1. Cultural Diversity: A Primer for the Human Services
By Jerry V. Diller
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2. Chapter 9 Mental Health Issues
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3. Racial Identity and Group Belonging
Identity is the inner sense of who a person is, formed by the integration of experiences of the self
Ethnic identity is the part of one’s identity that contributes to self-image as an ethnic community member
Ethnic identity is formed by personal experiences and external messages about ethnicity
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4. Racial Identity and Group Belonging
Positive identity
Acceptance of ethnic-related experiences and ethnic self
Ethnic-related reactions are conscious
Positive group attachment
Celebration of ethnic ways and attitudes
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5. Racial Identity and Group Belonging
Negative identity
Rejects and disowns ethnic-related experiences and ethnic self
Ethnic-related reactions remain unconscious
Avoids group membership
Adopts majority attitudes and ways
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6. Racial Identity and Group Belonging
Ambivalent identification:
Alternates between exhibiting a positive or negative identification and/or compartmentalizes areas of ethnic content
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7. Models Of Racial Identity Development
Five stages of racial identity development (Cross, 1995)
Pre-encounter
Not consciously aware of race and ethnicity
Tend to assimilate and prefer dominant cultural values
Encounter
An event or experience shatters denial of ethnicity and sends the person into confusion due to having to deal with differentness for the first time
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8. Models Of Racial Identity Development
Five stages of racial identity development (Cross, 1995)
Immersion-Emersion
First-time desire to immerse in ethnicity
Anger of second stage lingers while increased focus moves to self-exploration
Internalization
Increasingly secure and positive about ethnic identity
Attitudes become less rigid and defensive
More open with greater willingness to relate to Whites and members of other ethnic groups
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9. Models Of Racial Identity Development
Five stages of racial identity development (Cross, 1995)
Internalization-Commitment
Translating personal ethnic identities into sense of commitment to social justice and change
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10. Models Of Racial Identity Development
Four dimensions of change universally occur in people of color as they move through five stages
Conformity, Dissonance, Resistance and Immersion, Introspection, and Synergetic (Atkinson, Morten, and Sue, 1993)
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11. Models Of Racial Identity Development
Four dimensions of change
Attitudes about the self change from self-depreciating to self-appreciation
Attitudes about others in the same ethnic groups change from group-depreciating to group-appreciation
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12. Models Of Racial Identity Development
Four dimensions of change
Attitudes about members of different ethnic groups move from discriminatory to acceptance and appreciation
Attitudes about dominant group members move from identifying with the majority, through rejection to selective appreciation
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13. Identity Development and the Helping Process
Counseling needs differ as clients move through the stages of racial development
Stage 1
Clients seek help for issues unrelated to ethnic identity, prefer White providers, feel threatened by exploration of race and ethnicity
Stage 2
Clients are pre-occupied with race issues, seek providers who are knowledgeable about their cultural group
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14. Identity Development and the Helping Process
Stage 3
Clients are less likely to seek counseling and tend to be absorbed in engaging in ethnic ways
Providers of color are preferred as white providers are seen as symbols of oppression
Stage 4
Clients seek counseling to deal with conflict between group and personal perspectives
Stage 5
Clients are less in need of counseling as they have developed skills to balance personal needs and group obligation
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15. Assimilation and Acculturation
Ethnic assimilation is the coming together of two distinct cultures to create a unique third culture
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16. Assimilation and Acculturation
Forms of ethnic assimilation (Gordon, 1964) include:
Acculturation: Taking on another culture, usually mainstream
Structural Assimilation: Gaining entry into institutions of society, also called integration
Marital Assimilation: Large-scale intermarriage with majority group
Identification Assimilation: Developing sense of belonging with dominant society
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17. Assimilation and Acculturation
Acculturation is important to working with culturally diverse populations in two ways:
Being able to assess the amount of acculturation, in order to determine the form of helping that is most appropriate
Acculturative stress, or the emotional strain that acculturation can create, is often felt when traditional ways are lost or compromised as a result of acculturation
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18. Views Of Acculturation
Uni-dimensional view
As an individual moves toward a dominant culture, they must give up traditional ways
Marginal person is an ethnic group member who tries to acculturate to majority but does not gain acceptance into majority or own cultural group
Multicultural view
Believes it is possible to live in two cultures
Problems arise when aspects of the two cultures are in clear conflict
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19. Views Of Acculturation
Third view suggests impact of acculturation can be discovered by what they have gained or lost through acculturation
Superficial Level
Learning and forgetting facts that are part of a cultural tradition
Intermediate Level
Gaining and losing central aspects and behaviors of a person’s social world (language, ethnicity of spouse/friends, etc.)
