Research
Research Methods: Qualitative * Case Studies * Interviews * Focus Groups: interviews with a small select group of people * Quantitative vs. Qualitative
Issues in Multicultural Research
Examining the Assumptions of the Scientific Approach * Objectivity and Bias: can never completely eliminate and control it; so own up to it * Quantitative Methods * Universal Principles * Logical Positivism: term for that belief that truth can be discovered through careful application of the scientific method * Social Constructionism: our beliefs effect the way research is conducted therefore research is effected by the values of our culture and by history * Etic vs. Emic Perspective * Etic: the one that looks for universal principles; the attempt to look for theories that explain all human behavior (aka Culturally Universal Approach) * Emic: (aka The Culturally Specific Approach); looking for meaningful concepts within a cultural, unique or specific to that culture
Issues in Measurement and Testing * Psychological tests are culture-bound * Biased against people from other cultures * Bias can be introduced through the: * Theory * Test itself * Test administration * Test scoring and interpretation * Larry P. vs. Riles * Larry P was an African American boy that took the IQ test and based on is scores was based on his special education * Re-tested the kids with African American examiners * They won and due to it illegal to now place individuals in special education classes based on IQ test
Equivalence of Measures * Functional equivalence: equating the items functionally rather than literally; creating items that serve the same purpose even though they are different * I.e. A penny saved is a penny earned (being thrifty means you will make more money) * Conceptual Equivalence: using terms or phrases where the meaning is culturally equivalent * Linguistic equivalence: it is how terms are translated from one language to another * Metric equivalence: try to get the scores to mean the same thing across cultures
Intelligence Testing * Racial Group Differences in IQ scores * European Americans, Mean=100 * African Americans & Latinos, Mean=90 * Asians, Mean=110 * Nature vs. Nurture * Genetically you are born in a range and environmentally will affect at what range you will fall in * Stereotype Threat (Steele et al.) * The fear of confirming a negative stereotype about your group * A persons social identity is attached to a negative stereotype * Person will underperform consistent with the stereotype * The underperformance is due to the anxiety about confirming the negative stereotypes * The anxiety is manifested in distraction, increased body temperature, etc… * Racial Stereotype * Gender Stereotype
Differences in Worldview * Definitions of Worldview * Worldview: “the way in which people perceive their relationship to nature, institutions, other people and thing. Worldview constitutes our psychological orientation in life and can determine how we think, behave, make decisions, and define events” * A way in which individuals or cultural groups differentially perceive, define and subsequently interact with their external environment as a result of past learning experiences * A psychological perception of the world (our environment) that determines are * Worldview is shaped through our experiences * It is the lens through which all future experiences are filtered * Cognitive schema: an organizing framework for processing information * Assimilation * Accommodation: modify existing framework in order to fit it in * Rejection
Imposing a Worldview * Emic vs. Etic perspectives * Imposed etics: when you take something true for you (personally or culture group) and apply to everyone else; use it as a standard to everyone else * Ethnocentrism: seeing your own culture as the norm-- due to ethnocentrism we will impose etics
Value Orientation and Worldview
Kluckholn & Strodtbeck’s (19610 Value Orientation Model—5 Dimensions 1. Time focus---past, present and future 2. Human Activity- being, being & becoming, doing 3. Social Relations- lineal, collateral, individualistic 4. People/Nature Relationship- subjugation to nature, harmony with nature, mastery over nature * Subjugation to nature- * Harmony with nature- coincide with nature * Ex: Native American Cultures * Mastery over Nature-trying to control and conquer nature * Ex: United States; Japanese Cultures * Human Nature- good, bad and mixed
Dimensions of Cultural Worldview
Landrum-Brown’s Model (1994, 1995) ---8 Dimensions 1. Psycho-behavioral modality- doing, being, becoming (same as human activity in above model) 2. Axiology- what is valued 3. Ethos- guiding beliefs and concept to explain things in the world 4. Epistemology- the process of knowing/or how one knows 5. Logic- the process of reasoning a. Dichotomous- (either/or) b. Diunital (both/and) 6. Ontology-the nature of reality/ what is considered real 7. Concept of Time- past, present and future (same as time focus in above model) 8. Concept of Self-how do you perceive yourself

Dimensions of Cultural Variation
