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Culture and Identity: Life Stories for Counselors and Therapists full chapter instant download
Culture and Identity: Life Stories for Counselors and Therapists full chapter instant download
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Detailed Contents
Preface
Organization of the Book
Acknowledgments
SECTION I: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS
1. Self in Context
Developmental Processes
Development of the Self
Development of Self in Context
Societal Influences on Development
Shifting Selves
Resilience
What Is Resilience?
Factors Associated With Resilience
Personal Protective Factors
Using Resilience in Treatment
SECTION II: RACE AND ETHNICITY
2. Julie’s Story: So What if I’m a Black Woman?
Julie’s Story
Content Themes
Race and Stereotypes
Interpersonal Relationships
Racism
Self-Definition/Authentic Self
Clinical Applications
Assessment
Influence of Race
Techniques and Interventions
Critical Consciousness and the Authentic Self
Racial Heritage
Racial Socialization
Countertransference
Reactions to Racism
Race of the Therapist
Toolbox Activity—Julie
3. Butch’s Story: Who Am I?
Butch’s Story
Content Themes
Contextual Dimensions
Family Socialization Patterns
Intragroup Differences
Self-Image
Cultural Homelessness
Clinical Applications
Assessment
Techniques and Interventions
Myths About Multiracial Individuals
Family and Racial Socialization Processes
Countertransference
Myths and Misperceptions
Issues of Self-Hatred
Toolbox Activity—Butch
4. Betsie’s Story: I Am 100% Jewish
Betsie’s Story
Content Themes
Pride About Ethnic Background
The Connection Between Ethnicity and Family Values
Pressure to Conform to Ethnic Values
Relationship Between Ethnicity and Religion
Relationship Between Sociohistorical Contexts and Identity
Clinical Applications
Assessment
Pride About Ethnic Background
Ethnicity, Family Values, and Pressures to Conform
Relationship Between Ethnicity, Religion, Sociohistorical
Contexts, and Other Variables
Techniques and Interventions
Countertransference
Similar Ethnicity
Different Ethnicity
Toolbox Activity—Betsie
5. Maribel’s Story: When Are You Going to Have Kids?
Maribel’s Story
Content Themes
Ethnicity, Immigration, Social Class, and Racism
Ethnicity and Language
The Double Life of a Hybrid Identity
Gender Role Shifts
Clinical Applications
Assessment
Techniques and Interventions
Countertransference
Toolbox Activity—Maribel
SECTION III: IMMIGRATION AND ACCULTURATION
6. Vu’s Story: I Am an American
Vu’s Story
Content Themes
Forced Migration and Refugee Status
Second Language Acquisition
Acculturation and Assimilation Processes
Survivor Guilt
Clinical Applications
Assessment
Forced Migration and Refugee Status
Second Language Acquisition
Acculturation Processes and Coping Styles
Survivor Guilt
Techniques and Interventions
Acquire Knowledge of History
Psycholinguistic History
Countertransference
Excessive Curiosity About the Client’s Background
Wish to Help Clients Go Back to Their Roots
Toolbox Activity—Vu
7. Esteban’s Story: Still Uprooted
Esteban’s Story
Content Themes
Tragic Loss
Language Loss
Language, Acculturation, and Ethnicity
Immigration and Social Class
Clinical Applications
Assessment
Language Loss
Shifts in Social Class
Ethnicity and Acculturation Views
Techniques and Interventions
Language Switching and Language Mixing
Countertransference
Sadness or Guilt
Denial of Culture
Wish to Prove That the Clinician Is Above Prejudice
Toolbox Activity—Esteban
8. Maria Luz’s Story: Here We Are Not Free
Maria Luz’s Story
Content Themes
Ambivalence
Voluntary Versus Involuntary Migration
Documented Versus Undocumented Status
Language Issues of the First-Generation Immigrant
Immigration and Geographic Origin
Clinical Applications
Assessment
Potential for Dropout From Services
Beliefs About Mental Health Practices
Risk of Dropout From Counseling Services
Ambivalence About the Immigration Decision
Language Issues
Importance of Geographic Origin
Documentation Status
Techniques and Interventions
Pretherapy Orientation
Countertransference
Clients’ Language, Habits, and Customs
Therapist Discomfort and Positive or Negative
Stereotypes
Toolbox Activity—Maria Luz
9. Teresa’s Story: I Didn’t Want to Go to Church on Sunday
Teresa’s Story
Content Themes
First- Versus Second-Generation Immigrants
Language Issues of the Second Generation: Loss or
Rejection
Intergenerational Conflicts and Gender
Clinical Applications
Assessment
Language Issues With the Second Generation
Intergenerational Conflicts and Gender Roles
Techniques and Interventions
Untangling Family Conflicts Based on Second-
Generation Choices
Countertransference
Taking Sides
Toolbox Activity—Teresa
SECTION IV: RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY
10. Frank’s Story: Hearing God’s Voice
Frank’s Story
