Handbook of Multicultural Counseling

J. Manuel Casas, Lisa A. Suzuki, Charlene M. Alexander, Margo A. Jackson, J. Manuel Casas, Lisa A. Suzuki, Charlene M. Alexander, Margo A Jackson

• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781452291512
• eBook ISBN: 9781483323329
• Edition: 4
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Education Counseling
• Index: Psychology

Celebrating its 20^th anniversary!

The most internationally cited resource in the arena of multicultural counseling, the Handbook of Multicultural Counseling is a resource for researchers, educators, practitioners, and students alike.  Continuing to emphasize social justice, research, and application, the Fourth Edition of this best-seller features nearly 80 new contributors of diverse backgrounds, orientations, and levels of experience who provide fresh perspectives to every chapter. Completely updated, this classic text includes new chapters on prevailing social issues and covers the latest advances in theory, ethics, measurement, clinical practice, assessment, and more.

"This is the most comprehensive synthesis of cutting edge multicultural counseling research available. This is the gold standard and a must read for anyone working in a human services field."

–Audrey M. Ervin, Delaware Valley College

Part I Multicultural Counseling Past and Present

Part I, Multicultural Counseling: Past and Present, comprises four chapters that direct attention to selective movements and needs that gave impetus and direction to the conceptualization, development, and eventual institutionalization of multicultural counseling as a specialization within the field of psychology. To this end, in Chapter 1, Casas provides a succinct overview of the history of multicultural psychology with special attention given to selective academic, social, and professional forces that are recognized to be an integral part of this history. In Chapter 2, Toporek, Sapigao, and Rojas-Arauz direct attention to the humanistic and dynamic aspect of the social justice movement, which they contend has been a primary driving force in multicultural history. They focus on the importance of maintaining counseling’s commitment to the development and advancement of a social justice agenda. To this end, they emphasize the use of social action and advocacy as a means of inciting social change. In the third chapter, Alexander and Mitchell review the history and development of the American Psychological Association’s (APA) and the American Counseling Association’s (ACA) ethical standards. They give special attention to the waxing and waning evidence for multiculturalism in the development of these standards. The history they provide is for the express purpose of highlighting how and in what ways multiculturalism and contextual challenges have shaped and been shaped by these documents. They conclude by examining how the standards are meeting today’s challenges relative to our work with diverse populations. Finally, in the fourth chapter, D’Andrea, drawing from available evidence, addresses the lethargy that he believes has negatively impacted the maintenance and the continued development of the multicultural movement (MCM). Seeking to rectify this situation, D’Andrea puts forth an appeal to (a) explore the historical evolution of this movement; (b) reflect on the revolutionary contributions made by the pioneers of this vital movement (see Chapter 1, this edition); and (c) take time to soberly think about the various factors that have resulted in the devolution, collective inertia, and lack of momentum that he contends currently exists in the MCM. Moving beyond words and admonitions, he calls for and identifies the kinds of actions that he believes are needed to invigorate the movement. It should be noted that his observations and comments are quite appropriate and relevant in this post–Hoffman Report era (see Chapter 1, this edition).

Chapter 1 The History of Multicultural Psychology From the Perspective of Two Opposing Forces

J. Manuel Casas

Early in the history of modern psychology, Ebbinghaus (1908) expressed the belief that psychology has a long past but only a short history (Hunt, 2007). In essence, Ebbinghaus conveyed the perspective that the primary subject matter of psychology, seeking to understand ourselves and others (i.e., emotions, thoughts, and behaviors), has been around since the beginning of time (see Marsella, 1993), but psychology as we know it today, with its emphasis on merging academic and applied fields, is a fairly new development. In fact, the term psychology did not exist until 1520 (Hunt, 2007). Before the 18th century, there was no generally recognized conception of psychology as a distinct field. According to Danziger (2008), Ebbinghaus’s statement served as a declaration of independence for the “new” scientific psychology that sought to break any links with the preceding era in which the subject area of “psychology” was based on mere speculation and lacked unity and direction as well as academic-based documentation of change and cumulative development.