Hofsteda—4 Dimensions 1. Power Distance (Status Differentiation) –the degree to which cultures emphasize power differences; can be either high or low 2. Uncertainty Avoidance- a. High on uncertainty-rule oriented culture; Japanese cultures b. Low on uncertainty- fewer rules and rituals to mandate behavior; Scandinavian Cultures c. Masculinity - the degree to which cultures emphasize gender roles i. High on Masculinity- strict gender roles; Latin Countries ii. Low on Masculinity- not so strict on gender roles; Scandinavian Cultures d. Individualism e. Tightness- refers to how well a culture tolerates deviance from the norms f. Cultural Complexity g. Individualism vs. Collectivism iii. Individualistic Cultures- see yourself different from others iv. Collectivistic Cultures- the needs of group are the priority v. Distribution of IND-COL between countries vi. Effects on Self Concept vii. Effects on relationships
Horizontal vs. Identical IND-COL * Horizontal vs. Vertical * Horizontal-emphasizes equality * Vertical-emphasizes hierarchy * 4 Types * Horizontal Collectivism-Interdependence * “My happiness depends very much on the happiness of those around me” * Vertical Collectivism * “I would do what would please my family, even if I detested that activity” * Horizontal Individualism * “What happens to me is my own doing” * People in Sweden bring their own sheets to spend the night at a friend’s house * Vertical Individualism * “It is important to me that I do my job better than other” * -------------------------------------------------
United States (we like to stand out and be noticed for being unique)
Culture and Communication * Communication is one of the most important aspects of life * Communication is vital to developing, maintaining, and transmitting culture * Communication is both verbal and nonverbal * Verbal-language (words) * Nonverbal-facial expressions, movements, posture, voice, contact, touch, etc…
Nonverbal Communication: Proxemics * Proxemics: the use of personal space (Hall 1959, 1976) * Gender differences * Personality differences * 4 Zones * Intimate Distances—0 to 1.5 feet * Romantic or Family * Personal Distance- 1.5 to 4 feet * Friends * Social Distance- 4 to 10 feet * Social Gatherings; * Public Distance * 10+ Feet * Distances are more consistent in the United States; differ in other countries * These rules are unspoken and unconscious * We feel uncomfortable when there is a violation of personal space * We make adjustments to cope with this discomfort * Members within a culture understand these rules * Cultures differ in their use of personal space * Conflicts can arise when cultures encounter one another * Research on cultural differences in personal space * Remland, Jones, & Brickman (1991) – Dutch > French>English * Watson & Graves (1966) --- Male Arab students < American male students * General trend – cultures closer to the equator prefer less personal space * Crowding and personal space * Gender and personal space * In general, American men tend to take up more personal space and ladies take a lot less
Nonverbal Communication: Kinesics * Kinesics: communication through bodily movements * Includes gestures, facial expressions and eye contact * Gestures: * Many gestures are culture-specific * Gestures as illustrators * We used gestures to highlight our speech * Emblematic gestures * The gesture itself has a meaning of its own * Giving someone the ‘finger’ * Facial Expressions * Expression of emotion * The Seven Universal Emotions * Sadness, Fear, Anger, Happiness, Surprised, Disgust, Contempt * Different display rules: culture norms of how the emotions should be displayed * Eckman did a study where he compared Americans vs. Japanese expressions to a stressful video * He found when the researcher was out of the room there were no differences * When the researcher was in the room the Americans acted the same however Japanese culture either smiled or was neutral * Eye Contact * Eye contact can communicate affiliation, dominance, or aggression * High contact vs. Low contact cultures * Group differences in the United States * Attributions based on eye contact
Culture and Language * Culture Influences * Vocabulary * Meaning * Rules for how language is used and understood * A reciprocal relationship * Culture influences thoughts feelings motives * Cultures influences language * The use of language reinforces culture
Language and Worldview * Language is a symbol system that helps a culture structure the world * Different cultures structure the world in different ways * Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis (Linguistic Relativity) * People who speak different languages think differently * Research—Carroll & Casagrande (1958); Navajo vs. English Speakers * Bilingualism * Bilingualism and Sapir-Whorf * Ervin (1964); English/French bilinguals * Hull (1987+); Korean/English and Chinese/English immigrants * Evidence proves that people who speak different languages think differently * Most people in the world are bilingual or multilingual * U.S. is the most monolingual as a whole in the world * Ways in which people become bilingual: * Grow up in a society with more than one language * Native language is not the official language of the country * Colonization * Education and extensive travel * Economic and professional * Grew up in a home with more than one language * What happens when a second language is acquired? * Additive Bilingualism * Subtractive Bilingualism: when the second language replaces the first * Native Bilingualism: people that have more than language from birth and keeps it
