Waldorf Schools
of skills and the essential capacities that children need
Jack Petrash
The Waldorf School movement, with over 800 schools
worldwide, offers an innovative program to promote
the well-rounded, healthy development of children
from preschool to high school. Based on the educa-
tional philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, the Waldorf
Schools were founded in Europe in 1919 and later
spread to North America, Africa, South America,
Australia, and Asia. These schools employ a multi-
sensory approach to teaching that is rooted strongly
in art, movement, and a comprehensive picture of
child development.
Although the world has changed dramatically since
the founding of the first Waldorf School, the edu-
cational concepts that form the foundation of the
Waldorf pedagogy are being embraced with marked
success in a wide variety of educational settings today.
The Waldorf philosophy states that because chil-
dren will inherit a rapidly changing and surprising
world, the best preparation is to provide a multi-
dimensional schooling that develops the full range of
their human potential. To contribute fully in tomor-
row’s world, the Waldorf philosophy states that
children will need to be dynamic, resilient individuals
who never stop learning. To be both successful and
self-fulfilled they will need the following attributes:

Physical vitality, stamina, and perseverance

Emotional intelligence, empathy, and self-esteem

Creative thinking permeated with imagination,
flexibility, and focus

Spiritual depth born out of an abiding appreciation
and responsibility for nature, work, and their fellow
human beings
All children come into the world with these attributes
as potential within them. The whole focus of a Waldorf
education is to awaken these capacities and draw them
forth within the framework of a sound academic
school experience.
The entire academic program, including the teach-
ing of math and science, is purposefully integrated
with art, movement, and music. These rich curricular
experiences enhance schoolwork, insuring that stu-
dents are engaged in three essential ways: actively,
emotionally, and thoughtfully. This comprehensive,
C. S. Clauss-Ehlers (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Cross-Cultural School Psychology, DOI 10.1007/978-0-387-71799-9,
# Springer Science+Business Media LLC 2010
three-dimensional focus helps to develop the mastery
for their future.
Children need an education that preserves and
strengthens precious assets like their youthful energy
and vitality. In the Harvard Business School publica-
tion, Geeks and geezers: How era, values, and defining
moments shape leaders, Warren Bennis and Robert
Thomas point out that one of the most significant
characteristics of influential leaders is their ability
to maintain youthfulness in old age. Active, resilient,
creative individuals who are able to reinvent them-
selves continually, become leaders and mentors who
never stop learning and growing. Developing lifelong
learners is a goal of Waldorf education. Additionally,
students should be actively engaged in hands-on,
experiential learning. This active participation sup-
ports healthy physical development – indeed, pro-
motes health on many levels.
The Waldorf way of teaching is consciously
designed to foster emotional intelligence. Through a
program that is rich in both affective and cognitive
experiences, all Waldorf students acquire the ability to
express themselves through painting, drama, music,
crafts, movement, and writing. All lessons are rein-
forced through the learning community that is estab-
lished around each class where one teacher, one group
of children, and their parents remain together for eight
or more years. Moreover, emotional health comes from
an education that fosters self-esteem by recognizing
that each child brings gifts above and beyond the
ones that can be measured by standardized testing.
By developing emotional intelligence and fostering
lasting self-esteem, Waldorf education prepares chil-
dren for their most important tests, the ones they
face after they leave school.
The view here is that original thinking, permeated
with flexibility and imagination, will help individuals
face the challenges of the future and imagine the
important questions that have yet to be asked.
To meet the demands of a complex and problematic
world, children need clear, focused thinking supported
by good habits of mind. The book, Habits of mind,
published by the Association for Supervision and Cur-
riculum Development, relates a series of attributes that
describe what intelligent people do when they are
confronted with problems that are seemingly unsolva-
ble. These attributes, such as: Persisting, Managing
Impulsivity, Listening with Understanding and Empathy,
1030 W Wechsler intelligence scale for children-IV (WISC-IV)
Thinking Flexibly, Gathering Data Through All Senses,
and Responding with Wonderment and Awe, are woven
into the Waldorf approach to education.
A commitment to the physical, emotional, aca-
demic, and spiritual well being of each child is the core
of the Waldorf philosophy. This commitment is realized
through an educational program that engages students
actively in hands-on learning, connects them emotion-
ally and meaningfully with their subjects, their teachers
and fellow students, and thoughtfully fosters attentive-
ness and receptivity. By promoting this healthy, well-
rounded development, Waldorf Schools encourage
children to flourish in school and in life.
See also: > Creativity; > Cross-cultural learning styles;
> Magnet schools
Suggested Reading
Bennis, W., & Thomas, R. (2002). Geeks and geezers: How era, values,
and defining moments shape leaders. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
Business School Press.
Costa, A., & Kallick, B. (2000). Habits of mind. Alexandria, VA:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Finser, T. (1994). School as a journey: The eight-year odyssey of
a Waldorf teacher and his class. Hudson, New York: Anthropo-
sophic Press.
Gardner, J. F. (1996). Education in search of the spirit: Essays on
American education. Hudson, New York: Anthroposophic Press.
Petrash, J. (2002). Understanding Waldorf education: Teaching
from the inside out. Beltsville, MD: Gryphon House.
Suggested Resources
Waldorf Schools Association of North America—www.awsna.org:
This website offers information about Waldorf education,
answers frequently asked questions, and gives information on
upcoming events.
Wechsler Intelligence Scale
for Children-IV (WISC-IV)
Yvette Frumkin Feis
The Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children are
the most widely used measures of intelligence. The
fourth revision of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for
Children (WISC-IV1) uses a variety of verbal and
visuospatial tasks to assess general cognitive ability.
The obtained scores indicate performance level relative
to same-age peers from a standardized normative sam-
ple ranging from 6 years to 16 years, 11 months. The
test is administered individually to each child and
takes about 75–90 minutes to complete. The WISC-
IV consists of ten core subtests which factor into
four different clusters of subtests called scales. There
are five supplemental subtests that provide a broader
sampling of cognitive and intellectual functioning and
can also be used as substitutes for core subtests. The
WISC-IV manual provides a description of the ten
core subtests and the five supplemental subtests as
follows.
Block Design. While viewing a constructed model or
a picture in the Stimulus Book, the child uses red and
white blocks to re-create the design within a specified
time limit. This subtest measures visuospatial ability,
visual perception, analysis of whole-part relationships,
and visual-motor coordination.
Similarities. The child is presented two words that
represent common objects or concepts and describes
how they are similar. This subtest assesses a child’s
ability for abstract verbal reasoning and ability to see
relationships between two objects or concepts, and
demonstrates verbal conceptualization ability.
Digit Span. For Digit Span Forward, the child
repeats numbers in the same order as presented
aloud by the examiner. For Digit Span Backward, the
child repeats numbers in the reverse order of that
presented aloud by the examiner. This subtest assesses
a child’s short-term auditory memory, sequencing,
attention, and concentration.
Picture Concepts. The child is presented with two or
three rows of pictures and chooses one picture from
each row to form a group with a common character-
istic. This subtest assesses a child’s ability for visual
perception, abstract reasoning, and conceptualization.
Coding. The child copies symbols that are paired
numbers. Using a key, the child draws each symbol in
its corresponding box within a specified time limit.
This subtest measures a child’s attention, short-term
visual memory, and visual-motor coordination.
Vocabulary. For Picture Items, the child names pic-
tures that are displayed in the Stimulus Book. For
Verbal items, the child gives definition for words that
the examiner reads aloud. This subtest assesses a child’s
verbal skills, language development, and long-term
memory.

Letter-Number Sequencing. The child is read a
sequence of numbers and letters and recalls the numbers
in ascending order followed by the letters in alpha-
betical order. This subtest measures short-term auditory
memory, attention, concentration, and sequencing.