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20. Views Of Acculturation
Third view suggests impact of acculturation can be discovered by what they have gained or lost through acculturation
Significant Level
Core values, beliefs, and norms essential to the cultural paradigm are lost and adopted
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21. Immigration and Acculturation
Acculturative stress is most pronounced during and after immigration
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22. Immigration and Acculturation
Level of stress is dependent on five factors (Landau, 1982):
Reason for migration and whether expectations and hopes were met
Availability of community and family support
Changes to family structure required after migration
Degree of similarity between old and new culture
Family’s ability to be flexible and adaptive
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23. Immigration and Acculturation
When stress is high, support is unavailable, and family is unhealthy, it will compensate in one of three ways:
Family isolates itself and remains separate from new environment
Family closes boundaries to outside world and rigidifies traditional ways
Family becomes disengaged, members become isolated from each other
Situation can be especially problematic when family members acculturate at different rates
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24. Immigration and Acculturation
When stress is high, support is unavailable, and family is unhealthy, it will compensate in one of three ways:
Family isolates itself from new environment
Family closes boundaries to outside world and rigidifies traditional ways
Family becomes disengaged, members become isolated from each other
Can be especially problematic when family members acculturate at different rates
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25. Acculturation And Community Breakdown
Acculturation can lead to the breakdown of community support
Group members feel less attached to traditions and leave the community to avoid hatred and animosity often directed in the group
Often end up at greater risk of being the objects of prejudice without the ability of the community to protect the individual
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26. Stress
External and internal factors mediate the subjective effects of stress and stress-related illness (Myers, 1982):
External
Economic conditions decide whether race- and social-class-related experiences are sources of greater or lesser stress.
Internal
Individual temperament, problem-solving skills, sense of internal control, and self-esteem reduce likelihood that an event or situation is experienced as stressful
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27. Psychological Trauma
In extreme case of trauma, stress can completely shut down basic psychic adaptation systems
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28. Psychological Trauma
Four major symptom-groups are associated with trauma:
Hyperarousal: Internal biology of self-preservation goes on permanent alert
Intrusion: Reliving of traumatizing event as if it were happening in the present
Constricting/Numbing: Deadening or dissociation from reality
Disconnection: Shattering of the self and its connection to others and human experience
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29. Psychological Trauma
Source and type of trauma dictate the impact on the individual
Trauma resulting from natural disasters tend to be less debilitating than trauma caused by other humans
Trauma that occurred in the past is considered “lived memory” and involves the reliving of trauma by the individual
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30. Psychological Trauma
Source and type of trauma dictate the impact on the individual
Historic trauma refers to cumulative trauma that occurs across generations and reflects a broader range of social consequences
Children manifest their own response to parents’ trauma
Substance abuse and dependence often occur as a means of self-medicating
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31. Psychological Trauma
Therapeutic work with trauma victims is challenging for multiple reasons
Trauma events are painful to relive and difficult for therapist to hear
Clients fear that the therapist will not believe him or her
Clients project feelings about perpetrator onto the therapist
Work with trauma survivors can be traumatizing to the therapist
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32. Psychological Trauma
Additional considerations for working with clients who have experienced trauma include:
The presence of insidious trauma, microaggressions, and implicit racism, which can eventually trigger full-blown complex trauma reactions that can be life-threatening
Assessment of trauma should be made from within the context of a client’s cultural life history and minority status
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33. Psychological Trauma
Additional considerations for working with clients who have experienced trauma include:
Clients may wait to disclose trauma until after trust has been developed
Use of empowerment to balance exploration of a traumatic experience
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34. Drug And Alcohol Use
Three important points must be made about substance use and ethnicity:
Myths about substance abuse among people of color are based on comparison to beliefs about white consumption
In reality, people of color tend to use substances less frequently than white Americans
Cultural differences exist about socially acceptable levels of drinking and substance use
As do the meanings of abstinence and recovery
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35. Drug And Alcohol Use
Research findings on substance use and abuse in youth of color reflect similar patterns to those of adults within the same culture
With the exception of Native Americans, young ethnic populations have substance use patterns that are significantly less than young whites
Less acculturated African Americans, Latinos/as, and Asian Americans have lower rates
May reflect protective factors in traditional cultures
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36. Drug And Alcohol Use
Research findings on substance use and abuse in youth of color reflect similar patterns to those of adults within the same culture
Bicultural youth tend to exhibit low levels of alcohol and drug use
Youth of color generally show lower rates of substance use, but their use tends to lead to more behavioral and health problems
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37. Comparing Latinos/as and Asian Americans
Illicit drug use increases dramatically with acculturation among Latino/a youth and Asian males
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38. Comparing Latinos/as and Asian Americans
Latino/a youth consume heavier quantities and experience more drinking problems than other adolescents
Asian Americans have low levels of use compared with other ethnic groups
Drinking in Asian society is governed by social norms that condemn excessive use and encourage moderation
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39. Comparing Latinos/As and Asian Americans
For Latinos/as, prevention efforts must:
Encourage biculturalism and bilingualism
Involve the community in community development efforts
Involve the community in public awareness campaigns
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40. Comparing Latinos/As and Asian Americans
For Asian Americans, prevention efforts must:
Encourage biculturalism
Involve youth in community prevention
Provide indigenously owned family counseling and support services
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41. The Cultural Meaning of Recovery
Substance abuse should be viewed as symptomatic of other underlying psychological conditions
Recovery for people of color should acknowledge the impact of racism and include efforts to heal inner effects of racism
For example, recovery with Native Americans must include the social and cultural roots of the problem if overcoming substance abuse is to be achieved
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