Psychological activities within certain cultures are sometimes abhorred and sometimes revered. As a prospective psychologist it will be interesting to learn which cultures are the toughest to integrate within, and which cultures are the easiest. It's easy for someone with an educational background to blithely state that being a psychologist in any culture would be intriguing. The facts, however, may not bear that out. This paper looks at three separate cultures in order to determine what factors a fledgling psychologist would have to be concerned about when dealing with each of the three different cultures. The three cultures discussed herein include; African-American, Native American and Asian-American cultures and values.
African-American culture
There is a plethora of studies on the various cultures and values of the African-American society. One study in particular is of interest. The study determined that "African-Americans scored significantly higher when estimating the likelihood of coming into contact with a contaminant and the severity of the consequences of such contact compared to Caucasians" (p. 230). Contamination fear can be defined as "the feeling of having been polluted or infected or endangered as a result of contact, direct or indirect, with a person/place/object that is perceived to be soiled, impure, infectious, or harmful" (Rachman, 2004, p. 1228). The question, therefore, could be asked, do African-Americans perceive whites or Caucasians as contaminates, therefore something that should be avoided; and further, how does that contamination fear play into a role of psychologist from a Caucasian point-of-view?
Additionally, it may not be contamination fear that plays a big role, but it could be anxiety based, especially since the future for this student is likely to be working with the young adults, youth and children more than the older adults. A recent study found that "problems with anxiety are one of the most common presenting problems that mental health practitioners encounter" (Lindsey, 2014, p. 408). The same study determined that an uptick in schema and separation individuation may be causing anxiety and that the study indicated "that African-American college students who have not fully completed the separation individuation process experience a higher level of trait anxiety" (p. 408).
Other considerations when working within the African-American culture is that many of these individuals may come from less affluent backgrounds, and therefore may not have enjoyed (or are enjoying) the same educational experiences as more affluent neighbors and communities. One recent study determined that there is "overwhelming evidence of the importance of environmental factors, particularly those related to socio-economic status" (Bond, 2014, p. 40). Since the author's future is probably going to include working with children, another aspect that the Bond study brought to the forefront was that "children who grow up in poor areas with limited access to computers and books, and who may also have little routine and little parental attention, not only have worse health, but are also more likely to do badly in school" (p. 41). These are often the same children that are referred to medical professional for assistance; keeping in mind that knowledge of the environment that these children encounter each and every day may be beneficial when attempting to provide that assistance.
According to many of the studies that have focused on how to approach the African-American culture through psychology, the approach must include four things. Those four items are; 1) exam the particular moments and movements that have provided insight into understanding African behavior, 2) explore African worldviews as conceptual systems for appreciating and approaching African cultural beliefs and practices, 3) examine models of African traditional healing and the rich variety of African proverbs as the core of African thought and theory, and 4) help participants translate African psychological theory into various applications" (Jamison, Carroll, 2014, p. 99 (Rowe, Kambon, 1999)). That sounds like a heavy load to be assuming, but if one wishes to accomplish great results within a certain culture, it makes sense that one should not that culture first-hand and as well as one could possibly know it. i
An additional consideration when working with African-Americans will likely include a strong racial and ethnic identity. Considering one of the case studies included in the class text; it concerns Andre a twenty-two-year-old African-American. The text states that Andre "had been reared with a very strong racial and ethnic identity and envisions himself as an activist minister." This is an interesting scenario in that Andre had been raised in...
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