Matrix Reasoning. The child looks at an incomplete
matrix and selects the missing portion from five
response options. This subtest assesses a child’s capa-
city for perceptual organization, abstract reasoning,
attention to detail, attention, and concentration.
Comprehension. The child answers questions based
on the understanding of general principles and social
situations. This subtest assesses a child’s social judg-
ment, practical reasoning, maturity, common sense,
and verbal ability.
Symbol Search. This child scans a search group and
indicates whether a target symbol(s) matches any of
the symbols in the search group within a specified time
limit. This subtest assesses a child’s perceptual discri-
mination, attention, concentration, and processing
speed.
Picture Completion. The child views a picture and
then points to or names the important part missing
within a specified time limit. This subtest assesses a
child’s visual attention and long-term visual memory.
Cancellation. The child scans both a random and a
structured arrangement of pictures and marks target
pictures within a specified time limit. This subtest
assesses a child’s visual scanning.
Information. The child answers questions that
address a broad range of general knowledge topics.
This subtest assesses a child’s long-term memory and
verbal comprehension.
Arithmetic. The child mentally solves a series of
orally presented arithmetic problems within a specified
time limit. This subtest measures a child’s attention,
concentration, facility with numbers, and knowledge
of calculation procedures.
Word Reasoning. The child identifies the common
concept being described in a series of clues. This subt-
est measures a child’s reasoning and verbal compre-
hension.
Scoring the WISC-IV
The four composite index scales are formed from
clusters of the core subtests and represent more general
ability categories. These are Verbal Comprehen-
sion, Perceptual Reasoning, Working Memory, and
Wechsler intelligence scale for children-IV (WISC-IV) W 1031
Processing Speed. The Full Scale IQ is derived from a
combination of these four scales.
The mean for the composite index scales is 100.
The subtest scale scores range from 1 to 19 with most
children falling within the average range of between
8 and 12. Composite scores and subtest scale scores
can be converted into percentiles to allow for ease of
comparison. The percentile scores convey the percen-
tage of age-matched peers that the child was as good as
or better than. Confidence intervals are also provided,
that indicate the range within which the true score lies
with less than 5% error.
In addition, subtests may be scored in a way that
gives more information about the process used in
formulating a response. By testing the limits of the
child’s responses in this way, qualitative information
can be gained that is useful for the interpretation
of test scores because the process scores allow the
examiner to differentiate different underlying abilities
factoring into the child’s performance.
Cultural Concerns
Concerns have been raised about cultural bias, particu-
larly with regard to subtests, test items, and standardiza-
tion of norms across different ethnic groups. Compared
to the third edition, the WISC-IV has significantly
altered the structure and content of the core and
supplemental subtests to address these issues. Several
subtests were added, and others were dropped from the
previous version, while others became supplemental
subtests. For example, the Information and Arithmetic
subtests were given supplemental status to reduce
emphasis on school achievement.
In revising the test for the fourth edition, according
to the Technical and Interpretive Manual, experts in
cross-cultural research and/or intelligence testing con-
ducted repeated reviews of test items for potential bias,
cultural obsolescence, content relevance, and clinical
utility. Normative sampling data provided by the pub-
lisher show smaller differences between White and
African American samples compared with previous
versions of the tests. However, a discrepancy still exists.
Full Scale IQ scores for African American, Latino, and
White samples were 91.7, 93.1 and 103.2, respectively.
However, these differences are likely to be confounded
by other factors. When statistically correcting for par-
ental level of education, geographic region, sex, and
number of parents living in the household, these scores
1032 W Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV (WISC-IV) Spanish
became less discrepant, with Full Scale IQ scores for
the same groups as 91.5, 95.2, and 100, respectively.
Perhaps other refined variables should be taken into
account such as parental time spent with children,
medical or nutritional history, and per-pupil school
spending.
Individual differences typical of cultural variation
with regard to facility or comfort with testing materials
or approach to the testing process must be taken
into account in the clinical setting. Cultural considera-
tions for each individual should be made on an indi-
vidual case basis. Language considerations are also
essential to bear in mind when testing culturally
diverse populations. For example, a bilingual Span-
ish/English speaker may impress the tester as suffi-
ciently proficient to take the test in English, but this
child may actually be more proficient in Spanish and
the Spanish version of the WISC-IV may be the more
appropriate choice for this child. It should be noted
that versions of the WISC-IV are available in Chinese,
Croatian, English (with British, New Zealand, and
Australian adaptations), Canadian French, European
French, German, Hebrew, Icelandic, Japanese, and
Spanish. Additionally, the WISC-III is still available in
Danish, Greek, Korean, Lithuanian, Portuguese,
Check/Slavic, Slovenian, and Swedish.
See also: > Assessment of culturally diverse children;
> Intelligence/Intelligence Quotient (IQ); > Multiple
intelligences; > Stanford-Binet intelligence scale;
> Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV (WISC-
IV) Spanish
Suggested Reading
Kaplan, E. (1988). A process approach to neuropsychological
assessment. In T. J. Boll & B. K. Bryant (Eds.), Clinical neuropsy-
chology and brain functions: Research, measurement, and
practice. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
Kaufman, A., Flanagan, D., Alfonso, V., & Mascolo, J. (2006).
Test review, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for children (4th ed.).
(WISC-IV). Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 24, 278–291.
Lezak, M. D. (2004). Neuropsychological Assessment (4th ed.). New
York: Oxford University Press.
Prifitera, A., Saklofske, D., & Weiss, L. (2005). WISC-IV: Clinical use
and interpretation. Burlington, MA: Elsevier Academic Press.
Sternberg, R. J. et al. (2002). Models of intelligence: Interna-
tional perspectives. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological
Association.
Suzuki, L., Ponterotto, J., & Meller, P. (2001). Handbook of multi-
cultural assessment (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Wiley.
Wechsler Intelligence Scale
for Children-IV (WISC-IV)
Spanish
Dinelia Rosa
The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV (WIS-
C-IV) is the most widely used test in the United States
(U.S.) for the assessment of children and adolescents’
intellectual ability between the ages of 6 and 16 years of
age. The WISC-IV is a primary cognitive assessment
used in school settings to identify the strengths and
weaknesses in a child’s ability to learn. The WISC-IV1
Spanish was developed to assess Spanish-speaking
children and adolescents’ intellectual abilities. The
Spanish scale includes questions directly translated
from the original WISC-IV as well as other parts
that have been adapted. Both English and Spanish
versions of the WISC-IV assess intellectual ability by
gathering information on five areas of competence:
Verbal Comprehension, Perceptual Reasoning, Work-
ing Memory, Processing Speed, and Full Scale IQ.
Aware of the existing language variations between
Spanish speaking children, the developers of the
WISC-IV Spanish incorporated Spanish language varia-
tions from various Spanish-speaking countries such as
Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic
and other Central and South American countries.
This feature makes the WISC-IV Spanish highly sen-
sitive to the many regional differences that exist in the -
Spanish language, and helps it to accurately assess
the intellectual abilities of Latino children and adoles-
cents residing in the U.S. Even with the WISC-IV’S
internal sensitivity to language variations, those admi-
nistering the WISC-IV Spanish must remain sensitive to
any language variations or nuances that may be typical
to particular Spanish-speaking countries-of-origin. For
example, In Ecuador, the Spanish word ‘‘guagua ’’ means
‘‘child’’ but in Puerto Rico ‘‘guagua’’ means ‘‘bus.’’
Regional variations in the Spanish language also
exist between urban and rural areas within the same
Spanish-speaking country. For example, in some rural
Latin American countries the Spanish words ‘‘Puerco’’
or ‘‘chancho’’ are used to make reference of a pig but in
urban areas the Spanish word ‘‘cerdo’’ is used instead.
