Multicultural Psychology Commons^™

Pursuing A Common Goal: Measuring The Comfort Level Of Educational Diagnosticians To Manage A Caseload Of Students With Visual Impairments, Jerry Mullins M.Ed., Michael P. Munro M.Ed.

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

This study was conducted to measure the level of comfort and knowledge that educational diagnosticians possess regarding the unique learning needs, assistive technology, special accommodations, agencies, required visual impairment related Individual Educational Plan documents, and special evaluation considerations appropriate for students with a vision loss. Teachers of students with visual impairments were surveyed to gauge their perception of educational diagnosticians’ knowledge of the field of visual impairment and diagnosticians were also surveyed to determine their comfort level in the management of a caseload of students with visual impairments. Research question were based on how TVIs rated the comfort level and …

At The Pillar Of The Proverbial Golden Calf: Sacrificing The Need For ‘Responsible Knowing’ On The Altar Of A Compliance-Based Ethic, Izaak L. Williams

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

Evidence-based practice (EBP) has been promoted and adopted broadly and has led to advances in health and human services. Notwithstanding the underlying rationale of EBP philosophy to diversify the current body of information concerning evidence-based practices, this paper draws attention to critical thinking fallacies that confound non-evidence-based “treatment as usual” practice with actual EBP philosophy. Flawed belief systems about EBP, in tandem with a compliance-based culture, fail to provide structure to the possibility of evidence-based practice philosophy and proper use of EB treatment modalities. Impediments to EBP implementation are created by lack of “responsible knowing” and this results in practitioner …

The Need To Be Apart In An Inclusive Educational Setting, Zenaida Muslin

Occasional Paper Series

This paper illustrates the need for direct acknowledgement and support of children and faculty of color in inclusive educational settings. Muslin recounts her experiences at many different schools and how each offered a new perspective on diversity. The most profound impacts she has made in her community stem from her work at Bank Street School for Children, where she and her fellow faculty recognized the importance of having separate meetings and focus groups devoted to the concerns of people of color within the institution.

Jabal Al-Weibdeh: A Counter-Memory Of Amman A Case Study In The Resistance Of Memory, Gwendolyn Dilworth

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The neighborhood of Jabal al-Weibdeh is one of Amman’s most historic neighborhoods, founded in the 1930s atop one of Amman’s seven original hills. Using previous research on the construction of Jordanian national identity and the marginalization of Ammani identity, this paper aims to serve as a case study of the relationship between Amman and hegemonic discourses of Jordanian identity in Weibdeh. Through interviews with Jordanians who are connected to Weibdeh, this study examines the presence of collective memory and Ammani identity in Weibdeh. This paper argues that Weibdeh’s collective memory acts as an explicit counter-memory to Hashemite constructions of national …

Cultural Nuances For Immigrant Adolescents And Adolescents Of The Third Culture Experience: A Book Review Of Immigrant Youth In Cultural Transition: Acculturation, Identity, And Adaptation Across National Contexts, Jennifer L. Wilson

Journal of Cross-Cultural Family Studies

Cross-cultural children include Third Culture Kids (TCKs) and the children and adolescents whose families have immigrated to a new society. The book Immigrant Youth in Cultural Transition: Acculturation, Identity, and Adaptation Across National Contexts (Berry et al., 2012), was a multi-national and multicultural study that sought to explain how immigrant youth navigate among cultures, how they manage their multicultural experience as it relates to psychological and sociocultural adjustment, and how demographics, family variables, and cultural variables affect the immigration, acculturation, assimilation, and adaptation process for these adolescents. Many similar processes have been described in the TCK literature for TCK children, …

Experiencing Difficulties: English Language Issues Among Immersed Third Culture Kids, Marlene E. Schmidt

Journal of Cross-Cultural Family Studies

Third Culture Kids (TCKs) are defined as children who have spent a significant part of their developmental years living in, or interacting with two or more cultural environments. The levels, abilities, and use of the heritage language of TCKs returning to their host country from being immersed in a second language environment can cause difficulties. This case study explored the experiences of immersed TCKs using English upon reentry to the United States. The participants are adult TCKs, have English as their heritage language, and were immersed in a second language environment as a child. This research found the following four …

Preparing The Expatriate Candidate For Global Success: A Best-Practice Analysis Of Cross-Culture Adaptation Training, Justin C. Velten

Journal of Cross-Cultural Family Studies

Increased demand for global citizenry has led scholars and educators alike to seek ways to improve intercultural communication competence (ICC). Research has focused on the theoretical underpinnings of ICC and how to implement these theoretical factors into a practical educational model. Yet, there remains a gap in the literature regarding the implementation of ICC education in the ever-increasingly popular online context. This quasi-experimental study provides a look at how online expatriate candidate training might influence ICC. Results indicate that online expatriate candidate training provides an effective model for organizational practitioners with limited time and resources.