Highlights of the History of Multicultural Psychology

Multicultural psychology is a subspecialty of psychology that directs specific attention to the study of individuals from socioculturally diverse multicultural groups, and in particular, racial/ethnic minority groups living in the United States. It should be noted that because of their physiognomy, persons from such groups are often designated as persons of color. In this chapter, the term multicultural is most frequently used; however, the other terms are used to reflect the preference and intent of the authors and researchers whose work is referenced in the chapter. The applicability of Ebbinghaus’s (1908) statement is based on the fact that like psychology in general, multicultural psychology has a long past and a rather short history.

Putting aside the early speculative but important philosophically oriented writings on the nature of human beings, one could arbitrarily say that its past begins during the span of the 18th and 19th centuries when direct interest in the role of sociocultural determinants of human behavior begins to emerge in the writings of such scholars as Rousseau, Locke, and Comte (Marsella, 1993). However, this role is all but ignored after psychology becomes a unique discipline in the late 19th century. More specifically, in the interest of understanding human development and behavior, the preponderance of work focused on understanding individuals in isolation from the sociocultural contexts in which they existed. It would be safe to say that early on, psychology was “acultural” in nature; the focus was on what at that time could be called experimental psychology and encompassed such aspects of psychology that included introspection to identify and objectively measure thoughts and sensations according to their quality, intensity, and/or duration, and studying the basic elements that constitute the mind.

Only a few early psychological scholars got outside of the individual by specifically identifying cultural factors as important to the social psychological developmental process. Most prominent among these scholars was Wundt, whose work “Volkerpsychologie” (loosely defined as social/folk psychology), composed of five volumes, dealt with the psychological origins of language, mythology, customs, and religion (see Wundt, 1916). Though held in high regard by leading psychologists of the time, including G. Stanley Hall, Alexander A. Goldenweiser, and E. B. Titchener, reflecting the “psychology” of the times, their works relative to culture had very little impact on the early direction and focus of the developing discipline of psychology as we know it today. As will be made evident, it would take significant social changes to recognize and accept a culturally rooted psychology.

Interestingly enough, much of the early descriptive work on the impact of sociocultural variables on the psychological well-being of individuals was conducted in the early to mid-20th century, not by psychologists but by physicians and/or anthropologists who sought to identify and understand what were then called culture-bound disorders (i.e., ethnic or atypical psychoses) that were found among non-Western people who lived in the still little-explored or understood lands of Southeast Asia and Africa (Marsella, 1985; Simons & Hughes, 1985). For more details relative to this early work, see Marsella (1993).

Multicultural psychology, with its focus on sociocultural variables, issues, and concerns relevant to multicultural groups, was beginning to be recognized as a subspecialty of psychology in the second half of the 20th century as multicultural populations increased significantly during this time, becoming a significant segment of the U.S. population. Concomitant with this growing number was the awareness of and sensitivity to the fact that these populations had more than their share of social and economic problems that were being downplayed and/or ignored by society in general, and psychology in particular. Such awareness and sensitivity gave impetus to specific social, cultural, and political movements that addressed, and in turn, sought to remediate prevailing problems (e.g., civil rights movement; the War on Poverty). These movements had significant impact on all aspects of society, including the American Psychological Association (APA). With respect to psychology, the tireless efforts of a small but determined group of psychologists of color forced the APA to take initial steps including, but not limited to, revamping professional and ethical guidelines, revising training curriculum, expanding research horizons, revising accreditation guidelines, and making overall organizational changes in order to better understand and serve the ever-growing number of individuals from multicultural populations. It is safe to say that in spite of continued disagreement among psychologists regarding the purview of psychology, these efforts culminated in the eventual recognition of multicultural psychology as an independent field of study by the profession.