Content Themes
Relationship With God
Submission in Religion
Religion as a Strength or Resource
Clinical Applications
Assessment
Relationship With a Higher Power
Existential Questions
Religion as Strength
Techniques and Interventions
Countertransference
Discomfort With Religious Discussions
Differences in Religious Beliefs
Toolbox Activity—Frank
11. Bob’s Story: The Good Christian Son
Bob’s Story
Content Themes
Religious Socialization
Shift in Religious Identity
Internal Migration and Religious Identity
Clinical Applications
Assessment
Techniques and Interventions
Countertransference
Toolbox Activity—Bob
12. Katie’s Story: Catholic and Jewish? How Can It Be?
Katie’s Story
Was This a “Crisis” of Faith?
The Wedding Plans
And the Rest of the Story . . . ?
Teach Your Children Diligently
Practice, Practice, Practice: A Practicing Catholic
Content Themes
Religious Identity Development
Decision Making
Family Socialization
Influence of Current Events
Clinical Applications
Assessment
Techniques and Interventions
Examination of Specific Religious Teachings
Interfaith Relationship Issues
Countertransference
Moral Dilemmas
Confusion About Interfaith Differences
Toolbox Activity—Katie
13. Malia’s Story: Am I American?
Malia’s Story
Content Themes
Process of Identity
Acculturation
Clinical Applications
Assessment
Process of Identity
Religion
Acculturation
Techniques and Interventions
Countertransference
Toolbox Activity—Malia
SECTION V: SOCIAL CLASS
14. Carla’s Story: One More Mile
Carla’s Story
Content Themes
The Impact of Poverty
Lack of Access to Resources
Importance of Education
Link to Race/Dominant Values
Clinical Applications
Assessment
Techniques and Interventions
Countertransference
Toolbox Activity—Carla
15. Anthony’s Story: From Radical to Bohemian to Suit Me
Anthony’s Story
Content Themes
Changes in Socioeconomic Status and Social Class
Dominant Class Standards
Clinical Applications
Assessment
Techniques and Interventions
Dominant Values
Budgets
Countertransference
Differences in Values
Classism
Toolbox Activity—Anthony
SECTION VI: SEXUAL ORIENTATION
Clinical Considerations
16. Karen’s Story: Midlife Growing Pains
Karen’s Story
Content Themes
Coming Out
Bisexuality
Shame and Internal Judgment
Clinical Applications
Assessment
Techniques and Interventions
Countertransference
Toolbox Activity—Karen
17. Rachel’s Story: Nurturing the Spirit
Transgender and Intersex Sexuality
Implications for Professionals
Discussion Questions
Rachel’s Story
Content Themes
Trapped in Wrong Body/Gender Identity
Transition
Harassment
Clinical Applications
Assessment
Cross-Gender Expression and Transgender Identity
Techniques and Interventions
Expression and Acceptance of Gender Identity
Transitioning and Working Through Harassment
Belief in Client Competency
Countertransference
Toolbox Activity—Rachel
SECTION VII: DISABILITY
18. David’s Story: Broken Neck, Intact Spirit
David’s Story
Content Themes
Grief and Loss Issues
Adjusting to the Disability
Disability Identity Development
Discrimination
Resilience and Social Justice
Clinical Applications
Assessment
Techniques and Interventions
Grief and Loss
Fostering Resilience
Career Counseling
Intersectionality
Process of Therapy
Countertransference
Pity
Curiosity
Toolbox Activity—David
Appendix
References
Index
About the Authors
Preface
It seems as if the world has changed drastically since the first publication of
this book. America seemingly moved into a “post-racial” society in which
race and ethnicity mean less, highlighted by the election of Barack Obama as
the first African American/biracial president. And yet much has not changed
in terms of race relations. Media coverage of racial issues has included
African American men and boys being shot by police officers and debates
about the Confederate flag. Immigration issues were highlighted with the
coverage of tens of thousands of youth traveling from South America to
escape persecution, violence, and exploitation. Immigration reform has
continued to be discussed as a major political platform during election
seasons. The Supreme Court has ruled to legalize gay marriage, and the
transformation of Bruce to Caitlin has brought new attention to transgendered
individuals. This book may seem to be more relevant now as clinicians need
to understand the role of culture on identity and psychological functioning.
This book is about the theoretical frameworks we need to work with diverse
clients and about people’s life journeys, the stories they tell about themselves,
and a few of the possible clinical applications derived from them. The stories
provide us with a glimpse into the subjects’ pasts and an opportunity to
imagine their futures.
Close friends and relatives tell me that I am insatiably curious about people’s
lives, but what I am most interested in are people’s cultural lives.
