Multicultural Psychology Commons^™

A Qualitative Study Of The Lived Experiences Of Adults With African American And Korean Heritages, Elizabeth Sue Bradshaw

Dissertations

Scholarship on biracial persons has been primarily focused on those of African American and White heritages. The dominance of research on this one segment of the biracial population has in turn led to the myth of a universal biracial experience. There is a critical need to hear the voices and experiences of those who are members of two or more communities of color. While many researchers have recommended that more studies be done with biracial participants from two or more communities of color, few studies have been conducted. The purpose of this study was to explore exclusively the lived experiences …

Comparing First Generation And Non-First Generation African-American Students At Predominately White Institutions, Leatrice Renee Brooks

Dissertations

The comparative experiences of first generation and non-first generation Black students at predominately White institutions were examined to gain information about the predictors and relationships between adjustment (including academic and personal-emotional) coping (4 styles), race-related stress, and racial identity development (6 levels). Results from a simultaneous multiple regression revealed a significant positive adjustment profile that included being non-first generation, low disengagement coping, problem-oriented coping, and low pre-encounter self-hatred racial identity development. The standardized coefficients for the first canonical analyses indicated significant relationships between pre-encounter self-hatred and low personal-emotional adjustment; and for the second, low disengagement coping and personal-emotional adjustment. For …

Jamaican American Child Disciplinary Practices, Stephaney Carter

Dissertations

Little is known about child disciplinary practices in Jamaican American families. Literature on child discipline in Jamaica and other Caribbean nations has mainly focused on physical discipline, and no empirical studies have investigated the types of discipline used in the Jamaican American community. The purpose of this study was to describe current child disciplinary practices in Jamaican American families. A total of 311 primarily first-generation Jamaican American parents from New York City completed the 54-item Jamaican Child Discipline Survey, designed for this study, either online or in paper-pencil format. The main foci of the study included the use of child …

The Impact Of Structured Group Counseling On Resiliency, Self-Efficacy, And Racialidentity Among African American Female Teenagers, Lashonda B. Fuller

Dissertations

African American female teenagers are at-risk for low academic achievement as well as personal and social problems. These concerns have the potential to impact their psychological development including resiliency, self-efficacy, and racial identity. This is an issue that needs focused attention. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation was to determine if a structured group counseling model effectively impacts African American female teenagers‟ resiliency, self-efficacy, and racial identity. The researcher conducted four structured counseling groups over a period of 20 weeks; however, the teenagers participated in consecutive 10 week sessions. The treatment was applied to two groups simultaneously, and the groups …

African American Experiences Of Race Relations In The Supervision Dyad, Brandi L. Pritchett-Johnson

Dissertations

Everything we do is embedded within multiple contexts of collective and individual historical events that culminate in present day encounters. As an increasing number of racial minorities have entered the ranks as mental health practitioners, the configuration of the treatment and the supervision dyad has changed (Owens-Patterson, 2002). The fundamental aim of this study explored, captured, and described the supervision experience from the nuanced perspective of African American supervisors. A qualitative approach was employed using in-depth interviews to capture the complexity of race relations within the supervision dyad through an African Centered framework, aiding in our understanding of supervised training …

Soviet Holocaust Survivors: An Ethnographic Study, Marina Shafran

Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to help understand the lives, worldview, and meaning making of Soviet Holocaust survivors currently residing in the United States. Ethnographic interviews were conducted to explore survivor's childhood, family life, religion, political views, work, and social life. These areas were examined during the following time periods: pre-WWII, during WWII, and post-WWII.

From the collected and analyzed data I was able to offer an insight into the experiences of five Soviet Holocaust survivors under the Soviet regime. I described the struggles that the survivors experienced during the Holocaust, the losses they had suffered, and the …

Negative Stereotypes And Childhood Paternal Relationships As Predictors Of Paternal Identity In African American Fathers, Danielle K. Wright

Dissertations

African American men have been widely ignored in the social science literature. When African American men have been studied, it has primarily been from a deficit model. The purpose of this study was to give voice to the African American father, whether he is working-poor, middle-class, or upper-class, biological or non-biological, residential or non-residential. The intent of the study was to explore how African American men view themselves as fathers and their own experiences of being a parent.

One hundred and one men who identified as African American, were at least 18 years old, and who had at least one …

Exploring The Relationship Between Race-Related Stress, Identity And Well-Being Among African Americans, Darrick Tovar-Murray

Dissertations

For almost four hundred years, African Americans have been victims of race-related stress. Race-related stress is defined as the encounters between individuals and their environment that surface from racism and strain an individual's resources or threaten his or her well-being. Despite findings on the negative impact of racism on African Americans' well-being, very little research has focused on the relationships between race-related stress, identity and well-being among African Americans.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between race-related stress, identity, and well-being among African Americans. A total of 196 African American community members and college students participated …

Refugee Experiences Of Trauma And Ptsd Effects On Psychological, Physical, And Financial Well-Being, Karen J. Cusack

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Race On Ethical Decision-Making Regarding Nonsexual Dual Relationships, Beatrice Antly Tatem

Dissertations

Ethical decision-making is a crucial part of the daily practice of psychologists. Psychologists are faced with the challenge of developing ethical decision-making strategies that effectively address the dilemmas associated with dual relationships. Nonsexual dual relationship is defined in this research as a clinical professional relationship that occurs simultaneously with a nonsexual professional and/or personal relationship. Psychologists, regardless of the environment in which they work or the client population with whom they work, can experience a nonsexual dual relationship.