Two Forces Impacting the Development of Multicultural Psychology

The history of multicultural psychology, like that of any other discipline or specialty, can be studied and explained from a variety of perspectives, including but not limited to individuals (i.e., leaders and major contributors to the discipline) and/or prevailing social, economic, political, scientific, and/or professional conditions and/or movements. This chapter selectively focuses on two major forces that came to the forefront in the 20th century—reactions against scientific racism and social justice (Holliday & Holmes, 2003).

Scientific Racism.

Much of what comprises the history of multicultural psychology is reflective in psychology’s intimate association with the force of scientific racism. Scientific racism (i.e., the use of “science” to justify racism) had its origins in the European-based 19th-century theories of evolution, genetics, and heredity. These theories, especially those reflective of Darwin’s works (1871), strongly supported and advanced the assumption that racial, ethnic, and cultural differences were due to differences in evolutionary development. While having its origins in the natural sciences, it was quickly accepted and supported by the emerging discipline of modern psychology. Evidence of such early acceptance includes the works of Francis Galton (1869/1962) and G. Stanley Hall (cited in Hothershall, 1990), both of whom are considered founders of psychology in the United States.

Support for evolutionary theory increased significantly by the beginning of the 20th century. This increase came about from greater contact with diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural groups that resulted from the worldwide domination, colonization, and enslavement of non-Europeans by White Europeans. Interestingly enough, according to Holliday and Holmes (2003), such domination was justified by the growing number of scientific studies (e.g., the international studies of culture-bound disorders) that documented the differences between cultures, values, social behaviors, and physiology of non-Europeans that were judged to be inferior to the standard established by White Europeans (Holliday & Holmes, 2003).

The profession not only accepted and provided support for the assumptions inherent in scientific racism and the practices associated with it, but more specifically, it took some major steps to establish the mind-set from which racial/ethnic minorities would be perceived, understood, studied (e.g., comparative studies), and treated. Such steps included the exclusion of ethnic minorities or persons of color from being involved in major professional and organizational activities, including identifying research concerns or applied topics of interest (i.e., setting the research agenda) and establishing the procedures (e.g., paradigms, methods, or models) from which to address and direct such activities. Other steps included leaving out such persons in the establishment of organizational and administrative structures and professional standards of conduct, academic departments, and scholarly journals (Holliday & Holmes, 2003). These exclusionary steps were supported as psychologists undervalued and/or ignored psychological theories, perspectives, and extant knowledge emanating from non-European peoples and their communities (Holliday & Holmes, 2003). In other words, persons of color were designated to be second-class citizens not able to function as equal colleagues/partners in the discipline of psychology.

According to Holliday and Holmes (2003), “psychology continued in a very steadfast, almost blinders on manner to institutionalize the accouterments of an established scientific discipline” (p. 22) well into the 1940s. In line with the tenets of scientific racism, race psychologists continued their work to establish the innateness of inferiority and deficits with respect to people of color. In contrast, other researchers increasingly sought to control the effects of a variety of nongenetic factors and met with mixed success. For example, findings often highlighted the potential effects that environmental and cultural variables could have on human behavior. In addition, the biological integrity of racial categories was increasingly challenged by other scientific disciplines such as anthropology (cf. Guthrie, 1976, p. 30; Richards, 1997, chaps. 4, 5).

According to Holliday and Holmes (2003), reactions involved attention to social contextual factors grounded in indigenous and traditional customs, values, beliefs, historical experiences, and political-economic realities.

Social Justice.