Culture, Spirituality, Self-Acceptance, And Relationships Among Latino Students, Emily Hervey

Journal of Cross-Cultural Family Studies

While some research has been done on acculturation within the Latino population and the significance of spirituality has been included in a number of studies, there is very little research exploring the influence of these two factors in the formation of identity and relationships to others. This is particularly salient in lives of university students, as it is a time of finding their own niche in society and making decisions that shape their future. This study explores the influence of culture and spirituality on the acceptance of self and relation to others among Latino university students. The findings supported the …

Counseling The Military Population: The Factor Of Prior Military Exposure For Counselors-In-Training, Kellie E. Forziat, Nicole Marie Arcuri, Chelsea Erb

Educational Sciences and Organizations

Counselors must learn to ethically work with all cultures. This article explores how both counselors-in-training with prior military culture exposure and those with none can be trained to effectively counsel individuals from this culture. Additionally, the article highlights strategies for counselor educators on how to meet both groups’ learning needs.

Racial Microaggressions And Health Status: The Moderating Effect Of Emotion Regulation, Kristin C. Davidoff

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The current study seeks to explore the relationship between racial microaggressions and physical and mental health. Significant racial disparities in health status persist in the United States (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2013). Previous research asserts that racial discrimination negatively impacts physical health (Williams, Neighbors, & Jackson, 2003), and studies of subtle discrimination support an inverse relationship with mental health (Borrell et al., 2006). The immediate process following the commission of a microaggression and the target’s internal response may have significant consequences for physical and mental health. The purpose of the current study is twofold: (1) to examine …

Past Peer Victimization Experiences And Current Psychological Well-Being And Ethnic Identity Among South Asian College Students, Rejitha Nair

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Very little is known about the peer victimization experiences of South Asian immigrant students and the factors involved in these experiences. The present study retrospectively investigated the peer victimization experiences of South Asian immigrant students in high school, the perceived reasons for victimization, and how these experiences relate to their psychological well-being and ethnic identity as college students. Two hundred and twenty college students, who were first or second generation immigrants from South Asia (e.g., India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal) and attended high school in the United States, participated in the study.

Overall, the results revealed that …

Preventative Community Policing In Immigrant Communities, Carole Chopi

Capstone Collection

The purpose of this exploratory qualitative case study was to discover what kind of mutually comfortable activities community residents and police officers of the White Oak District in Montgomery County Maryland would like to participate in to strengthen social bonding, social bridging, and social linkage so that they can prevent future difficulties in practicing community problem-solving policing. In this case study located in a major Mid Atlantic community on the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, community policing was discovered to be actively engaged in. One police commander, three community leaders, 28 immigrant community members, and 11 immigrant community members …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Ethnic Identity Development, Cognitive Complexity, Differentiation Of Self, And Reports Of Racial And Ethnic Microaggressions, Deshae C. Gatti

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although individuals may not engage in racism consciously due to social undesirability, they may have biases that manifest in more subtle and unconscious ways. Research has found that people of color experiencing different racial and ethnic microaggressions in their everyday lives are subject to pervasive and negative impacts on their mental health, though little is known about the influence of one’s ethnic identity formation, affective processes, and cognitive processes. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the degree to which ethnic identity development, cognitive complexity, and differentiation of self were associated reported experiences of microaggressions. The analysis indicated that …

Military Lifestyle’S Impact On Children’S Adjustment, Ashley N. Doss

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Military families are an understudied population and the majority of research that does exist focuses on the effects of deployments on the family system. This study aims to answer the following questions: 1) “to what degree does the relationship with parents (mother and father) and military lifestyle (number of transfers and number of deployments) predict the variance in military children’s self-esteem?”, 2) “To what degree does the relationship with parents (mother and father) and military lifestyle (number of transfers and number of deployments) predict the variance in military children’s social belongingness?”, and 3) “To what degree does the relationship with …

Preparing For Racial Discrimination : The Role Of Cognition And Emotion In The Proactive Coping Process Of African American College Students., Ryan Christopher Tyler Delapp

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Traditionally, conceptual models of racial discrimination have characterized the reactive experiences of African Americans, particularly identifying how African Americans cognitively, emotionally, and behaviorally respond to racial stress. The current study extends beyond the reactive coping experience and identifies nuances in the anticipatory and preparatory coping processes associated with racial discrimination. Methods: 62 African American college students participated in a stress induction experiment that prompted anticipatory judgments of discrimination. The full sample completed quantitative self-report questionnaires about their anticipatory thoughts (SAM; Peacock & Wong, 1990; Roesch & Rowley, 2005), state-based affect (PANAS-X; Watson & Clark, 1994), and proactive coping behaviors (PPCB; …

A Cross-Cultural Examination Of The Conformity Effect When Co-Witnesses Discuss A Crime, Sungil Bang