In addition to its sensitivity to regional variations
within the Spanish language, the WISC-IV Spanish

is also sensitive to cultural variations by portraying
contemporary culture and demographics. This charac-
teristic may increase the Latino child’s interest in par-
ticipating during the testing process. The WISC-IV
Spanish also includes parents in the assessment pro-
cess. Parents choose whether or not to receive their
child’s language test results in either English or Span-
ish. This offers parents an opportunity to increase their
understanding of their child’s cognitive strengths and
weaknesses.
The WISC-IV Spanish norms have been calibrated
to the WISC-IV norms, allowing children who were
assessed using the WISC-IV Spanish to be compared
to English speaking children. These norms were
also adjusted demographically to enable comparisons
between children with similar educational experiences
and parental educational level.
While the WISC-IV Spanish is an excellent tool to
assess Spanish monolingual children, the WISC-IV’s
capability to accurately assess Spanish bilingual chil-
dren is still uncertain. The ideal method for assessing
Spanish/English bilingual children would be to first
administer a language dominance assessment, and then
make decisions regarding which is the best cognitive
assessment to administer. This language dominance
test can be informally conducted by a Spanish/English
bilingual psychologist or formally conducted by a
Spanish/English speech and language therapist using a
formal language proficiency assessment. There is a lim-
ited number of readily available bilingual professionals.
A different version of the WISC to assess younger
children is the Wechsler Intelligence Preschool and
Primary Scale of Intelligence (WIPPSI). However, at
the time of this writing no Spanish version of this
measure exists.
See also: > Hispanic Americans; > Intelligence/Intelli-
gence Quotient (IQ); > Latino/Latina American youth;
> Testing and measurement; > Wechsler Intelligence
Scale for Children-IV (WISC-IV)
Suggested Reading
Sattler, J., & Dumont, R. (2004). Assessment of children: WISC – IV
and WPPSI III supplement. San Diego: Jerome M. Sattler, Pub-
lishing.
Wechsler, D. (2004). Wechsler intelligence scale for children—IV
in Spanish. Technical Manual. New York: The Psychological
Corporation.
West Indians W 1033
West Indians
Khym Isaac De Barros
Location and Geographic
Characteristics
The West Indies or the Caribbean is an archipelago, or
group of islands, stretching from the southern tip of
Florida to the coast of Venezuela. The West Indies
archipelago consists of at least 7,000 tiny islands, islets,
reefs and cays, which separate the Atlantic Ocean from
the Caribbean Sea. At its widest point, the West Indies
spans some 2,425 km from west to east (specifically
from the Cayman Islands to Barbados, across approxi-
mately 22 of longitude) and extends 1,700 km from
north to south (specifically from the Turks and Caicos
Islands to Icacos Point, Trinidad, across 12 of lati-
tude). Most of the area lying within these boundaries
is comprised of water. By comparison, Great Britain
stretches across nearly 10 of latitude and Spain
extends across almost 20 of longitude. Although the
West Indies spreads across a vast area, most of the
islands are situated fairly close together in the Eastern
Caribbean, with the exceptions of Jamaica, the Cayman
Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The West Indies archipelago is known by a variety
of names. The earliest name, and the one most fre-
quently used, is the West Indies. The European
explorer, Christopher Columbus, gave the region this
name in error when he arrived in 1492 because he
assumed that the islands were near the coast of India.
Similarly, the region is also referred to as the
Caribbean. The term Caribbean has become widely
used especially as a result of marketing the tourist
industry in the region. It is named after the Caribs or
Carib Indians, one of the dominant Amerindian
groups in the region during the time of European
exploration and colonization. Because of this historical
interpolation, the people who call the Caribbean home
form an ethnic group—Caribbean People or West
Indians, but not ‘‘Caribbeans.’’
With the passage of time, a variety of names have
been used to identify this region. Spain and France
called the islands the Antilles, named after the mytho-
logical Atlantic island of Antilia, or Antilla. Spain
and France further divided their naming by island
1034 W West Indians
sub-groupings: the larger islands that lay on the north-
ern end of the island chain, (Cuba, Jamaica, Hispa-
niola, and Puerto Rico) came to be known as the
Greater Antilles, while the remaining smaller islands
(typically, those stretching north to south) were called
the Lesser Antilles. Within the Lesser Antilles, there is
further segmenting into two smaller groups: the Wind-
ward Islands and Leeward Islands. These names refer
to the position of the islands relative to the Trade
Winds that blow steadily from the northeast (the
West African coast); Trade Winds can often develop
into seasonal hurricanes. The principal islands of the
Windward group are Dominica, Grenada, Martinique,
Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent. The main islands of the
Leeward group are Antigua, Guadeloupe, Montserrat,
Saint Kitts and Nevis, and the Virgin Islands. The
southern most islands of the Lesser Antilles, (which
includes both Leeward Islands and Windward Islands),
follow the coast of Venezuela. These islands are ex-
treme northeastern extensions of the Andes Mountains
and have complex geologic structures. They include
Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, Margarita, and Trinidad
and Tobago.
Geographically a part of the Americas, the islands
of the West Indies have close cultural and historical ties
with Europe, Africa, and Asia. No other region in the
Americas exhibits such a diverse range of cultural
patterns as well as social and political institutions.
Beginning in the fifteenth century, European nations
began to colonize the West Indies by bringing their
culture, language, and social influences to the islands.
The majority of the islands remained European colo-
nies for a longer time period than any other part of the
Americas. Most West Indian nations attained indepen-
dence from the late nineteenth to the late twentieth
century; however, some islands decided to remain
colonies. Some of these colonies are the British Virgin
Islands, Anguilla, and Monsterrat.
In the West Indies, there is no main island that
holds the rest together. The separateness imposed by
geography has been accentuated by political fragmen-
tation resulting from the region’s colonial past. Of note
was The Federation of the West Indies, also known as
the West Indian Federation, it consisted of several
Caribbean colonies of the United Kingdom, and was
short-lived, existing only from January 3, 1958 to May
31, 1962. The Federation’s expressed intention was to
create a political unit that would become independent
from Britain as a single state; however, before this could
happen, the Federation collapsed due to internal political
conflicts. Consequently, when people say they are Kitti-
tians or Antiguans (nationals of the islands of St. Kitts
or Antigua respectively), they are most likely expres-
sing their allegiance to their country of origin, not to a
city or to the West Indies as a whole.
Except for the northern half of the Bahamas, the
islands of the West Indies are all situated in the warm
climate zone of the tropics. There is little temperature
variation from day to day between the times of sunrise
to sunset. Hurricanes are part of West Indian life and
usually occur from July to October. On average, any
one island is hit relatively infrequently, but together
these storms, which can bring high winds and torren-
tial rains, leave a lasting economic, social and psycho-
logical impact on West Indians.
As a result of European colonization, every major
religion is found in the West Indies: Catholicism, Pro-
testantism (including Baptists and Evangelicans),
Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism as well as
Vodou, Santeria, Palo, Winti, Obeah, Orisha, Kali, Mai,
Rastafarianism, and Spiritual Baptists. Ethnically and
racially the West Indies seem like a microcosm of the
planet: Amerindian, African, European, Asian, Middle
Eastern, and Mediterranean cultures all converge here.
Independence, New Identities,
Defining and Redefining Blackness
in the West Indies
Most, if not all, of the islands in the West Indies, have
been colonized by European countries. In the twentieth
century many islands attained their independence and
rejected their European colonizers. This rejection came
in the form of changes to the chosen religions, cuisines
and spoken languages of many islands. Since rejecting
colonization, the preservation of cultural dignity in the
absence of political and economic sovereignty has been
an issue for all the states in the West Indies. The
twentieth century brought the growth of trade unions,
political parties, and greater political participation.