The goal of social justice is to decrease human suffering and to promote human values of equality and justice (Vasquez, 2012). Until the second half of the 20th century, only lip service was given to social justice principles, especially as they pertained to ethnic racial minority groups. The notion of social justice was often poorly articulated and ignored by the discipline. Many refused to recognize that social issues and problems were not separate from science and were an important part of psychological theory and methodology (Holliday & Holmes, 2003). The Psychologists League (PL) was formed in 1934 as an activist organization committed to both ideological critique of issues pertinent to psychological theory and to direct political action. It was made up of members who were mostly clinicians. The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI—Division 9 of the APA) was formed in 1936 and was comprised mainly of academic, nonclinical PhD-level psychologists who were concerned with the application of psychological theory and methods to the study of such social issues as war, industrial conflict, and racial prejudice (cited in Finison, 1986; Morawski, 1986). The establishment of these two entities facilitated the emergence of a distinct group of psychologists that sought to apply psychology to social problems. The focus on the problems of the nation’s communities of color provided the basis for an antiracist perspective that successfully challenged assumptions of scientific racism (Holliday & Holmes, 2003, p. 24). Despite these efforts, APA remained a firmly academic/scientific organization that was not significantly involved in social issues until its reorganization after World War II (Pickren & Tomes, 2002; Smith, 1990, 1992).

APA’s reorganization and involvement with contemporary social issues was critical as it addressed the varied social, political, and legal discourse that sought to ensure equitable and just treatment to all persons living in the United States. This movement gave voice to persons from powerless groups who had historically not received such treatment (i.e., racial/ethnic minority persons, LGBT persons, women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities). The following section highlights the demographic changes, issues, and events that eventually led psychology to acknowledge and embrace a social justice framework.

The aftermath of World War II (see Holliday & Holmes, 2003), the civil rights movements of the 1950s and 1960s, passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 (outlawed major forms of discrimination against racial, ethnic, national and religious minorities, and women), Supreme Court decisions like Brown v. Board of Education, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and dramatic demographic changes including increased immigration and a high birth rate began a period of significant growth for racial/ethnic minority groups in the late 1960s and continues to this day with approximately 39.9 million immigrants—the largest number in its history (Passel & Cohn, 2012; U.S. Census Bureau, 2011).

As APA acknowledged the changing demographic, political, economic, and social landscape, it was only a matter of a short time before it was forced to recognize and take action to rectify injustices that were initially sanctioned by scientific racism. Due to the efforts of a small, dedicated, and hard-working group of racial/ethnic minority psychologists, along with the support of White socially conscious psychologists, issues such as the underrepresentation of racial/ethnic minority psychologists, inadequately trained psychologists to serve minority populations, and the lack of representation of racial/ethnic persons in the governing structure of the APA were addressed.

In order to eradicate these and other prevailing injustices both within APA and society in general, APA found itself needing to reexamine and update “its reason for being” (i.e., its mission, goals, objectives) and subsequently make necessary changes in its guiding principles and policies and organizational structure and practices. Needless to say, as noted in the following sections, these changes served to greatly facilitate the establishment and development of multicultural psychology as it exists today.