Student Theses

Prior research has shown that discussions with a co-witness can lead to the spread of false information, better known as the memory conformity effect. Specifically the effects of independence and interdependence on memory conformity have been examined. People who perceived their selves as a distinctive and unique were related to less memory conformity whereas those who identified themselves within their social relationships were not related to memory conformity. One of the limitations of the previous study is that they only focused on Western populations even though there is a cultural difference between Western European culture and Eastern Asian culture in …

Facial Contrast Is A Cross-Cultural Cue For Perceiving Age, Aurélie Porcheron, Emmanuelle Mauger, Frédérique Soppelsa, Yuli Liu, Liezhong Ge, Olivier Pascalis, Richard Russell, Frédérique Morizot

Psychology Faculty Publications

Age is a fundamental social dimension and a youthful appearance is of importance for many individuals, perhaps because it is a relevant predictor of aspects of health, facial attractiveness and general well-being. We recently showed that facial contrast—the color and luminance difference between facial features and the surrounding skin—is age-related and a cue to age perception of Caucasian women. Specifically, aspects of facial contrast decrease with age in Caucasian women, and Caucasian female faces with higher contrast look younger (Porcheron et al., 2013). Here we investigated faces of other ethnic groups and raters of other cultures to see …

The Influence Of Adult Attachment Orientations And Multicultural Competence On Higher Education Faculty Perceptions Of Ell Students, Helene Zongo Brou

All Student Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this investigation was to explore the influence of adult attachment orientations and multicultural competence on higher education faculty perceptions of ELL (English Language Learner) students. My primary research question is whether difficulty working with ELL students, from the perspective of faculty members, is associated with individual differences in adult attachment orientations or cultural competence. There were 60 faculty members from three Midwestern American universities who completed the survey. Faculty perceptions, the dependent variable, were measured through faculty reports of their attitudes towards ELL students and their perceived adequacy of the English language proficiency of ELL students. The …

If Not Us Then Who? Exploring The Role Of Hbcus In Increasing Black Student Engagement In Study Abroad, Megan Covington

College Student Affairs Leadership

Black students are alarmingly underrepresented in participation in study abroad experiences. The reasons for this vary, but are most often consists of barriers, such as financial constraints, lack of support from family, and fear of racial discrimination. Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are regarded as sanctuaries for Black students with emphasis on their commitment to providing low-income Black students with positive and nurturing educational experiences. As such, HBCUs are believed to be positioned to assist in overcoming the barriers to participation in study abroad for Black students. However, because they receive significantly less resources, they are limited in their …

Mental Illness Stigma, Socially Acceptable Treatment, And Barriers To Health, Frances Renee Gellert

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper discusses the topic of mental illness stigma and treatment in Uganda as explored through internship in the Social Work Department at Butabika National Referral Mental Hospital. The objectives of this project were to complete a meaningful internship while exploring causes of mental illness in Uganda, contradictions between traditional and modern approaches to treatment, and the affect of stigma on mental well-being. The internship included a total of 120 hours at Butabika Hospital. Individual research using documentary and literature review methods accompanied the internship. Butabika Hospital did not consent to the completion of formal research at, so any conclusions …

The Impact Of Racial Miscategorization And Racial Ambiguity On Multiracial Identity And Well-Being: A Qualitative Study, Shirley A. Newcomb

Dissertations (1934 -)

Despite the rapid growth of the multiracial population there is a dearth of literature that informs the field of counseling psychology about the identity development and well-being of multiracial people. More specifically, there is little research which explores the challenge of having one’s racial identity repeatedly questioned and/or miscategorized, and how these experiences of racial miscategorization and racial incongruence may influence their identity choices and well-being. The sample consisted of 11 total participants, (women N = 9, men N = 2) who self-identified as racially ambiguous and of multiracial descent. Overall findings of the study suggest that experiences of racial …

Encountering Place, Pedagogy, And Culture: Study Abroad And Experiential Learning In Morocco And Indonesia, Jennifer M. Pipitone

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Efforts to globalize higher education have resulted in study abroad climbing to an all-time high in the United States. Amidst this growth, emergent bodies of literature have uncovered problematic trends in study abroad that reproduce hierarchies of power and colonialism, perpetuate views of an exotic cultural “other,” and privilege tourism over education. In my dissertation, I respond to these problems by exploring ways of teaching and learning in study abroad that embrace the pedagogical power of place to foster awareness of the self in relation to other, cultivate relationality, and deconstruct the exotic. Rather than focusing on the individual as …

Embodying Rhythm Nation: Multimodal Hip Hop Dance As A Site For Adolescent Social-Emotional And Political Development, Lauren M. Roygardner