We have been confronted with four difficulties in the course that we are sure
other instructors, students, and clinicians experience too. First, many
textbooks that cover multicultural theory focus solely on the racial and ethnic
aspects of clinical work with minorities and exclude other cultural factors.
This approach helps to build understanding of values, beliefs, lifestyle, and
perspectives for each group, but it is fairly limited in promoting an
understanding of intragroup differences and may promote stereotyping of
groups. The second difficulty is helping students understand the full influence
of culture on individuals’ functioning and identity. Most instructors
incorporate the use of popular movies, case vignettes, and media resources to
help portray the concepts covered. Though case vignettes and movies can be
helpful, they are limited because they do not tell a full story and lack the
characteristics of a counseling situation. Third, although such courses
promote awareness of the importance of cultural factors, self-awareness of
the clinician, and knowledge of cultural factors, the courses often do not
promote culturally sensitive skills, which include the ability to assess and
understand the interactional effects of the cultural dimensions in the shaping
of a person’s identity and the interventions that may be necessary at certain
moments in time. Fourth, new clinicians are generally exposed to
“cookbook” approaches for understanding culture (Speight, Myers, Cox, &
Highlen, 1991), in part because it may be difficult for clinicians to consider
the multiplicity and complexity that understanding cultural dimensions of
identity demands.
This book attempts to fill these gaps in the multicultural training literature by
providing cultural autobiographies from individuals who have contributed
their life stories. We have highlighted and summarized multicultural theory,
research, and literature on oppression and resilience. We have provided a
brief overview of racial identity models for the ethnic minority groups. The
special focus of this text, however, is the cultural autobiographies that
highlight themes from multicultural theory. We selected these contributions
to highlight the effect of cultural factors on values, beliefs, and the
development of identity and self-concept. These stories also present the
interaction of multiple cultural factors including intragroup differences and
sociohistorical developments that affect individual identity. We collected the
stories from students in graduate programs, from professionals, and from
ordinary people who agreed to share their personal histories. To prepare their
contributions for this book, the storytellers used a questionnaire (see
Appendix) as a guide, answering some of its questions and ignoring others,
creating personal narratives that give the reader an intimate glimpse of each
individual storyteller’s life. Each is written to give the reader an
understanding of the personal significance and meaning that cultural factors
play in the authors’ lives, as they perceive them. The identifying
characteristics of the storytellers and their families—such as names,
locations, and certain characteristics—have been changed to preserve their
anonymity. The language, punctuation, and style of the stories have not been
altered much, however, to preserve the authenticity of the story and to honor
the storytellers.
Organization of the Book
This book can be used in upper undergraduate courses that cover
multicultural and diversity topics in psychology, social work, or in graduate
courses in counseling, psychology, social work, human services, or marriage
and family therapy. The text can also be used in Practicum or Internship
courses. This book would also be of interest to new professionals eager to
sharpen their clinical skills, their level of empathy, and their self-awareness.
The book has seven sections. Section I contains the conceptual frameworks
chapters that precede the cultural life stories. It provides an overview of
cultural identity development, oppression, and resilience. Each subsequent
section (Section II through Section VII) contains the life stories. Each section
starts with an opener that covers the theoretical dimensions associated with
the main topic of the section, providing an overview of the predominant
cultural factor, and is followed by the chapters containing the life stories of
that section. Sections and chapters can be read independently from the others.
Although stories have been grouped together according to the predominant
themes of race and ethnicity (Section II), immigration and acculturation
(Section III), religion and spirituality (Section IV), social class (Section V),
sexual orientation (Section VI), and other disability themes (Section VII),
other themes, including gender, regional concerns, and educational
background, are present within the stories.
Others are less well known conceptually, stemming from the authors’
experience as teachers, counselors, and consultants. They are intended to help
the reader find applications of the multicultural theory concepts in a real-life
story and to understand the complexities of identity formation. The content
themes described are not the only ones that can be extracted from these
stories. Not all themes that are obvious in a story have been described
because, in some cases, those themes have been explored in a different
chapter.
We could not have written this book without the contributions from our
storytellers. Thank you for being so open with us and sharing your personal
tragedies and triumphs! Your stories inspire and move us. Thank you also for
not complaining about all the changes in identity that we had to make to fit
our needs and protect your privacy. We hope that we have been able
nonetheless to honor your voice and spirit.
Thanks to Abbie Rickard for wonderful editorial assistance and guidance for
this third edition. We would like to express gratitude to the reviewers for
their comments and feedback. What results is a stronger product. Also,
thanks to Veronica Novak for your invaluable assistance. We thank Mandy
Johnson for assistance in updating references, and lastly, thanks to Kimberly
Buikema for all her help with the online resources for this project.
