The History and Development of Minorities Ebone Newton 7 The History and Development of Ethnic Minorities in American Psychology A prominent issue in American history is the importance of racial and ethnic minorities and the challenges they face to gain acknowledgement for their role in American psychology. It is imperative to understand the background of the U.S. history when referring to the involvement of blacks and other ethnic minorities in American Psychology. For many years, African Americans and other ethnic minorities have been perceived as oppressed and culturally deprived because the environment they were reared in did not provide them with certain resources to compete with …show more content…
According to Sue (2008), Asian Americans seem to makeup the dominant ethnic minority group because they receive higher family incomes, lower divorce rates, and educational attainments (p. 411). On the other hand, Sue (2008) regards Latinos as a historically oppressed group that can relate to discrimination and prejudice in employment education, and residence (p. 411). She also defines Latino psychology as the examination of “the influence of culture, language, and minority-majority status on people of Latin American origin who reside in America” (Sue, 2009, p. 411). The history of Latinos in the field psychology has not been documented as much African Americans; however, there are some Latino psychologists who are worthy of recognition. During the 1920s and 1930s, psychology was on the rise as a field of study. Padilla and Olmedo (2009) point out that a number of psychologists who worked diligently in the field psychology between 1930s and 1960s; however, there is not much information about them. Padilla and Olmedo (2009) specify that the earliest contributions to Latino psychology came from four articles written by George Sanchez between 1932 and 1934 on the topic of intelligence testing on Mexican American adolescents. Padilla and Olmedo (2009) also point out another important figure in Latino psychology, Alfredo Castaneda; he was an abundant researcher in child …show more content…
Another reason that the underrepresentation of ethnic minorities is perceptible in psychology is that “much of the available knowledge of ethnic minorities are based on biased stereotypic and racial assumptions” (Sue, 2009). . Suinn and Borrayo (2008) stated “without appropriate methodologies, research to seek empirical data on ethnic minorities will be unsuccessful or flawed. Pickren (2009) acknowledges there was a relatively small number of African Americans and other ethnic minorities, specifically to the relative the number of the American population. According to Sue (2009), the number of ethnic minorities underrepresented in the field of psychology is because there is not much research on African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and Alaska Natives. It was not until 1943 that the first Chinese American, Robert, received a PhD in psychology; in 1975, Gail Wyatt was the first African American woman issued a license as psychologist, in California (Sue, 2009). Ethnic minorities had to deal with some consequences because of their short-lived histories. Holliday specified (2009) the few number of African American psychologists indicated would be an insufficient representation of Blacks and other ethnic minorities’ participation in psychology. Psychology should be an attractive viable career choice in order for
Dr. Sue began is education at the University of Oregon where he earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in 1966. He immediately proceeded to the University of California, Los Angeles, and earned in Master’s Degree the following year. And finally in 1971, Stanley Sue earned his Doctorate of Philosophy in 1971. Dr. Sue, shortly after getting his doctorate, began work as an Assistant and Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Washington. After 10 years at the University of Washington, Dr. Sue became a professor of psychology at the University of California in Los Angeles. Then in 1996, Dr. Sue moved to the University of California, Davis, and became a professor of Psychology, Psychiatry, and Asian American Studies Program. While he was at University of California, Davis, Dr. Sue, became the director for the Asian American Studies P...
“Dr. Guthrie sheds light on the embarrassment that was early psychology and its extraordinary dedication to racism and, with his work, changed that discipline forever,” states William Grier’s forward for Robert Guthrie’s own Even the Rat Was White: A Historical View of Psychology (Grier, p. xi). After attending Florida A & M University in 1948 for his bachelor’s degree, Guthrie joined the military to fulfill draft requirements before returning to finish his degree (O’Connor, 2001. He went on to earn his Masters degree at the University of Kentucky followed by his doctorate in psychology at the U.S. International University in 1970 (O’Connor, 2001. He was the first African-American professor at San Diego Mesa College and one of the founding members of the Association of Black
Dr. Kenneth B. Clark’s legacy has lived on and will continue to inspire because, even today, in the 21st century, there are many ideas and problems that Clark addresses in the realm of prejudice and racism that are still relevant in social identity, education and the work place in America. Clark was a social psychologist who was a firm believer in equality, though he knew that racial division would be a difficult task to overcome, he still thought it was a concept that was necessary for America to progress. One of the many researchers that have continued Clark’s work is Thomas F. Pettigrew. Pettigrew (2004) suggests that America is not where it needs to in reference to equal opportunity. Pettigrew does acknowledge that there has been many steps forward since the Brown case and Clark’ s doll studies, but believes there has also, been many steps taken backwards in regards to the progress of racial equality and opportunity (Pettigrew, 2004). According to Pettigrew (2004) racial prejudices have come to be much less blatant but still have the same effect on the people exposed to the phenomena. Though racial prejudices are still prevalent, the source of the tension is much more difficulty to identify. As did Clark suggest, Pettigrew (2004) also believes that for change to consistently and proficiently occur, it must h...
When you think of a psychologist, you typically do not think about what minority they are. It never did occur to me before this assignment was due, that a book was prejudice against which they select to be referenced in books. In any subject, not just psychology, why would it matter if someone were of color, what his or her gender is? Many psychologists have not been given any recognition or an opportunity because they are not in the stereotype of a “white male.” When you intentionally type, “psychologists” on Google, the results are all white males. Ironic? That is up to interpretation. I did some more browsing, and eventually came across an African American man, who was psychologist. He is known by, Joseph white. Joseph is well known as the “ Godfather of the field of Black Psychology.”