The British-ruled West Indies witnessed major labor
upheavals in the 1930s that affected Belize (Central
America), St. Kitts, Antigua, St. Lucia, Trinidad,
Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, St. Vincent, and
Guyana (on the South American coast). The labor
leaders and subsequent political parties that were
formed during that period would eventually lead
many of these countries to independence. The Cuban
revolution and the growing importance of one aspect

of Frantz Fanon’s ideological legacy brought the use of
revolutionary violence to achieve decolonization.
Fanon’s focus was not only one of violence, but one
that urged the creation of psychological, political, and
racial tools with which to fight colonialism, racism,
and oppression.
The history of the West Indies has much to teach
the world about living in societies of great ethnic,
racial, and cultural diversity. However, the West Indies
is still a region living with a legacy of slavery, racism
and discrimination. In an effort to define its own Afro-
West Indian reality, the region has seen its people’s
brown/black skin from different perspectives. People
in the West Indies could be broadly defined as Afro-
centric, individuals with African heritage as a result of
the Africans who were enslaved in the islands, or
Creole, those of Eastern/Asian descent who were
brought to the islands as indentured servants—all
working in the varying agricultural based economies
of West Indian islands. Most social scientists focusing
on race and/or Blackness in the Caribbean use images
of racial and cultural mixing emphasizing the region’s
plurality, hybridity, and transculturation, which has
been historically grounded while at the same time
being constantly transformed.
However, it is the Creolists/transculturalists who
have made an eloquent case for Afro-West Indian
hybridity. Black West Indian reality is neither purely
African, nor European, nor East Asian. Echoing
Fanon’s notion that ‘‘culture abhors simplification,’’
West Indian scholars and artists have devoted a great
deal of creative energy toward exploring the complex-
ity of West Indian ethnic identity. What is considered
White, Black, or mixed-race in Puerto Rico might not
be true in Trinidad, Martinique, Haiti, or the United
States (U.S.). West Indians in the U.S. (about two
million, with the majority coming from Jamaica fol-
lowed by Trinidad) are also redefining Blackness
primarily in New York City (where English-speaking
West Indians make up one-third of the Black popula-
tion) and to a lesser extent in several other American
cities. Since English-speaking West Indians come from
societies where people of African ancestry (black and
brown) are an overwhelming majority (85% or more;
Trinidad and Guyana are the exceptions), having
brown/black skin is the norm/majority in these coun-
tries, similar to the way that having White skin is the
norm/majority in the U.S. Similar to White Americans,
West Indians downplay race in favor of ethnicity (West
Indian) or nationality (e.g., Trinidadian, Nevisian,
White American youth W 1035
Barbudian, nationals of Trinidad, Nevis and Barbuda
respectively) and it is only when West Indians immi-
grate to the U.S. do they realize the ‘‘consequences’’ of
having black skin. By ‘‘West Indianizing’’ American
race definitions, West Indian immigrants may alter
the more monolithic Black-White model that has tra-
ditionally operated in America.
See also: > Culture; > Ethnicity; > Race
Suggested Reading
Fanon, F. (1965). A dying colonialism. New York: Grove.
West-Duran, A. (2003). African Caribbeans: A reference guide.
Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
White American Youth
Jennifer Nyeste
White American is a term used to describe the racial
identity of many individuals in the United States
(U.S.). White is one of the various color metaphors
for race used to classify people, much like Black or Red
are used to identify individuals of other racial back-
grounds. White literally refers to those who are ‘‘light
skinned,’’ though the meaning of White American has
come to mean very different things to different people
over time.
According to the U.S. Census 2000 survey, 75.1% of
the total U.S. population identified themselves as
White Americans. This statistic includes individuals
who identified themselves as only White, and is inclu-
sive of all age groups. While Whites have always con-
stituted the majority of people living in the U.S., this
number has continued to decrease in the U.S. with the
continuance of immigration and integration of cul-
tures, races, ethnicities, languages, and religions. In
1940, White Americans constituted 87% of the U.S.
population, while African Americans were 10%, and
‘‘Others’’ constituted only 3%. With the influx of
immigration from other countries into the U.S., those
numbers have continued to change and it is projected
1036 W White American youth
that in the year 2050, White Americans will only con-
stitute approximately 53% of the total U.S. population.
White Americans are described as those of European
ancestry, though a small number of immigrants from
several South American countries, Northern African
countries, Australia, Canada and New Zealand often
identify themselves as White Americans as well. Since
most White Americans are descendents from European
countries, White American is often used interchange-
ably with European American. Many White Americans
marry outside their European country of origin, making
White American a blanket term to describe those that
come from many different European countries. Descen-
dants of single or of mixed European backgrounds often
let go of their ancestors’ cultural beliefs to simply be
recognized as White Americans. In this case, White
becomes a cultural as well as a racial expression in
the U.S.
White Americans are said to conform to the domi-
nant societal norms in the U.S., believing that ethnicity
refers to others different from them. White Americans
differ from other immigrant groups such as Latino
Americans and Asian Americans in that most families
of European decent have been in the U.S. three gen-
erations or more, so that immigration struggles, such
as discrimination in education, occupation, and resi-
dence, have largely subsided over the years. Over time,
the absence of such struggles has encouraged the ideol-
ogy of White privilege and superiority, implying that
simply being White in the U.S. affords individuals
greater opportunities than those of other ethnicities
and racial groups. Conversely, White American youth
today tend to view themselves as ‘‘normal’’ rather than
privileged. As a result, White American youth may
hesitate to bring up race when describing themselves,
and thus fail to see it as an advantage in their everyday
lives.
White, or European, American youth have had
varied experiences in the U.S. from generation to
generation, and it is expected that such experiences
will continue to change over time. As different groups
migrated to the U.S. from Europe, many let go of their
ethnicities to fit in with those of superior status and
distance themselves from oppressed groups. This abil-
ity to assimilate easier into mainstream American
society than other racial groups is one of many factors
that have kept White American’s the dominant group
in the U.S. This has produced great disparities across
employment, housing, socioeconomic, and educa-
tional opportunities in the U.S.
Assimilation
Assimilation refers to the process by which an indivi-
dual abandons his or her own cultural tradition to
become part of a different culture. European immigrants
are, and have generally always, been able to assimilate
quicker into the dominant American culture than other
ethnic and racial groups, mainly because of their skin
color. Having White skin grants individuals the ability to
choose to give up their European heritage to adopt a
privileged White American life. However, some chose to
give up their heritage to escape persecution.
Many first generation immigrants experienced dis-
crimination in the U.S., and thus decided to assimilate
over time to escape harsh treatment from those already
settled in America. For example, Irish immigrants
though they spoke English and had White skin, clashed
with Anglo American culture and threatened the
dominant Anglo group. Many settled in ethnic com-
munities to try to hold onto their cultures. Today, we
see the remnants of these ethnic communities in Little
Italy’s, Chinatowns, Polonias, Greektowns, and Jewish
ghettos. White American youth that grow up in these
ethnic communities today often experience discrimi-
nation, much like their ancestors’ experienced when
first immigrating to the United States (U.S.). White
American youth who still reside in these ethnic com-
munities also share similar experiences with African
Americans, Latino Americans, and Asian Americans
living in segregated communities, including discrimi-
nation, lower income status, and poor living condi-
tions. Also, many new White European immigrants
today face what has come to be coined respectable bigo-
try, or hostility toward White ethnics. For instance, it
has to some degree become acceptable to make Polish
or Irish jokes, but Black jokes are in poor taste.
Second generation immigrants, children of original
immigrants, quickly adopted an American way of life.
Most did it to escape these ethnic communities and the
oppression their parents had endured. Most second
generation European immigrants were and continue
to be bilingual at home, similar to second generation
immigrants from many other parts of the world.
There is a dual argument for third generation
White youth, the grandchildren of original European
immigrants. Most have been taught to speak only Eng-
lish at home, and for many, their European heritage
lingers only at the dinner table on holidays and when
they are forced to check a box on surveys. They are the
generation that is handed down the least tradition.

