| Awards Recommended Reading Upcoming Events APA Multicultural Guidelines Book Review SERD's Membership |
NEWSLETTER EDITORS Meera Rastogi, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Psychology, Edgewood College, Madison, Wisconsin & Barbara J. Palombi, Ph.D. Director of Training/Assistant Director Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan |
The editors of the SERD's newsletter wish to extend a welcome to the readership of the SERD's list serve. The editors of the newsletter have focused on the following topics: Awards, Upcoming Events, Recommended Readings, Review of the Multicultural Competencies, Book Review of Sue and Sue, and Membership Information. As always, suggestions for the following issues are always welcome.
Alberta M. Gloria, Ph.D. was awarded the Emerging Professional Award from Division 45 (Society for the Psychological Student of Ethnic Minority Issues) of APA for her outstanding early career contributions in promoting ethnic minority issues in the field of psychology.
Madonna Constantine, Ph.D. was awarded Fellow status in Division 17.
Ezemenari M. Obasi, SERD Student Representative and a doctoral
student at The Ohio State University received several honors at the APA
Convention in Chicago. He was awarded an APA Minority Fellowship (MFP)
and the Division 17's Barbara A. Kirk Award for outstanding student initiated
research for his Master's thesis entitled, Construction and Validation
of the Worldview Analysis Scale. The abstract of Ezemenari's thesis is
as follows:
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to develop the Worldview
Analysis Scale (WAS). Worldview was operationalized as distal philosophical
assumptions, which determine the way in which people, perceive, think,
feel, and experience the world. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis
confirmed eight subscales which included acquisitive rationalism, materialistic
universe, spiritual immortality, communalism, indigenous values, tangible
realism, knowledge of self, and spiritualism. Several studies were conducted
with African, African American, European, European American, and Bi/Multiracial
participants (N = 816) to validate the WAS. MANOVA analyses found evidence
for cultural differences in worldview. The WAS produced favorable reliability,
validity, and factor structure indices. Furthermore, it shows promise
in research, therapy, and the training of professionals and paraprofessionals.
Ezemenari Obasi recommends an edited book by Dr. Thomas Parham entitled,
Counseling Persons of African Descent: Raising the Bar of Practitioner
Competence, which is part of the SAGE MAC (Multicultural Aspects of
Counseling) Series as a resource for SERD members.
The Multicultural Conference
January 22nd and 23rd are the dates for the Multicultural Conference and
Summit 2003 - the Psychology of Race/Ethnicity, Gender, Sexual Orientation,
and Disability: Celebrating Our Children, Families, and Seniors. The conference/summit
will be held in Hollywood, California. The conference/summit has been
designed to address issues related to research, education and training,
practice, and public interest issues. SERD's member Szu-Hiu (Cindy) Lee
will be presenting. Her presentation is:
Winter Roundtable on Cultural Psychology and Education
February 20 - February 23 are the dates for the 20th Annual Winter Roundtable
on Cultural Psychology and Education sponsored by the Counseling Psychology
Program and the Center for Educational Outreach and Innovation at Teachers
College, Columbia University. The sole focus of the TC Winter Roundtable
is cultural issues in psychology and education. The special focus of this
year's program is "Identity in Cultural Psychology and Education".
A highlight of the TC Winter Roundtable will be the presentation of the
13th Janet E. Helms Award for Mentoring and Scholarship in Professional
Psychology and Education. This year's Helms Award recipient will be Joseph
L. White, Ph.D. Several of SERD's members will be presenting at the TC
Winter Roundtable.
Many members of Division 17 (Counseling Psychology) and Division 45 (The Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minorities) have been involved in the drafting of the APA Multicultural Guidelines. The entire document, 103 pages, is available at APA's and Division 17's websites. When reviewing the document, please make note of our colleagues who have contributed to this document. The following is a review of the APA Multicultural Guidelines.
Reviewed by Meera Rastogi, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychology, Edgewood College, Madison, Wisconsin
Introduction
The number of people of color living in the United States will dramatically
increase in the next fifty years; accordingly, APA has set out to develop
clear multicultural guidelines for psychologists. The first set of guidelines
for multicultural counseling, submitted in 1982, did not focus exclusively
on racial and ethnic issues, but included other areas of diversity (e.g.,
sexual orientation and gender). The latest set of guidelines (endorsed
in 1999), by contrast, focuses especially on " cultural competence"
as it applies to counseling members of specific racial and ethnic groups.
This review will summarize the most recent guidelines.
History
The guidelines begin with a history of events that serve as a catalyst
in the addressing of ethnic minority issues in psychology. The historical
over view begins with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and
brings up us up to date with the National Council of Schools and the development
of standards in Programs of Professional Psychology aimed at education
in the areas of diversity.
General Principles
Next the authors discuss the basic principles that underlie the guidelines
and their development. In general, the principles emphasize the importance
of locating psychological issues with a cultural context, being knowledgeable
about a wide variety of cultures and practices, examining Euro centric
bias in psychological theories, and understanding one's role as a cultural
actor in society. These principles are then discussed as they relate to
clinical practice, education and training, and research.
