Clinical psychology and minority problems

Psychology has not been sufficiently concerned with racism and mental health, whether in theory and research, in clinical practice, or in graduate education. A cross-cultural approach to research is needed that views the behaviors of minority individuals in terms of their meanings within particular subcultures and yet avoids the extremes of cultural relativism. Clinical practices obviously need refinement and reconceptualization if they are to serve minority needs better, but it is too extreme to argue that existing concepts, institutions, and practices must be discarded or that a solution can be reached only through radical social change. Perhaps of greatest importance is the need to increase the commitment to educating larger numbers of qualified minority psychologists more concerned with studying and serving their own ethnic groups, thus also enriching the education of White students. (50 ref)