How people decide to tell their story at one moment in life may vary
according to their self-concept, their developmental stage, and the contextual
dimensions of their lives. We use a framework that includes an ecosystemic
model of development, similar to other cultural identity development models
(Cross & Cross, 2008). Our understanding of personal and cultural identity is
also viewed in light of social identity development, the part of an individual’s
self-concept that derives from knowledge of membership in a group along
with the emotional significance attached to it (Tafjel, 1974).
Developmental Processes
Models of human development teach us about human nature and the
formation of individual identity. When working with clients across the life
span, it is important to consider developmental tasks and activities,
particularly as they relate to behaviors and functioning. Human development
is plastic, fluid, and holistic; it occurs within multiple contexts; and is often
bidirectional because skills gained during one time period may be lost in
another (Berger, 2014). For example, cognitive development is important to
consider when understanding cultural identity and individuals’ perceptions of
themselves as cultural beings. In Piaget’s model, for instance, when school-
age children move from concrete to formal operations, they are engaging in a
cognitive shift that allows them to understand the world in logical terms and
from multiple perspectives (Berger, 2014). In terms of cultural identity
development, it is generally at this stage that children begin to move from a
conceptual understanding of race and gender from a physical standpoint to a
social perspective, with the beginning notions of the sociopolitical context
from which culture is derived (Quintana, 1998; Wright, 1999). In Piaget’s
final formal operations stage, abstract and rhetorical thinking skills are
mastered, allowing individuals who reach it to understand multiple
perspectives simultaneously. When examining clients’ stories, it is important
to consider how cognitive development influences their understanding of the
events in their lives and their ability to develop effective coping and problem-
solving strategies. The stories in this book reflect the storytellers’ shift in
their cognitive appraisal of their cultural identity as they tell us about their
cognitive understanding.
— Da sdravtstvujet revulutsia!
— Uraaaaaa!
Tuli marraskuu —.
— Nyt on vallankumous!
— Mitäh? — Häh!
— Vallankumous…
— Takkiako?
— Ei ku Koskista! — Ja yks miäs jäi pithön ovia kiinni ja se sanoo
mullekki, jotta nyt on vallankumous.
— Naa, minä en tiätä, tsort snaajet, ka kun ole vallankumos, nii ole
vallankumos! Uuraaa!
Ja nii se meni.
Silloon mä jo suutuun.
— No tulkaa ny…
Putka oli ollu kauan aikaa kylmillä, niin että mä pyyrin puita ja
sainkin. Tein valkian, vetelin haikuja ja voiin hyvin. Sitte pyyrin vahtia
hakemhan mulle kotua ruakaa ja neuvoon, jotta ottaas samalla yhren
piänen potun kaapista. — Ja kaikki se toi. Yhres sitte istuttihin
valkian ääres putkas, polteltihin, maisteltihin ja imehreltihin mailman
menua.
Lopuksi mä oikaasin lavalle maata. Klo 10:n aikana illalla aukaasi
itte
Aarnio putkan oven, ravisteli mun hereelle ja sanoo jotta:
— Vallankumous on ny loppunu…
— Joko ny?
Se ku ei maksa mitää!
— No eikös s'oo hyvä se? — kysyy hra Plumpäri silmät nii piikillä
ku neulat.
— No, non noo! — koitti Plumpäri keriitä välihi, mutta mä verin vai
henkiä pikimmiten ja paasasin jotta:
— Ja jos sillä hyvä eres, mutta ku aina vai uusia lakia ja asetuksia
tuloo ku turkinhiasta, n'ottei s'oo kummakaa jos sua Plumpäri rupiaa
jo vähä viippoottamhan täs uuristusten hirmumyrskys, jota me ny
meemmä aiva tukka oikoosna, — ja ku mä oikee toren sanon, nii
muakin pakkaa jo viämistämhän, mutta takakenohon.
— S'oon muh!
Kattokaas s'oli sillä lailla, jotta näis syyskäräjis oli nii paljo
kaikellaasia viinajuttuja, jotta asianajajiaki oli tullu monta kuarmallista
eikä niille tahrottu saara mistää yösijaa. Kevaris makas lakijuristia jo
kamarin laattiakki täynnä, ku viälä tuli yks vaasalaane ittiänsä
tukkimhan jotta:
— Jaa, jonsei Hilima voi teille järjestää, nii en minä ny ainakaa täs
sängyksi repee — oli kevarin isäntä sanonu, jok'on pulska ja
kaikinpualin moitteetoon vanhapoika, n'ottei akooll' oo ollu mitää
sanomista, vaikka n'oon kyllä vähä epäälly. S'oon vain hoirellu
taluansa ja pitäny sitä kevarinpitua siinä, ja se Hilima on sillä ollu
niinku huushollaamas.
Jos oli siihen asti ollu kyllä hiljaasta, nii nyt tuli aiva
kualemanhiljaasuus, niinku sanothan, jotta s'oli aiva kauhiaa.
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