The current study investigated whether ethnographic therapist characteristics influence the interpretation and application of the APA Ethical Guidelines and thus psychologists’ decision-making …

African-American Women’S Emotional Responses To Historical Racial Events As A Function Of Socioeconomic Status, Melissa Ruth Stevenson

Dissertations

One hundred African-American women between the ages o f 18 years and 80 years who were born in the United States and for whom English was their primary language were exposed to video taped incidents o f historically accurate racist events from American history. Measures of emotional reactivity including heart rate, blood pressure and measures o f anger and anxiety were taken and the Hollingshead Four Factor Index o f Social Status was used to classify subjects into three socioeconomic levels. The experimental protocol required that subjects be exposed to a period of adaptation followed by a period of exposure …

Research Into The Relationships Among Multicultural Training, Racial And Gender Identity Attitudes And Multicultural Competencies For Counselors, Debbie Koeltzow

Dissertations

This study explored the relationships among multicultural training, racial identity attitudes, gender identity attitudes, and multicultural competencies in counseling trainees. Two principal research hypotheses were generated. The first generally stated hypothesis was that racial identity and gender identity represent parallel processes for those whose racial and gender identities share a cultural status (minority-minority or majority-majority) and are independent processes for those whose identities do not share a cultural status (minority-majority). The second generally stated hypothesis was that multicultural training predicts racial identity attitudes, gender identity attitudes, and multicultural competencies, and that both racial and gender identity attitudes predict multicultural competencies. …

Perceptions Of The Division Of Labor Roles In Dual-Career Households Of Married African American Couples, Karolyn H. Thompson

Dissertations

Perceptions and experiences among married African American couples residing in the Southeastern United States were examined in terms of the performance of tasks and childcare giving in dual-career households. A qualitative approach was used in this study and was guided by conceptual frameworks of cultural variations that include behaviors, attitudes, values, and beliefs. In-depth interviews conducted in the couples’ homes were used for data collection. The research population included 15 married African American couples affiliated with a Greek fraternal organization located in the Southeast. The couples were selected using purposeful sampling.

Participant perceptions of the division of labor roles in …

The Relationship Between Multicultural Counseling Competencies And Attitudes Toward African Americans Among White Female Graduate Students, Dianne T. Robinson

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between multicultural counseling competencies and attitudes toward African Americans among White female graduate students in counseling psychology. Participants were 67 White female students enrolled in either the master’s or doctoral level counseling psychology programs in a large Midwestern university. Subjects were administered four instruments. Participants’ self-perceived competencies in multicultural counseling were measured by the Multicultural Counseling Inventory (MCI, Sodowsky, Taffe, Gutkin, & Wise, 1994) and racial attitudes were measured by the Attitudes Toward Blacks Scale (ATB, Brigham, 1993). Demographic information as well as subjects’ level of participation in several activities …

An Analysis Of Parental And Peer Attachment And Its Determinant Factors: A Test Of Attachment Theory On Malaysian Students At American Universities, Noriah Mohd. Ishak

Dissertations

This study examined the quality of parental and peer attachments among Malaysian students studying at universities in the midwestern region of the United States. The study was conducted in two phases. Two hundred and two students (106 male, 96 female) participated in the first phase of the study, and 8 students (4 male, and 4 female) participated in the second phase of the study. Phase One employed a cross-sectional quantitative design using a self-administered questionnaire [the Inventory of Parental and Peer Attachment (IPPA) developed by Armsden and Greenberg (1987)] and revised by the researcher. This instrument has 53 items that …

The Relationship Between Selected Environmental Variables And Attrition, Persistence, And Academic Success Of Majority And Minority College Students, Carole J. Woolford-Hunt

Dissertations

Research indicates that college student persistence, attrition, and success is related to the student’s ability to gain academic and social integration into the university community. This theory has guided researchers to explore either the academic or social factors that promote integration. Under the umbrella of social integration exists the underresearched category of environmental factors.

The overall purpose of this study was to identify selected environmental factors that affect minority and majority students’ persistence and success rates in a Midwestern state-run university. The environmental variables of size of college within a larger university, residential versus nonresidential nature of colleges within a …

Elderly Hispanics In The United States: Their Use And Non-Use Of Social Services, Paulina X. Ruf

Masters Theses

The Commonwealth Fund Commission on Elderly people Living Alone (1988), conducted the National Survey of Hispanic Elderly, 1988. Using data from this survey, the present descriptive work, examines the use and non-use of selected social services by general demographic characteristics of the elderly Hispanic sample. In addition, general characteristics of this sample are discussed. A summary of the findings and recommendations for future research conclude this thesis.

The findings indicate that although the elderly Hispanics in the United States reported needing the selected social services used in this thesis, many of them reported not using these services. Additionally, as the …

Spanish Translation And Validation Of The Daily Stress Inventory, And A Comparison Of The Level Of Stress Experienced By Three Culturally Distinct Hispanic Groups, Senez Rodriguez-Charbonier

Dissertations

High levels of stress in the general population have been found to correlate both with psychological and physical illness. The fast growing Hispanic population in the U.S. is exposed to increased levels of stress associated with a number of situations (e.g., language barriers, and socioeconomic status). There are, however, no validated stress measures applicable to the Hispanic community as a whole.

The purpose of this study was twofold: First, to translate into Spanish the Daily Stress Inventory (DSI) (Brantley & Jones, 1989) and to validate the translation by conducting a correlation study between the the Spanish and the English versions. …