Download Counseling African Americans

Counseling African Americans
Mandy Cleveland, M.A.
Who is African American?
• Historically –
– Term was used to describe people of African descent
who were born in the United States and who may
have experienced or inherited a history of slavery and
oppression.
• Modern –
– Modern definitions also include those who have
immigrated to the United States and who choose the
term “African American” because it best fits their
group identity
• E.g. people of color from Africa, the West Indies, the
Caribbean, and South America
African American vs Black
• These terms have been used interchangeably in
the literature
– However, each term may hold a different meaning for
individual clients
– Important to understand how clients self identify
• Younger people often choose African American
while the older prefer the term Black
– Preference for the term Black is strongest among the
college educated, affluent, rural areas, and the South
• (Emonson, 1993)
Questions AA clients may have
about Counselors
– Understand that Black individuals and families are distinct
from other individuals and families?
– Understand that racism, classism, sexism, and other sources
of discrimination are real issues for Black clients and not a
sign that they're "too sensitive" or paranoid?
– Treat me as an individual deserving respect and at the same
time avoid being biased or paternalistic or having a
personal agenda?
– Know something about Black cultural expressions: values,
music, styles of speech, dress, mannerisms, and popular
and classic music and literature?
– See me as deviant simply because I'm different from him or
her?
Relevant Factors
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Historical oppression and racism
Present socio-economic status
Physical and mental health concerns
Family structure
Values
Religion
Understanding Black Identity Development
Historical Oppression and
Racism
• 10 million Africans, brought as slaves into the
Americas from the sixteenth to the nineteenth
centuries
• In the Southern U.S., the economy was
virtually destroyed due to the war, freeing of
the slaves, and Reconstruction
Historical Oppression and
Racism
• Northern cities like New York and
Philadelphia designated certain areas of the
city where African Americans could live, and
certain jobs where they could work
• The struggle to achieve basic civil rights and
criminalize outright discrimination didn’t take
place until the 1960s
Historical Oppression and
Racism
• Had to fight for voter registration, equal
opportunities for education, equal access to
common public facilities like bathrooms and
lunch counters, and most famously, the right to
sit at the front of a public transportation bus
• Federal government eventually provided
increased enforcement of desegregation, and
punished some wrongdoers for discrimination
Present Status
• 36.6 million
• Roughly 13% percent of the U.S. population
• Almost 2/3rds of the AA population is in the
lower socio-economic class today.
• 10.3 percent of White families with children
under 18 are below the poverty level compared
to 24.9 percent of Black families with children
under 18.
Present Status
• In 2001, the overall rate of unemployment for
all Americans was 5.8 percent but the
unemployment rate for African Americans was
10.2 percent
• AA men have the lowest participation in the
work force compared to men in other racial
groups
Educational Equity?
• In 2000, 12 percent of Black males attained a
BA compared to 20 percent of White males
• Similarly, 11 percent of Black females
attained a BA compared to 18 percent of White
females
Structural Discrimination
• Companies choosing to build factories away from
•
•
urban areas with large AA populations
Cities choosing to build public transit systems that
provide easy access to inner city jobs from the
suburbs, but not from inner city to central city jobs or
from inner city to suburban jobs
Funding education through local property tax
revenues, when AA inner-city communities have a
higher proportion of depressed property values
Middle class and Upper class
• This segment of the population often has a distinct set
•
of experiences from other African Americans
They are often better educated, have more financial
security, and more work opportunities
– What message does this convey?
• They may also endure bicultural stress and receive
negative feelings from both African Americans and
Whites
– Why?
Mental Health Statistics
• African Americans rarely use private therapists, but more often
•
•
•
may use community mental health centers (overrepresented)
An APA task force found that large numbers of disadvantaged
and minority citizens lacked access to adequate health care
(mental health)
African Americans are significantly more likely to terminate
counseling prematurely
Ethnic match between therapist and client proved to have a
greater impact on the number of sessions attended than did
treatment outcomes
– Does it matter though?
– What does the class think?
Mental Health
• According to NIMH Study the rates of
depressive disorders and substance abuse for
African Americans were very similar to Whites
• The incidence of schizophrenia is slightly
higher for African Americans (could be related
to SES)
Mental Health Cont.
• Mental health problems may not be equally addressed
• MH professionals may misinterpret behavior as being
•
normative for African Americans when it is really a
symptom of mental illness (D.O. Lewis, Balla, &
Shanok, 1979).
Black patients are often given more severe diagnoses
than Whites, regardless of the race of the psychiatrist
(Loring & Powell, 1988)
Family Structure
• Households with married couples with children
•
•
comprised less than half of the households among
African Americans. (Census, 2000)
78% of single parent families were headed by
females. (Census, 2000)
AA single mothers are the least likely to be divorced
(17%), most likely to never be married (65%), and
more likely than Whites to live within an extended
family situation (e.g. with grandparents) (18%)
– How do these statistics fit into societal norms?