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This exploratory study employed qualitative methodology, specifically values analysis, to learn more about how being involved within Hip hop dance communities positively relates to adolescent development. Adolescence was defined herein as ages 13-23. The study investigated Hip hop dance communities in terms of cultural expertise (i.e. novice, intermediate and advanced/expert) to look specifically at dance narratives (i.e. peak experience narratives and “I dance because” essays) and hip hop dance performances. The primary purpose of this dissertation was to (1) explore how adolescents use multimodal Hip hop dance discourse for social-emotional development and critical consciousness, and to (2) understand how values …

Latino/A Adolescents And Young Adults Coping With Parental Cancer Within A Cultural Context, Amanda Mia Marin-Chollom

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Parental cancer has a strong influence on the psychological well-being of children at all ages. Children and adolescents whose parents have more distress and advanced disease tend to have lower rates of healthy psychological adjustment. Children from the U.S. Latino/a population may face additional challenges, such as racism and acculturative stress that compound the stress of having a parent with cancer. At the same time, facets of the Latino/a culture may play a crucial role in how Latino/a adolescents adapt to parental cancer, specifically the Latino/a cultural values of familismo (familism), espíritu (spirit), and respeto (respect).

This cross-sectional study examined …

Letter To The President: Longitudinal Critical Discourse Analysis Of Academic And Hip Hop Genres In A Rap Narrative Program, Debangshu Roygardner

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The objective of this study was to examine an in-school rap narrative workshop through critical discourse theory (Bamberg, 2012; Daiute, 2014). Twelve youth from a public school serving youth in urban Houston, TX were recruited from an in-school and after-school Hip hop/Rap narrative program to participate in a two-year cohort research study. The primary research question guiding the study was “How do young people participating in a school-based Hip hop/Rap program use a wide range of narrative genres for literacy and psycho-social development over two years in the program?”

The data-intensive study involved assessments of literacy and psycho-social development via …

Not Just How Much You Know: Interactional Effect Of Cultural Knowledge And Metacognition On Creativity In A Global Context, Chua, Roy Y. J., Kok Yee Ng

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The ability to think and solve problems creatively in a multicultural environment is critical for success in the 21st century. Integrating research on creative cognition and cultural intelligence, we examine the interactional effects of two cognitive capabilities – cultural knowledge and cultural metacognition – on individuals’ creativity in multicultural teams. We propose that although cultural knowledge is useful for creativity,too much knowledge can be detrimental because of cognitive overload and entrenchment.This inverted U-shaped relationship however, is moderated by cultural metacognition.Results of our study support our hypothesis of an inverted U-shape relationship between cultural knowledge and creativity. As expected, we found …

Black, Woman And Alive: Black Women’S Practices Of Nontraditional Healing And Freedom, Hythia Phifer

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis explores the implications of nontraditional healing methods on Black women’s psychological and holistic health. It includes a critical literature review of existing research by Black Feminist theorists and other Black women scholars on Black women who use nontraditional healing methods, particularly to overcome the violent and pervasive experience of gendered racism and misogynoir. A brief autoethnographic analysis of my own art-based practice is included, with ties to the effectiveness of Literature and Poetry as a nontraditional healing method used by Black women. This thesis is my attempt to create space for myself in academia, in social science, in …

A Phenomenological Case Study Of Transformative Learning In A Non-Traditional Diversity Training Program, Ame Lambert

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Rapidly changing demographics and globalization has spurred a plurality of organizations to invest millions of dollars annually in diversity training, with the primary aim of improving the experiences of underrepresented employees. However, the results of diversity training to date have not proven encouraging. Positive outcomes of diversity training have generally been confined to increased awareness and improved attitudes towards diversity, with implicit and explicit prejudice and behavior remaining unchanged. The aim of this study was to understand the transformational learning experiences of participants in a non-traditional diversity training program and the impact of their transformational learning on their behavior.

A …

Expanding Stereotype Content Beyond Warmth And Competence, Lauren S. Park

Student Research Symposium

Fiske, Cuddy, Glick, and Xu’s (2002) stereotype content model (SCM) has emerged as one of the most influential models of person perception in contemporary scholarship, and the organizational literature has begun to use this model for diversity management (Lyons et al., 2016; Martinez, White, Shapiro, & Hebl, 2016). However, data we have collected indicate that this two-factor solution may not be sufficient for all groups. Furthermore, the factor structure of the SCM items has never been examined empirically. The construct of morality, though largely ignored in contemporary Western psychology, has been proven to be the most important basis on which …

Girls Are Us: A Collection Of Oral Histories From The Jmu Community, Anne M. Sherman

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

On a campus where women make up a majority of the student population, it is especially important that female voices are heard and given a platform on which they can control their own narrative. I wanted to give those female-identifying voices that platform. I conducted a series of interviews to examine how college-aged female-identifying students feel about their identity and how they construct that identity within the climate of the JMU community. I was particularly interested in the intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexual preference, and ability. I asked each person to share their stories of times when they …