However, while third generation European Americans
are brought up more ‘‘Americanized’’ in the home, they
tend to express a greater interest in learning more
about the languages and cultures their parents and
grandparents have abandoned over time. The 1960’s
and 1970’s brought a celebration of diversity among
Americans and the times prompted White American
youth to explore their roots to gain identity beyond
just White. For example, youth began to embrace
being Irish American rather than the White American
title that two generations before them had worked so
hard to attain. Today, White American youth have
almost completely dismissed White as a way to describe
themselves.
Employment and Socioeconomic
Status
White Americans today typically have higher employ-
ment rates, higher salaries, and more opportunities in
the workplace than do other racial and ethnic groups
in the U.S. Many attribute this to the ideology of White
privilege, meaning a right, advantage, or immunity
granted to or enjoyed by White persons beyond the
common advantage of all others. While income and
wealth has steadily increased for all individuals in the
U.S., there remains a great gap between Whites and
others. In 1999, the average income of Black families
was $31, 778 compared to $51, 224 for White families.
Lower salaries are often a result of lack of education,
and lack of corporate status. In 1992, 97% of Fortune
500 companies were comprised of White, male senior-
level decision makers. By contrast, only 0.6% were
Black, 0.4% Latino and 0.3% Asian. This has serious
implications for White American youth in compari-
son to their peers of other racial and ethnic groups.
White privilege in the work force trickles down to
White American youth in the academic world. Both
having White role models in high authority positions,
as well as having parents with high paying salaries,
contributes to the cycle of White privilege and dom-
inance in the U.S.
Education
The many opportunities handed to White Americans
in the workforce has a direct correlation to the quality
and quantity of education of White American youth.
White American youth W 1037
White Americans who have better jobs, make more
money, and thereby can afford better housing and
access to technology, will be able to send their youth
to better schools.
Overall, White Americans tend to value education
more than other racial or ethnic groups in the U.S.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, Black
and Latino youth are more likely than Whites to drop
out of high school. In 2004, 7% of Whites ages 16–24
were not enrolled in school and had not completed
high school, compared with 12% of Blacks and 24% of
Latinos. Asian youth, with a dropout rate of 4%, had
the lowest dropout rate among all racial and ethnic
groups in 2004.
The U.S. Census 2000 survey also shows that White
American’s over age 25 have a much higher rate of
attaining a college degree than those of other racial
and ethnic groups as well. Of the approximate 183
million people surveyed, 26.1% of Whites, 14.3% of
Blacks, 10.4 of Latinos, and 44.1% of Asians, com-
pleted a Bachelor’s degree or higher. Once again,
while it appears Asian Americans tend to value educa-
tion slightly more than White Americans, as men-
tioned previously, only a small percentage are moving
on to the corporate world into senior level positions
in the United States. White American’s still dominate
these positions despite their lower rates of educational
attainment.
In addition to income gaps, high educational value
and attainment among White American youth is often
attributed to educational biases that manifest in U.S.
school systems. Many accuse teaching and curricula as
favoring White cultural perspectives, arguing that
schools become hierarchies that reproduce White
advantage. However, as the U.S. becomes more diverse,
many of these gaps in education and income will hope-
fully close little by little. In any case, White American’s
are expected to shift into minority status within the next
50 years, providing yet another opportunity to redefine
what it means to be a White American in the U.S.
See also: > Adolescent ethnic identity; > Cultural issues
in education; > Discrimination; > Ethnicity; > Ethnic
identity development
Suggested Reading
Giordano, J., McGoldrick, M., & Pearce, J. K. (1996). Ethnicity and
family therapy (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
1038 W White racial identity development
Morris, E. W. (2006). An unexpected minority. Piscatway, NJ: Rutgers
University Press.
Schaeffer, R. T. (2002). Racial and ethnic groups (8th ed.). Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Suggested Resources
U.S Census Bureau—www.census.gov: This website offers various
self reported data on the U.S. population, including information
on family income, education, racial and ethnic data, business
and economy, etc.
White Privilege on the Web—www.whiteprivilege.com: This web-
site is a free resource for antiracism education and activism; its
editorial focus is analyzing and critically assessing racialized
social privilege.
White Racial Identity
Development
Beth Kleinman-Fleischer
Introduction
Theories of racial identity focus on how individuals
perceive and identify with their own race. Scholars
began by studying African American identity develop-
ment, but research soon expanded to include other
racial groups, such as White Americans, Asian Amer-
icans, and Hispanic Americans.
Hardiman’s White Racial Identity
Development Model
In 1982, Rita Hardiman used the autobiographies of
White American individuals who had a deep under-
standing of race to create one of the first White racial
identity development models. In Hardiman’s model,
the White individual encounters five developmental
stages: Naivete, Acceptance, Resistance, Redefinition,
and Internalization.
The Naivete stage is generally present in young chil-
dren, who have little awareness of race, though they
may be curious about why another person’s skin looks
different than their own. In the Acceptance stage, the
White individual believes that, in the United States
(U.S.), everyone has an equal chance for success. Thus,
the individual believes that minorities who face issues
such as poverty and unemployment are struggling
because of faults within themselves, such as not trying
hard enough or lack of intelligence rather than consider-
ing discrimination in the larger environmental context.
While some individuals may remain in the Accep-
tance stage throughout their lives, others may move
into the Resistance stage, as life experiences have forced
them to confront the realities of racism in U.S. society
as well as their own racist views. Individuals in this
stage may feel uncomfortable around people of color
for fear that they may unwittingly offend them, while
simultaneously feeling negatively towards their own
White race. Beyond the Resistance stage is the Redefi-
nition stage, in which the White individual reflects
upon his or her own Whiteness, including the preju-
dices he or she has held towards people of color and the
benefits he or she has received as a result of being
White. The individual in the Redefinition stage also
begins to feel more at ease with people of color.
The final stage in Hardiman’s model is the Inter-
nalization stage, in which the individual has not only
become more conscious of his or her own White iden-
tity, but is motivated to work towards changing the
racist status quo on both a personal and societal level.
Without support, an individual in this stage faces a
high risk of regression into a lower stage.
Helms’ White Racial Development
Model
In 1984, Janet Helms introduced a five-stage White
racial identity development consisting of Contact,
Disintegration, Reintegration, Pseudoindependence,
and Autonomy stages. In 1990, Helms revised her
model to include the Immersion/Emersion stage and
divided the now six stages into two phases: abandon-
ment of racism (phase 1—Contact, Disintegration,
Reintegration) and defining a nonracist White identity
(phase 2—Pseudoindependence, Immersion/Emersion,
Autonomy).
In 1995, Helms once again revised her theory,
renaming the six components of White identity devel-
opment as statuses (rather than stages), clarifying
their nature as fluid rather than static. Helms further
developed information processing strategies, each

associated with a different status that White indivi-
duals use as coping mechanisms when they are con-
fronted with anxiety-provoking racial issues. While
individuals progress through the different statuses
sequentially, earlier statuses may become salient,
depending upon both the situation and personality of
the individual. Individuals tend to have a dominant
status that is their most likely reaction to racial situa-
tions, but most operate under multiple statuses that
can blend in various ways.
The first status, Contact, is when the White indivi-
dual does not reflect upon his or her race, or race
in general. A person operating within the Contact
status has little understanding or conception of
racism and does not believe that Whites have any racial
advantages over people of color. The information pro-
cessing strategy associated with the Contact stage is
denial or obliviousness.
When individuals who are operating in the Contact
status are faced with contradictions to their oblivious
views on race, such as an increased awareness of insti-
tutional racism or recognition of their own internal
racism, they enter the Disintegration status. The Dis-
integration status may be marked by feelings such as
anger or guilt about the privileges that come with
being White. An individual operating in the Disinte-
gration status may also face pressure to maintain the
status quo of obliviousness to societal racism. Two
information processing strategies associated with the
Disintegration status are confusion and suppression.