Immigrant and Refugees * Immigrant: someone who voluntarily moves to a new country * Seek increased opportunities * Migration is planned * Keep support network * Have job assistance * Able to return home * Refugee: someone who flees his/her country from someone/something * Escaping threat * Migration unplanned * Lose support network * No job; may face resistance * Unable to return home
Berry’s 6 Stages of Refugee Careers 1. Predeparture: conditions that force refugee from their home 2. Flight: period of transit away from their home country 3. First Asylum: first place refugees settle and feel safe 4. Claimant: a country that grants asylum (first country of potential settlement) 5. Settlement: the country and formally accepts the refuge and stays there 6. Adaptation: adjusting to the new host country
Common Experiences of Immigrants and Refugees * Language Barriers * Support Networks * Family hierarchies * New family roles * Employment * Education
Acculturation
* Acculturation: the process of adjusting to a different culture * Acculturative Stress: feelings of tension and anxiety that result from trying to adjust to a new culture * i.e. “Culture shock”
Acculturation of Immigrants
Berry (1990, 1997; Brislin, 2000; Leong, 2001) * Assimilationist: gives up their culture of origin and adopts the new culture * Separationist: keeps their original culture and rejects the new culture * Marginalist: someone that does not identify with neither the new culture or old culture (feeling alienated from both) * Integrationist: the person who combines aspects of both their original and old culture
Acculturation of Ethnic Minorities
LaFrambiose et al. (1993) * Assimilationist: someone who completely accepts the values, beliefs etc. of the dominant culture and giving up their own culture * Acculturated: someone who develops a level of competence with the dominant culture without completely giving up their own (“learning the system of the new culture”) * Fusion: someone who combines both cultures to create a somewhat new culture * Alternation: a person that switches between their original culture and new culture depending on the situation * Multiculturalist: someone that sees his/her own culture as one that is accepted by the dominant culture as one of many cultures connected by the social structure

Factors Influencing Acculturation * Attitude of the host country * Presence of other members in your ethnic group * Presence of marketable skills * Familiarity with the host country * Similarity between the old and new culture * Personality Traits * Previous Coping Skills * Illegal Status
Stereotyping, Prejudice, Discrimination and Racism
Definitions
* Stereotype: a set of beliefs and expectations about someone simply because they belong to a particular group * Prejudice: judgments about someone simply because they belong to a particular group * Discrimination: negative behavior towards members of a group (the act) * Racism: discrimination backed by institutional power
How Do These Things Develop * Psychoanalytic Theory (Freud) * Personality Traits * Projection * Anxiety and guilt * Social Learning Theory: we develop these things because we learn from other people (Bandura) * Realistic Conflict Theory: are the outcome of direct competition over valued but limited resources * Evolutionary Theory: genetically we all have motivation to survive and pass on our genes * Social Identity Theory: refers to the self-esteem we get from belonging to different groups * Cognitive Theories (Social Psychology) * Illusory correlation: we two things looks like they are related but are not; can be enhanced when you have two distinctive things that occur together * Confirmation bias: you try to find evidence that supports the bias and you ignore that evidence that doesn’t confirm bias * Attribution Theory: the explanation we come up with to describe someone’s behavior * 4 Types of Attributions * Internal-coming from inside of them * External-coming from the environment * Stable- not going to change/always be the same * Unstable-possibility to change/variable * Internal-Stable * Internal-Unstable * External-Stable * -------------------------------------------------
External-Unstable

Cultural Identity Development
Tripartite Model of Personal Identity
“All individuals in many respects are like NO other individuals like SOME individuals like ALL individuals” – Sue, 2001
Three Levels of Identity: Individual Level; Group Level; Universal level
African-American Identity Development
Cross (1971) – “Nigrescence” 1. Pre-encounter: when people are unaware of racial/ethnic issues, or a stage where African Americans devalue their blackness and value their whiteness 2. Encounter: this stage is when a startling event occurs to jar the person out of stage one a. Assassination of Martin Luther King b. Assassination of Malcolm X 3. Immersion/Emersion c. Idealize their blackness and reject whiteness d. A lot of emotion at this stage: guilt, anger etc… 4. Internalization e. Where the person returns back to the middle f. Comfortable with their identity; balanced view of both g. Can see the positive and negatives of their own culture and the dominant culture
Racial Identity Attitude Scale (RIAS) (Parham&Helms, 1981)
White Identity Development