Diversity Issues in the APA

The following section selectively, and more or less chronologically, identifies accomplishments across four time periods on the part of APA and its organizational divisions (e.g., Divisions 17 and 45), boards (e.g., Board of Ethnic Minority Affairs), and committees to (a) improve the status and treatment of marginalized and oppressed individuals from diver...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Acknowledgements
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Part I Multicultural Counseling Past and Present
• Chapter 1 The History of Multicultural Psychology From the Perspective of Two Opposing Forces
• Chapter 2 Fostering the Development of a Social Justice Perspective and Action Finding a Social Justice Voice
• Chapter 3 A Review of the Counseling Professions’ Ethical Guidelines Are They Meeting the Challenges of Today’s Society?
• Chapter 4 A Personal Assessment of the Ebb and Flow of the Multicultural Counseling Movement (MCM)
• Part II Honoring Our Elders: Life Stories of Pioneers in Multicultural Counseling and Psychology Pushed by the Past and Pulled by the Future: Thoughts and Comments Regarding the Inclusion of Life Stories in the Handbook
• Chapter 5 From Five Sides of the Desk The Roles of Disability in My Life
• Chapter 6 Multiculturalism—The Final Frontier Resistance Is Not Futile
• Chapter 7 The Road Less Traveled Research on Race
• Chapter 8 My Life Story My Quest for Cultural Relevance in Psychology
• Chapter 9 Healing Reclaiming My Ancestral Legacy
• Chapter 10 It Took a Village The Backs That Were My Bridges
• Chapter 11 Child of the Civil Rights Era Formative Influences on My Personal and Professional Lives
• Chapter 12 I Understand: Memories of a Constant Contrarian
• Chapter 13 Multicultural Pioneer Confessions of a Warrior and Healer
• Chapter 14 Landscaping My Life Journey Unpeeling a “Banana”
• Chapter 15 Pioneer Life Story Listening to the Still, Small Voice
• Chapter 16 Reflections of an American Indian Pediatric Psychologist
• Chapter 17 Factors and Experiences of Life Reflections on the Accomplishments of the Pioneers
• Part III Giving Meaning and Purpose to Multicultural Counseling Endeavors
• Chapter 18 Toward a Cultural Evidence-Based Psychotherapy
• Chapter 19 Into the Field Anticolonial and Indigenous Perspectives and Strategies for Counseling Interventions
• Chapter 20 Storytelling and Other Indigenous Teachings: From Culture to Clinical Practice Upon the Back of a Turtle: From Traditional Indigenous Stories and Practices to Psychological Interventions
• Chapter 21 Multicultural Training and Supervision in Research and Service
• Chapter 22 Counseling Psychology and Disenfranchisement Using What We Have to Change the Game
• Part IV Current and Future Trends in Multicultural Counseling Research
• Chapter 23 Innovative Approaches Emphasizing Effectiveness and Social Justice for Ethnocultural Populations
• Chapter 24 Category-Based and Feature-Based Bias Measurement and Application
• Chapter 25 Psychological Assessment A Brief Examination of Procedures, Frequently Used Tests, and Culturally Based Measures
• Part V Emerging Issues and Movements in Multicultural Counseling Psychology
• Chapter 26 Multicultural Positive Psychology Cultural Perspectives of the Good Life
• Chapter 27 Multicultural Spirituality A Syncretistic Approach to Healing, Liberation, and Social Justice
• Chapter 28 International Engagement in Counseling and Psychology History, Forums, Issues, and Directions
• Chapter 29 Multicultural Competence in the Delivery of Technology-Mediated Mental Health Services
• Chapter 30 Interdisciplinarity in Multicultural Psychology An Integrated Review and Case Examples
• Chapter 31 Violence Prevention in Schools and Communities Multicultural and Contextual Considerations
• Chapter 32 Considering Definitional Issues, Cultural Components, and the Impact of Trauma When Counseling Vulnerable Youth Susceptible to Gang Involvement
• Chapter 33 Cultural Issues in Counseling Today’s Military Veterans
• Chapter 34 Caution Immigration May Be Harmful to Your Mental Health
• Chapter 35 Difficult Dialogues in Counselor Training and Higher Education
• Part VI Affirming Multiple Identities
• Chapter 36 Immigrants and Refugees A Contextual Counseling Perspective
• Chapter 37 Addressing the Needs of LGBTQ Youth A Counseling Imperative
• Chapter 38 Multicultural Counseling With Older Adults Considerations for Intervention and Assessment
• Chapter 39 Perspectives on Disability Within Integrated Health Care
• Chapter 40 Disaster Survivors Implications for Counseling
• Chapter 41 Counseling Middle Eastern Americans Challenges and Opportunities
• Chapter 42 Multicultural Self-Awareness Challenges for Trainers Examining Intersecting Identities of Power and Oppression
• Part VII Culture and Intervention
• Chapter 43 Underserved Rural Communities Challenges and Opportunities for Improved Practice
• Chapter 44 Underserved Urban Community Interventions
• Chapter 45 Career Counseling Updates on Theory and Practice
• Chapter 46 Organizational Change in Institutions of Higher Education
• Epilogue: The Handbook of Multicultural Counseling, Past, Present, and Future
• References
• Index
• Contributors List
• About the Editors