The ambivalence of the Disintegration status may
lead the White individual into the next status, Reinte-
gration, in which feelings of White superiority may
dominate. The White individual tries to resolve feel-
ings of guilt about White privileges through blaming
people of color for their own disadvantages and pro-
moting White people as rightfully earning their
successes in society. Associated with the Reintegration
status is the information processing strategy of own-
group promotion through information distortion.
Entry into the Pseudoindependence status may be
prompted by the White individual’s confrontation
with an undeniable racist event, compelling the indi-
vidual to come to a deeper acknowledgement of
society’s racism and work more actively against it.
The individual in the Pseudoindependence stage may
seek friendships with people of color and feel an
increasing disconnection with his or her own White-
ness. The White individual’s advocacy of racial equal-
ity, however, exists primarily on an intellectual level
White racial identity development W 1039
and he or she may unwittingly encourage people of
color to accommodate to White society. The informa-
tion processing strategy for this stage is reshaping and
selective understanding of racial realities.
White individuals who continue to redefine them-
selves and come to accept a new definition of their own
Whiteness enter into the Immersion/Emersion stage.
They move from trying to help people of color accom-
modate to mainstream White society to trying to
encourage other White people to change this society.
They work towards finding similarly-minded White
individuals and White role-models in their efforts to
combat deeply rooted racism. The information proces-
sing strategy for this stage is transforming internal
racial perceptions. White individuals at this stage are
trying to internally challenge traditional views on race
and come to their own new conclusions.
Finally, as White individuals become more aware of
their own role as White contributors to a racist society
and make a conscious decision to abandon all accom-
panying privileges, they enter into the autonomy sta-
tus. They are no longer intimidated by the issue of race
and consciously pursue interracial experiences. Here
individuals are committed to continual self-explora-
tion and working towards ending racism. The infor-
mation processing strategy for the autonomy status
includes flexibility and depth of understanding.
In 1990, Helms and Carter formulated the White
Racial Identity Attitude Scale (WRIAS) to measure
Helms’ White racial identity development. With its
50 items, the WRIAS assesses the connection between
individuals’ attitudes and the White racial identity
model’s stages (later called statuses). It contains sub-
scales for Contact, Disintegration, Reintegration, Pseu-
doindependence, and Autonomy. The higher an
individual scores on the WRIAS for a specific subscale,
the more salient that particular status is for him or
her. In 1992, Corbett, Helms, and Regan revised this
scale to account for the addition of the Immersion/
Emersion status, but most published studies still use
the WRIAS from 1990.
Rowe, Bennett, and Atkinson’s Model
of White Racial Consciousness
While Helms’ White identity development model is the
most widely studied and cited of the White racial
identity theories, some researchers have been critical
of it, such as Wayne Rowe, Sandra Bennett, and
1040 W WHO

Donald Atkinson. In 1994, they expressed their type. While the WRIAS is used to measure White racial
concerns that the model was too analogous to other identity, the Oklahoma Racial Attitudes Scale (ORAS)
minority identity models, that it skewed towards is used to measure White racial consciousness.
Whites’ perceptions of Blacks rather than Whites’ per- While Helms’ White racial identity model remains
ceptions of themselves, and that its developmental central to the research on White racial identity, scho-
nature was inaccurate. In 2006, Rowe claimed that lars continue to formulate new theories and models,
the WRIAS is not empirically supported. Perhaps in and the area continues to be studied.
response to these multiple criticisms, Helms’ theory
continues to be revised. The WRIAS aslo remain a See also: > Biracial/Multiracial identity development;
subject of study. > Black racial identity development; > Ego identity
Along with their criticisms of Helms’ model, in statuses; > Ethnic identity development; > Minority
1994, Rowe, Bennet, and Atkinson proposed an alter- identity development model
native, the White racial consciousness model. The
White racial consciousness model does not focus on a
developmental sequence, but instead classifies atti-
Suggested Reading
tudes White individuals may hold towards people of
Hardiman, R. (1982). White identity development: A process
color. The model presents two major groupings, unac-
oriented model for describing the racial consciousness of
hieved and achieved, and seven typologies within these White Americans. Dissertation Abstracts International, 43, 104A,
two groupings. The unachieved status encompasses: (University Microfilms No. 82–10330).
the Avoidant type, who remains intentionally or unin- Helms, J. E. (1995). An update of Helms’ White and people of color
tentionally oblivious to racial issues; the Dissonant racial identity models. In J. G. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas, L. A.
Suzuki, & C. M. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural
type, who is uncertain of his or her racial views; and
counseling (pp. 181–191). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
the Dependent type, who has had little personal Rowe, W., Bennett, S., & Atkinson, D. R. (1994). White racial identity
experience with racial issues and may unreflectively models: A critique and alternative proposal. The Counseling
ascribe to the views of others in his or her life. Psychologist, 22, 120–146.
The achieved status encompasses: the Conflictive Sue, D. W., & Sue, D. (2008). Counseling the culturally diverse:
Types, who do not support what they consider to be Theory and practice (5th ed.). Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley (This text-
book provides an overview of theory and research in multi-
overt racism towards people of color, but also may
cultural counseling, including a chapter on White racial
believe that efforts aimed at redressing perceived insti- identity development).
tutional racism may actually lead to discrimination
against Whites; the Dominative Types, who idealize
the White race over all others; the Reactive Types,
who understand the realities of racism, but do not
understand the extent to which they benefit from and
are complicit with it; and the Integrative Types, who
have a good understanding of their own White iden-
WHO
tities and deeply consider the complex issues of people
of color. > World Health Organization (WHO)
Individuals may move from type to type, especially
if they are in the dissonant status, which is the least
stable type due to a lack of commitment to a view-
point. Avoidant and Dependent types, however, do not
generally stray from their statuses.
While some scholars have described the White
racial consciousness model as extremely similar to
WISC-IV
Helms’ White racial identity development model,
others have articulated differences between the two, > Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV (WISC-
such as the White racial identity’s focus on ego status IV); > Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV
versus the White racial consciousness focus on attitude (WISC-IV) Spanish

Woodcock-Johnson
Heidi Allison Bender
The Woodcock-Johnson1 III (WJ-III; Woodcock,
McGrew, & Mather, 2001a) refers to two separate
English-language batteries, the Woodcock Johnson-III
Tests of Cognitive Abilities (WJ-III COG; Woodcock,
McGrew, & Mather, 2001c) and the Woodcock Johnson
Tests of Achievement (WJ-III ACH; Woodcock,
McGrew, & Mather, 2001b). These distinct, yet com-
plementary batteries were designed to assess intellectual
abilities, scholastic aptitude, academic achievement,
oral language, and a wide-range of neuropsychological
functions. Given the breadth of potential information
gained from the WJ-III, it is a popular assessment tool
among school psychologists, neuropsychologists, and
clinical psychologists. Futhermore, the broad age range
served by these measures, ages 2-90, enables research-
ers to perform longitudinal studies tracking function-
ing across the lifespan.
The WJ-III COG has fluidly and flexibly adapted
to suit the changing needs and theoretical trends in
psychological assessment. Primarily utilized by neurop-
sychologists and school psychologists, the WJ-III COG
consists of two batteries, the Standard administration
and the Extended administration, each differing in
length and subtest number. The WC-III COG is based
on the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of cogni-
tive abilities. The CHC is regarded by many to be the
most empirically-validated theoretical framework of
human cognition. Briefly, the CHC theory of abil-
ities was derived from a long history of psychometric
research and theory. Much of this pioneering work
can be traced to Raymond Cattell and John Horn’s
concepts of fluid and crystallized intelligence (Gf &
Gc, respectively) and Carroll’s three stratum theory
(1993). The former, Gf, is the ability to solve problems
that are novel and unique to the problem solver. In
contrast, crystallized intelligence, Gc, refers to the
application of previously acquired problem solving
methods. This initial work, presented by Raymond
Cattell, was expanded upon by Horn and John ‘‘Jack’’
Carroll, and now includes short-term memory (Gsm),
long term retrieval (Glr), visual-spatial thinking (Gv),
processing speed (Gs), and auditory processing (Ga).