Clinical Practice
Awareness, knowledge, and skills are essential for quality multicultural
clinical care. Awareness refers to the practitioner's understanding of
him/herself as a cultural being, and of the client's cultural background.
Knowledge reflects the clinician's desire to learn more about multicultural
issues and practices. Skills are the ability of practitioners to recognize
and address to oppression, accurately assess oppressive situations, seek
out ongoing feedback, and maintain sensitivity to language preferences
and contextual factors that may impact clients.
Education and Training
Education and training guidelines recommend the encouragement of first-year
students to become more aware of their own cultural background and values,
examining stereotypes they may hold, and increasing their knowledge about
various cultur4s and oppression that clients may experience. The authors
recommend that program curricula include multicultural information in
all courses, and offer specific courses that address multicultural issues.
Guidelines for research training suggest that programs acknowledge the
Euro centric perspective inherent to most psychological research, and
that research training should examine and address issues of culture in
research. Clinical training guidelines emphasize the importance of including
cultural factors in case conceptualizations and those assessment skills
should recognize cultural issues. The guidelines also recommend that programs
foster an open learning environment where students can freely discuss
and debate issues of culture and psychology. Finally, the guidelines illuminate
the need for programs to recruit students and faculty of color, and maximize
their retention.
Research
Like the clinical practice guidelines, the research guidelines emphasize
awareness, knowledge, and skills. Researchers should strive for awareness
of the implications of conducting research on people of color. As well,
researchers should be knowledgeable about the appropriateness and limitations
of data collection (quantitative and qualitative), and should include
people of color in the research process for beginning end. Finally, the
researchers should strive to develop skills in designing studies bases
on multicultural theories.
Conclusion
The guidelines conclude with a section that addresses implications and
"next steps." Overall the guidelines provide clear approaches
for psychologists to serve an increasing-and increasingly prominent-population
in the United States.
Counseling the Culturally Diverse: Theory and Practice, 4th edition
Derald Wing Sue and David Sue
USA: John Wiley & Sons, 2003, 507 pages.
Reviewed by Barbara J. Palombi, Ph.D.
Director of Training/Assistant Director
Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan
As a director of an internship training program and a clinician within
a university-counseling center, I am always seeking new publications,
articles, books and other literature on the topic of cultural diversity.
From my perspective, it is important to have the staff members that I
work with, the interns that I supervise, and myself as a clinician to
be informed about the newest developments in multicultural counseling.
This fall an updated and new edition of Counseling the Culturally Diverse
by Sue and Sue has been published.
The new edition maintains the structure and focus of the previous editions.
Some highlights of the text include a theoretical model of cultural diversity
that outlines similarities and differences between cultural groups; an
outline of multicultural competencies to enable therapists to develop
the skills needed to work with clients from diverse backgrounds, experiences,
and cultures; and an expanded view of the politics of counseling and psychotherapy.
According to Sue & Sue, a competent multi cultural therapist must
have an understanding of how politics affect those who are diverse and
how therapy and ethics tend to be culture-bound. Without this awareness,
therapists who work with culturally different clients may engage in unethical
and harmful practices.
With the new edition Sue and Sue have added more depth and breadth to
an already valuable resource. The authors have added the following features
to this edition
For each chapter the new section, "Implications for Clinical Practice"
provides a summary of the chapter and identifies concerns for the practitioners.
These implications provide the practitioner with guidelines to avoid therapeutic
pitfalls and develop additional skills and competency. The new edition
contains many examples that outline and clarifies the concepts within
each chapter. These added case studies parallel today's clinical practices.
Sue and Sue have also included the most updated research findings. These
studies provide the reader with additional understanding of clinical issues
associated with each topic and an overview of the theoretical changes
occurring in this field of multicultural counseling.
Sue and Sue have also added chapters on aging, disability, gender and
sexual orientation. By doing so, they have expanded multi cultural counseling
to include individuals who represents these areas of diversity. These
chapters are structured in a similar manner as the chapters on ethnic
diversity and provide relevant background and statistical information.
This additional information allows clinicians to have an awareness of
the issues faced by the members these groups.
In summary, Sue and Sue have again maintained the scholarship found in
previous editions of their text. This new edition provides additional
information and resources to advance the foundations of multicultural
counseling. This edition also expands the definition of multiculturalism
to include aging, disability, gender and sexual orientation. With this
edition therapists will increase their clinical knowledge, which will
enhance their practice of multicultural counseling.
The suggested dues for SERD membership are $5, but we encourage you to
contribute what you can. Remember SERD membership offers the following
benefits: networking and fellowship, leadership opportunities, a website,
a listserve, APA conference programming (Town Hall meetings, poster presentations,
collaborative programming with other Division 17 sections) and special
events such as the annual SERD brunch. Extra monies that are contributed
by the SERD's membership are used to provide travel money and awards for
students. This year we helped our student representative attend APA and
recognized a student poster presentation with an award. If you are interested
in being a member or up-dating your membership, please go to www.div17.org
and go to the membership page. Fill out and print your membership information
and send the information along with your contributions to Kevin Cokley,
SERD treasurer.