2. “Mexican Americans as a group fail to achieve well on standard tests of academic achievement, and they do not do as well as their Anglo counterparts in the more subjective evaluations of achievement.” (Carter, 17).
Throughout American history, relationships between racial and ethnic groups have been marked by antagonism, inequality, and violence. In today’s complex and fast-paced society, historians, social theorists and anthropologists have been known to devote significant amounts of time examining and interrogating not only the interior climate of the institutions that shape human behavior and personalities, but also relations between race and culture. It is difficult to tolerate the notion; America has won its victory over racism. Even though many maintain America is a “color blind nation,” racism and racial conflict remain to be prevalent in the social fabric of American institutions. As a result, one may question if issues and challenges regarding the continuity of institutional racism still exist in America today. If socialization in America is the process by which people of various ethnicities and cultures intertwine, it is vital for one to understand how the race relations shape and influence personalities regarding the perceptions of various groups. Heartbreaking as it is, racism takes a detour in acceptance of its blind side. Further, to better understand racism one must take into account how deeply it entrenched it is, not only in politics, and economics but also Health Care settings. In doing so, one will grasp a decisive understanding of "who gets what and why.” The objective of this paper is to explore and examine the pervasiveness of racism in the health care industry, while at the same time shed light on a specific area of social relations that has remained a silence in the health care setting. The turpitude feeling of ongoing silence has masked the treatment black patients have received from white health care providers...
As Kirst-Ashman and Hull Jr (2012, pp. 453-454) reminds us, “the family is central to Hispanic culture and is hierarchical in structure. That is the father is the primary authority figure (Devore & Schlesinger, 1996). Furthermore, scholars inform us that many Hispanic fathers appear somewhat aloof from the family, especially the children as it is the father’s role to pursue instrumental roles such as earning a living. Often, this results in the father being less likely to express emotional support (Kirst-Ashman & Hull Jr., p. 454). Understanding these concepts of the Hernandez family culture as well as asking questions about their family members depicted on the genogram can aid me to become more informed. This can be a very positive step in the right direction in building a relationship of mutual respect and trust as in our respective roles as client and social work professional enhancing our ability to work together to determine the best intervention
Journal of Black Studies, 546-578. Roberts, J. R. C. (2013). "The Species of a Species. " Racial Microaggressions, Stress, and Depression in African Americans: A Test of a Model.
Snowden, Lonnie R. Barriers to Effective Mental Health Services for African Americans. N.p.: n.p., 2001. Print. Mental Health Services Research 4.
“Culture is a cluster of intangibles and tangible aspects of life passed down from generation to generation.”(cite) More importantly, culture is define as the way of life of a group of people who share these same values and beliefs, therefore, we will check the Hispanic culture. The U.S. Census Bureau defines Hispanic or Latino as mutual inhabitants in the United States who are of Latin American or Spanish origin. Latinos has become a larger proportion of the U.S. population, there is a greater need for social work education to offer culturally sensitive training to social work students (Furman, Bender, Lewis, & Shears, 2006; Iglehart & Becerra, 1995). A Hispanic woman, Marcela Hede voices that, “Being Hispanic is mainly defined by my language
Because of the racialized moral psychology created by the racial contract, white people are ironically often unable to see race and racism. Although Mills does not make use of psychoanalysis, his work suggests both how and why psychoanalytic theory can be of help to critical race theory’s project of examining race for the purpose of challenging racism and white privilege. While the white cognitive dysfunction described by Mills sometimes operates preconsciously, his concept of the epistemology of ignorance also points to the vast pools of human thought inaccessible to consciousness, and thus unconscious. This refers not to a mere gap or empty space; rather, it is something that is actively, dynamically produced, and which stubbornly maintains its existence. This means that as unconscious entity, racism’s effectiveness is found in its ability to perpetuate itself as something invisible and unknowable. Most race theories that omit the unconscious operations of race and racism touches on only the tip of the iceberg that is white privilege. This is not to say that white privilege is only psychical. But the importance of the economic, political, geographical, and other aspects of white privilege should not le...
Race, Racism and Discrimination: Bridging Problems, Methods and Theory in Social Psychological Research Bobo, Lawrence D. Fox, Cybelle http://www.jstor.org/stable/1519832
Many people believe that racism is no longer present; however, racism is subtly interconnected with many aspects of ever person’s life, including school, upper mobility, access to services and their race many times determine the proper care given by a health care professional. Based on research, racism is interconnected with mental health care. This essay will offer a theoretical explanation that allows social workers a better understanding to clinician’s misdiagnosis of ethnic minorities. Critical Race Theory permits clinicians to purposely or unintentionally misdiagnoses ethnic minorities and will be used in understanding how racism ingrained in the mental health care system.
The article, “RACE AND ETHNICITY- CHANGING SYMBOL IS OF DOMINANCE AND HIERARCHY IN THE UNITED STATES” by Karen I. Blu is an exceptional work that clearly expounds on the racial and ethnic groups especially in America. Racial and ethnic groupings are gradually becoming popular in the public arena, in which people are shifting their focus on classifying other people on the basis of racial groupings to rather classifying them on the basis of ethnicity. Moreover, race grouping is slowly submerging into ethnic grouping with Black activism being the role player in this (Blu, 1979). The following is a summary of the aforementioned article in how it relates to racial and ethnic groups and response regarding its views.
Samuda, Ronald. Psychological Testing of American Minorities: Issues and Consequences. New York: Harper and Row, 1975.