These seven ‘‘G’’ factors are also termed the WJ-III
‘‘broad abilities.’’ Currently, subtests are also grouped
Woodcock-Johnson W 1041
into three overarching categories: Cognitive Efficiency,
Thinking Ability, and Verbal Ability. Two to four
subtests are subsumed within each cognitive category
and have factor loadings on a different broad ability.
The WJ-III ACH was primarily designed to evaluate
a current profile of academic strengths and weaknesses.
It includes subtests specific to school-driven skills (e.g.,
phonemic decoding, spelling, mathematics, and reading
fluency), which are grouped into five overarching areas:
reading, oral language, written language, mathematics,
and knowledge. This most current version of the WJ
ACH is a considerable revision of its predecessor, the
WJ-R ACH, and boasts improved reliability and diag-
nostic power. A diagnostic spelling test and a measure
of phonological awareness were also added to assess
reading and mathematical fluency.
Both the WJ-III COG and WJ-III ACH were
normed on the same standardization sample, collected
from a large, geographically- and ethnically-diverse
sample (N¼ 8,818). Clinically, the co-normed standar-
dization methods of the WJ-III allow for direct com-
parisons of intra-individual subtest scores.
The Baterı́a Woodcock-Muñoz: Pruebas de habili-
dad cognitiva- Revisada (BAT-R COG; Woodcock &
Muñoz-Sandoval, 1996) is the parallel Spanish-
language version of the WJ-R COG; an updated ver-
sion is pending. The pruebas de aprovechamiento
measure aspects of scholastic achievement. The Baterı́a
consists of a set of subtests designed to measure
cognitive abilities, scholastic achievement and apti-
tude, as well as Spanish oral language proficiency. In
addition to the Scales generated by the English-lan-
guage version of the WJ-R COG, the BAT-R COG
consists of an oral language proficiency level based
on predicted performance in academic settings requir-
ing language proficiency. A Comparative Language
Index, also calculated from the BAT-R COG, permits
direct comparisons of oral proficiencies in English and
Spanish language.
See also: > Achievement tests; > Gf-Gc model of intelli-
gence; > Neuropsychological assessment
Suggested Reading
Schrank, F. A., McGrew, K. S., & Woodcock, R. W. (2001). Technical
abstract (Assessment Service Bulletin No. 2). Itasca, IL: Riverside
Publishing.
1042 W World health organization (WHO)
Woodcock, R. W. (1990). Theoretical foundations of the WJ-R
measures of cognitive ability. Journal of Psychoeducational
Assessment, 8, 231–258.
Woodcock, R. W. (1998). Extending Gf-Gc theory into practice. In
J. J. McArdle, & R. W. Woodcock (Eds.), Human cognitive abilities
in theory and practice (pp. 137–156). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum.
World Health Organization
(WHO)
Dinelia Rosa
The World Health Organization (WHO) is the United
Nations (UN) specialized agency that acts as a coordi-
nating authority on international public health. WHO
was established on 7 April 1948. Historically, it inher-
ited the mandates of its predecessor, the Health
Organization (HO), which had been an agency of the
League of Nations. WHO’s objective, as set out in
its Constitution, is the attainment of the highest pos-
sible level of health by all peoples. Health is defined in
WHO’s Constitution as a state of complete physical,
mental and social well-being, and not merely the
absence of disease or infirmity. WHO also states that
the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of
health is one of the fundamental rights of every
human being without the distinction of race, religion,
political beliefs, and economic or social conditions.
Furthermore, WHO states that the health of all peoples
is fundamental to the attainment of peace and security,
and is dependent upon the fullest cooperation of indi-
viduals and states.
WHO’s major task is to combat disease, especially
key infectious diseases, and to promote general health
worldwide. As well as coordinating international efforts
to monitor outbreaks of infectious disease such as
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), malaria
and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS),
it also has programs to fight such diseases, by develop-
ing and distributing vaccines. WHO also compiles
the widely followed International Classification of
Disease (ICD) with the most recent revision, the tenth,
released in 1992. WHO carries out campaigns for
different issues related to health and health education,
such as those to increase the consumption of vegetables,
and to discourage tobacco consumption. WHO also
conducts research that influences political and economic
arenas. A particular example is when WHO released a
report in April 2003 that recommended that sugar should
make up no more than 10% of a healthy diet, which
generated active opposition.
WHO is governed by 193 Member States whose
representatives constitute the World Health Assembly,
WHO’s supreme decision-making body. The main
tasks of the Assembly are to approve the WHO agenda
and to oversee the fiduciary aspects of the organiza-
tion. It meets once per year to discuss its goals, and
to supervise the financial policies of the Organization;
it has a General Director who is elected every four
years. The Assembly elects 34 members who are quali-
fied in the field of health for three-year terms on the
Executive Board.
All countries that are members of the UN may
also become members of WHO by accepting its
constitution. Other countries may be admitted as
members when their application has been approved
by a simple majority vote of the World Health Assem-
bly. Territories that are not responsible for the conduct
of their international relations may be admitted as
Associate Members upon application, made on their
behalf by the Member or other authority responsible
for their international relations. The Member States
of WHO are grouped according to regional distribu-
tion and each region has a regional office. The regions
are Africa, the Americas, South-East Asia, Europe,
Eastern Mediterranean and the Western Pacific. Each
region has autonomy and is headed by a Regional
Director, who is elected by the regional Committee.
The regional Committee of WHO for each region
consists of the Health Department heads from all
the governments of the countries that constitute the
region.
See also: > American School Health Association
(ASHA); > Health education; > Health insurance
Suggested Resources
WHO Home Webpage—http://www.who.int/en/: This is the offi-
cial WHO website and contains current health information on all
WHO countries as well as information on publications and
health topics. The WHO online library is also available through
this site.

Worldview
Zewelanji N Serpell
Worldview defines how an individual conceptualizes,
perceives and experiences reality. It is that which is
intrinsically valued—how a people give meaning to
their experiences and make sense of their world and
their place in it. Manifestations of worldview are found
in language, traditions, behavioral patterns, inclina-
tions and receptiveness to different environmental
inputs and contexts. All cultures have a worldview
and create socialization practices and contexts that
reflect and support their worldview. As a result, all
individuals develop within culturally structured envir-
onments that teach them how to know, experience and
interact with the world in particular ways. In this way,
worldviews are passed from generation to generation
and thus are preserved, often transcending local cir-
cumstances and enduring historical and environmen-
tal changes.
The term worldview has been applied very broadly
and ascribed to groups defined by any and every char-
acteristic on which people can be grouped, includ-
ing gender, socioeconomic status, sexual preference,
national origin, era, etc. However, in its truer form,
it is a concept defined by discourse in the fields of
anthropology, ethnography and philosophy. World-
view encompasses ontology (the study of the nature
of reality), epistemology (the study of knowing or gain-
ing an understanding of reality), cosmology (the study
of the structure of reality) and axiology (the study of
the essence of reality). Thus, the concept of a world-
view captures the essence of a racial/ethnic or cultural
group’s shared view of life itself. Defined as such, it has
come to be a key concept in psychology—particularly
in its application to multicultural counseling.
The worldview common to people of European des-
cent (alternately referred to as Eurocentric, mainstream
or western) often functions as the reference point to
which other worldviews are compared and contrasted.