Helms (1984+) – “statuses”, not stages 1. Contact: unaware or uninformed of issues of race and privilege 2. Disintegration: has had enough contact with minorities it now contradicts what it starts to believe at stage one 3. Reintegration: tend to retreat back into their comfort zone 4. Pseudo independence: they accept the reality of racism BUT they believe its minorities that should change; not white people 5. Immerson/Emersion: status where you develop a positive white identity (what it means to be a white person in the US)—what white people need to do to change and solve the problem a. “white guilt” 6. Autonomy: comfortable with their white identity and they understand the dynamics of racism, privilege etc…
Multiracial Identity Development
Poston (1990) 1. Personal Identity: who you are at an individual level; nothing to do with your race specifically a. Where child bases identity on personal factor such as how they look, what they like etc. 2. Choice of Group Categorization: child chooses to identity with one group (picking one and identity with it); can causes guilt because you are excluding/denying part of yourself/family 3. Enmeshment/Denial: increasing guilt feeling like you rejected the other side; self-hatred can occur 4. Appreciation: appreciate they are more than one and reintegrate the other side and exploring that other side 5. Integration: the stage of status where they see the benefits of embracing both
Root (1990+) – Five Possible Resolutions * Accept the identity society assigns to you * Identify with both racial groups * Identify with a single racial group * Identify with a new “mixed-race” group * Symbolic Identity * Hypodescencion of identity vs. Hyperdescencion * Hyperdescencion-chosen the group with a higher status * Hypodescencion- chosen the group with a lower status
Homosexual Identity Development
Cass (1979) 1. Identity Confusion 2. Identity Comparison: comparing themselves to their same sex peers and noticing a difference 3. Identity Tolerance: the person clearly knows they are attracted to people of the SAME sex BUT they do not tell anyone (inside the closet); a lot of shame and guilt 4. Identity Acceptance: persons acceptance their identity as being gay and begins to come out the closet but its compartmentalized (selected coming out) 5. Identity Pride: openly expresses their sexual orientation; came out to EVERYBODY 6. Identity Synthesis: integrates all identities
Putting it All Together: Racial and Cultural Identity Development Model (R/CID)—Sue & Sue (1990+) 1. Conformity: unaware of what is going on or sees the dominant culture as superiority to all other groups and find their culture to be inferior 2. Dissonance: conflict 3. Resistance and Immersion: immerse themselves in their own culture and embrace it and reject the dominant group 4. Introspection: began to critically analyze their group and the other group; turning inward and resolving issues 5. Integrative Awareness: positive identity based on your own group and because you are now comfortable with your own group you can also be comfortable with the other group; a balance
Critique of the Stage Models * Linear progression through the stages * Where the process begins * Assumptions about mental health * Relevance for today * Overemphasis on reaction to racism * Lack of empirical evidence for some stages
Multiple Layering of Identities * We all have multiple identities * We order their importance * This order can shift * “Racial Salience.” (Seller et. al. 1998) how important one’s race is at a particular moment or in a particular situation
Culture and Health
Health Disparities * Disparity: an inequality * Health Disparity: inequalities
Culture and Mental Health
Mental Health vs. Mental Illness
Mental Health * Sense of well-being * The ability to function in an environment * Healthy relationships * In touch with reality * Optimal development * Able to use cognitive abilities * Able to set and achieve goals
Mental Illness * Subjective distress * Unable to function in environment * Relationship difficulties * Out of touch with reality * Impairment of underdevelopment of abilities * Unable to make decisions, follow-through and achieve goals * Destructive behavior
Culture Influences Mental Health
Culture Influences * Definitions mental health and mental illness * Symptoms experienced * Expression of symptoms * Meaning of symptoms * Coping strategies * Etiology and prevalence * Treatment * Client/therapist relationship
Culture and Diagnosis * Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM-IV-TR) * Axis I: Clinical Disorders (Acute Disorders) * “Hits you in the forehead” * Axis II: Personality Disorders and Mental Retardation (Long-term) * The way a person “does life”; “hits you in the gut” * Axis III: General Medical Condition * Axis IV: Psychosocial and Environmnetal Stressors * The higher the # the more functional * Axis: Global Assessment of Functioning: given # based on functionality
DSM and Culture
Outline for Cultural Formulation * Cultural Identity * Cultural Explanations * Cultural factors and the environment * Cultural influences on client/therapist relationship * Overall cultural assessment for diagnosis and treatment
Prevalence of Mental Disorder: The Epidemiological Studies * Epidemiologic Catchment Area Project (ECA) * Conducted from 1980-1983 * Almost 20,000 people from 5 communities * Overall 20% of population currently experiencing a mental disorder * Most common lifetime disorders—phobia, alcohol abuse/ dependence, generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive episode, dysthymia

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