Family Structure Cont.
• Among single AA mothers 23% live with related
•
•
family
4% live with unrelated, or augmented, family.
(Census, 2000)
Many negative claims have been made concerning the
influence of AA family structure on social,
psychological, and economic well-being
Family Structure Cont.
• For example, the AA family headed by a
female is frequently characterized as inferior
and blamed for many of the problems in the
African American community
• Positive aspects of AA family structure are
often overlooked
Values
• According to McCollum (1997) African Americans as
•
a group tend to value strong kinship bonds, are work
and education oriented, have strong dedication to
religious values and church participation, and tend to
be more group oriented, rather than individualistic
These values are in many ways similar to West
African heritage which values elements like family
structure, notions of kinship, and religious concepts
and practices. (Hine, Hine, & Harrold, 2000)
Religion
• The religious customs of African Americans have
•
•
helped them to survive slavery, deal with racism,
oppression, economic hardship, and many other
forces that demoralized and exploited their people.
Indigenous religions of the slaves continued long
after they left Africa
These religions underscored:
– the unity of the natural and the supernatural, the secular and
the sacred, and the living and the dead
Religion
• Conversion to Christianity shaped AA culture
• The sharing of religious beliefs and practices
created multiracial congregations, and a
common ground of spiritual equality
• AA worshipers also influenced the practice of
Christianity through the development of
elements like gospel music and a vibrant
worship style
Religion
• Although many slave owners tried to use
Christian beliefs to control and justify their
treatment of Blacks, the freedom to worship
together as a congregation reinforced African
Americans collective identity and helped them
to persevere through hard times.
Black Identity Development
• Dr. William E. Cross Jr. (1971) developed an African
American identity development model that traces the
individual’s “group” or racial identity growth.
– One of the first racial identity models
– The Cross Model
• The basis of this model is that self-perception is based
on racial factors, especially for African Americans,
because society has determined that race is a salient
characteristic.
Cross Model
• Stages: Pre-encounter, encounter, immersionemersion, internalization, and internalizationcommitment.
Cross Model
• Pre-encounter – Unaware of one’s own
racial or cultural identity. Person is
unconscious of negative stereotypes
against African Americans
– Consciously or unconsciously devalue their
own Blackness and concurrently value White
values and ways. Pressure to assimilate and
acculturate into White society
Cross Model
• Encounter – A specific event or experience
happens that causes a person to feel the
need for change by becoming aware of
her/his own racial identity
Cross Model
• Immersion-emersion - Individuals seek to
immerse themselves in their ethnic culture
through active exploration of cultural
identity. Ethnic culture becomes a positive,
beautiful worldview, and the majority culture
may be seen as negative or flawed.
–
Feelings of guilt and anger seem to dissipate with a
rise in pride
Cross Model
• Internalization Stage - Identity is solidified, and the
•
individual may have a deep and integrated sense of their
racial/ethnic identity. The individual is more at ease with
their own standard of cultural identity.
Internalization-commitment Stage - The individual has a
long-term commitment and involvement in their own
cultural identity.
– Commitment to community/people of similar cultural heritage
– Anti-White feelings subside as the person becomes more flexible,
more tolerant, and more bicultural/multicultural
Modifications
• This model was later expanded to include all people
of color
– Minority Identity Theory Model
• This model included the stages of:
–
–
–
–
–
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Conformity
Dissonance
Resistance
Introspection
Integrative Awareness
Racial/Cultural Identity
Development Model
• Conformity - Individuals accept the values
of the majority culture. Ethnic individuals
in this culture may value White role
models, White standards of beauty and
success, and may even believe it is better
to be white. There may be underlying
negative emotions toward self.
Racial/Cultural Identity
Development Model
• Dissonance Stage - Individuals begin to
acknowledge the personal impact of
racism. An event, or trigger, causes the
individual to examine and question their
own set of beliefs. Confusion and conflict
toward dominant cultural system emerges
Racial/Cultural Identity
Development Model
• Resistance – Active rejection of the dominant
•
•
culture and active involvement in one’s own
culture
Introspection – Starts to question the values of
both his/her minority group and the dominant
group
Integrative Awareness – Person develops
cultural identity based on both minority and
dominant cultural values
Guidelines for clinical practice
•
•
•
Client’s reactions- “Sometimes clients feel
uncomfortable working with a counselor of a
different race; would this be a problem for
you?”
Examine clients worldviews and believes about
counseling
Egalitarian relationship (self disclosure). Talk
about non-counseling topics if client is hostile
or aloof.
Guidelines for clinical practice
•
•
•
•
•
•
Reaction to racial oppression- How much does
racism play a role in client problem?
How client responded to discrimination
Positive assets of client (e.g. family, church,
etc.)
Help client define goals
Degree of adoption to majority culture values
Personal experience of the individual