This Eurocentric worldview is defined by themes encom-
passed in a select set of dimensions. These themes are
frequently posited as extremely different or even diame-
trically opposed to themes comprising the worldview of
those of African, Latino, Asian, and Native American
descent. Historically, the result of this type of juxtaposi-
tion has been an assignment of value, such that these
Worldview W 1043
cultural groups are demarcated as more or less advanced
based on the themes that comprise their worldview. A
related problem is the tendency to posit worldview as
necessarily restricted to that which is ‘‘traditional’’ about
a cultural group; as a result, cultures can end up being
defined merely by stereotypical characteristics. This is
problematic because the dimensions that comprise
worldview may change as societies change. In addition,
the extent to which dimensions retain or lose their
saliency in a particular cultural group’s worldview may
shift. Contemporary perspectives therefore suggest that
themes used to define cultural worldviews are perhaps
better understood on a continuum (rather than being
easily partitioned into neat Eurocentric or non-Euro-
centric worldview categories). This notwithstanding,
there are key themes that help define and distinguish
the Eurocentric worldview and the worldviews of people
of color. These themes have been variously labeled
and are inextricably linked or interdependent, but can
generally be summarized under three dimensions:
person-to-nature relations, person-to-person relations,
and time.
Person-to-nature relations
A key dimension used to distinguish between the
Eurocentric worldview and that of other cultural
groups is how the group views, experiences and treats
nature. This dimension demarcates cultures as dualis-
tic or holistic, materialistic or spiritual, and as valuing
affect over cognition or vice versa. Dualism implies
not only that there is a clear distinction to be made
between the spiritual and natural worlds, but also that
clear boundaries exist between oneself and the envir-
onment. This perspective fosters separateness, alie-
nation, independence and competition, including a
tendency to conflict with or to aspire to have control
over nature. The developmental trajectory of humans
in the Eurocentric worldview is defined by an ability
to literally overcome and control nature. As a result,
the Eurocentric worldview supports the accumulation
of material wealth through the harvesting of natural
resources. More abstractly, it refers to overcoming
affective/emotional (natural) tendencies and being dri-
ven by cognitive processes (rationality). However, not
all cultures share this view. For example, these themes
can be clearly contrasted with those that comprise this
dimension of worldview among Native Americans,
1044 W Worldview
where there is no separation between the spiritual and
natural worlds. For Native Americans everything exists
in one inseparable continuum and humans are
expected to live in harmony with nature and are
not thought to occupy a superior position or be driven
to dominate nature. Hence, spirituality and deeply
expressed affective states are themes that are inter-
woven into daily life. Life is viewed as a spiritual
journey moving one to exist more and more harmo-
niously with the environment.
Person-to-person relations
The person-to-person dimension defines how indivi-
duals operate in reference to others. The distinction is
often made at the group level differentiating indivi-
dualistic and collectivist cultural groups or societies. At
the individual level, these themes are respectively
termed idiocentric and allocentric or independent
and interdependent. Individuals socialized into a Euro-
centric worldview are often encouraged to develop
individuality and uniqueness, and maturation is often
viewed as contingent upon successful shirking of social
bonds. In contrast, African and Eastern socialization
practices promote the conception of the self as socially
embedded and socially defined, such that growth is
measured by the individuals’ recognition and fostering
of their connectedness to others. While different cul-
tural groups may express different behavioral reper-
toires, this dimension is the one associated with most
people of color. For example, among Africans it is
associated with communalism, among Asians with
collectivism, among Latinos with familismo—all these
themes suggesting an overriding and fundamental
group orientation.
Time
Time determines the cadence and rhythm of life and
therefore has a profound impact on how we conceive,
perceive and experience our world and function within
it. In the Eurocentric worldview, the dimension of time
is defined by linearity and future-orientation. It is also
tied to the clock such that it moves at a fixed, measur-
able rate. Time is also conceptualized as a commodity—
it can be bought, sold and wasted. Thus the emphasis
in the Eurocentric worldview is on using every minute
of time and orienting all activity toward the future.
This translates into a preoccupation with the loss
of time and people perpetually ‘‘running after’’ it.
In contrast, the African worldview posits time as cycli-
cal and the past and the present are of key importance.
Despite what appears a contradiction in terms future
and past exist in the present. For example, one’s future
is believed to exist in oneself in the here and now, and
ancestors are part and parcel of daily life and therefore
also exist in the present. Time in an African worldview
is also elastic in the sense that it exists to meet the
needs of people. For instance, for Africans it is more
important to attend immediately to someone who has
arrived early than to make them wait in order to adhere
to a prescheduled appointment time. As a result of
this lack of adherence to what the clock says, people
of African descent are often collectively described as
having a social time perspective. Similarly, Native
American worldview suggests time is non-linear, fluid
and flexible. The emphasis in this worldview is again
on activity in the present, so things are done as they
have to be done and the notion of ‘‘wasted’’ time is
non-existent.
Worldview in multicultural societies
By defining worldviews, we facilitate an understanding
of how particular ethnic/racial and cultural groups
successfully negotiate life. It also helps us acknowledge
the complexity of life in multicultural societies in
which several alternate and salient themes are available
for appropriation. In such societies, ascribing a distinct
set of themes to the dimensions of a particular cultural
group’s worldview may be erroneous, as the extent
to which individuals in that group are more or less
acculturated to the mainstream culture may impact
this worldview. A good example lies in the afore-
mentioned dimension of time. That is, a fluid and
flexible conception of time may not be functional
within the mainstream culture and despite valuing a
social time perspective, individuals may need to adapt
to the rigid schedules and adhere to clocks in order to
effectively operate within the society.
It is also important to note that worldviews permeate
institutions. The school as an institution for instance,
may acknowledge, promote or accept beliefs and beha-
viors that are consistent with a particular worldview.
This has been widely discussed in terms of the premium

placed on individuality and competition in the American
educational system as a clear reflection of Eurocent-
ric worldview. In clinical contexts, even in defining what
constitutes mental ‘‘health’’ functions as an assertion of
a particular worldview. Hence, in assessing competency
or providing mental health services, culturally competent
practitioners explicitly consider how worldview impacts
the process, content and delivery of services to multi-
cultural clients. For instance, the person-to-person
dimension of worldview implies that for people of
color, for whom a premium is placed on interconnected-
ness with others, the involvement of social networks (e.g.
family, neighborhood organizations, spiritual leaders)
may be vital to the healing process. This is very different
from a Eurocentric worldview which might suggest that
successful healing occurs privately and as a result of an
individual’s autonomous effort.
See also: > African American youth; > Asian/Asian
American youth; > Culture; > Latino/Latina American
youth; > Native American youth; > White American
youth
Suggested Reading
Arredondo, P., Avilés, R., Zalaquett, C., Grazioso, M., Bordes, V.,
Hita, L., & Lopez, B. (2006). The psychohistorical approach
Worldview W 1045
in family counseling with Mestizo/Latino immigrants: A
continuum and synergy of worldviews. The Family Journal
14(1), 13–27.
Clauss-Ehlers, C. S., & Weist, M. D. (Eds.) (2004). Community plan-
ning to foster resilience in children. New York, NY: Kluwer Aca-
demic Publishers.
Duran, E., & Duran, B. (1995). Native American postcolonial psy-
chology. In R. D. Mann (Ed.), SUNY series in transpersonal
and humanistic psychology. Albany, NY: State University of
New York Press.
Kim, B. S. K. Yang, P. H. Atkinson, D. R. Wolfe, M. M., & Hong, S.
(2001). Cultural value similarities and differences among Asian
American ethnic groups. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority
Psychology 7, 343–361.
Suggested Resources
Native American Sites—http://www.nativeculturelinks.com/
indians.html: This website provides access to home pages of
Native American Nations and organizations, and to other sites
that provide credible information about American Indians.