An overview of pluralistic therapy with application to Hispanics

This paper pinpoints three critical questions in pluralistic counseling: Are the psychological differences between ethnic groups extensive enough to necessitate ethnic-specific therapeutic techniques?; How should we educate and measure effectiveness of pluralistic therapists?; What research is needed to close gaps of our understanding about pluralistic therapy? Study of Hispanic cultures provides many examples of maladjustment syndromes that are culturally-specific. These culturally-specific syndromes of maladjustment among Hispanics are used to illustrate directions for developing ethnic-specific therapeutic modalities. The characteristics of effective pluralistic therapists as delineated in social and psychological literature are summarized, and directions for future research are outlined.     

Contrasting roles: Eastern and Western European womenRoles en contrast: Femme d'Europe de l'est et de l'ouestRoles contrastantes: Las mujeres orientales y occidentales

The article presents an overview of the status of women in Western and Eastern Europe during the last decade. Relevant research in English is reviewed. Four indicators of women's status are treated: (1) equality before the law, (2) educational opportunities for women, (3) position in the labor force, and (4) level of leadership in social institutions. Successes and shortcomings in each division are cited; problem areas with presently incomplete information are indicated. The paper makes several recommendations for further research and better dissemination of information.     

Intercultural communication for health personnel

In order to develop successful health care delivery systems, both in the United States and abroad, health service workers need to understand various cultural orientations and to communicate effectively within the cultures. The authors discuss the cultural implications of health problems in three countries, the need for training health science professionals in intercultural communication, and describe an intercultural communication course designed especially for health science students at California State University, Northridge.     

Kiowa forty-nine singing: A communication perspective

Kiowa Forty-Nine singing is a social activity in which important aspects of Kiowa culture are performed and revealed through traditional communicative activities. The purpose of this study was to examine forty-nining as it serves to reveal cultural patterns of interaction. Rooted in ethnomethodology, this field research combined personal interviews and content analysis. The data first provided a general characterization of forty-nining; subsequent analysis produced distinguishable, but interrelated, sets of rules which regulate the nature and structure of forty-nines. Patterns identified in the fortynines can be extended to other intratribal interaction, as well as to intercultural communication. Better conception of these interactive patterns may foster better understanding of Kiowa intercultural relations.     

Ethnic identity and close friendship in Chinese-American college studentsL'identité ethnique et l'amitié intime chez les étudiants chinoisaméricainsIdentidad etnica y amistad intima entre estudiantes chino-americanos

This article reports an empirical study on the relationship between ethnic identity and close friendship communication patterns in Chinese-American students. The friendship communication variables were: proximity, network size, frequency of interaction, perceived similarity, and degree of intimacy between subjects and close friends. Several hypotheses in this study were confirmed. Generation difference was a reliable predictor of ethnic identity on the 1st and 2nd generation subjects. Proximity was found to be a crucial factor that influenced the ethnicity of subjects' close friendship networks. All friendship variables were related on the zero-order correlation analyses. However, the relationship between ethnic identity and the ethnicity of subjects' friendship networks was not supported. This was explained in terms of sample bias, and the variable of friendship as a universal relational bond that transcends culture. The paper concludes with a set of research questions for future work on ethnic identity and cross-cultural friendship communication.     

African healing and western psychotherapy: Meetings between professionalsGuérison Africaine et Psychothérapie Occidentale: Rencontres entre ProfessionnelsCuración Africana y Psicoterapia Occidental: Reuniones entre Profesionales

The institutions of traditional healing, as practiced in Black Africa, and psychotherapy, as practiced in Western culture, are compared in terms of their relative positions within the broader health care systems of the respective cultures, and in terms of their therapeutic techniques. Data is based on personal work experience in East Africa 10 years ago and on eight recent interviews with mental health professionals and healers in West Africa. (The author is an American-trained clinical psychologist.) It is concluded that these two institutions carry on the same function in their respective cultures, but differ in format according to the different dominant family configurations of the two cultures.     

The cross-cultural transfer of educational technology: A myth

This paper argues that technologies can never be transferred from one culture to another. The implementation by Costa Rica of the Open University system of technologies developed in England is used as a case in point. The paper focuses on the non-applicability of using the term “transfer” with its attendant connotations, to signify the implementation of similar technologies in different cultures; differentiates between system specific and culture specific problems in the process of this implementation: and discusses the interaction of three cultures in the process of “transferring” a system of technologies from one of these cultures to another. The Open University system of technologies is described as it exists in England and the system specific problems of these technologies are delimited. The system of technologies is then “transferred” to Costa Rica and the culture specific problems discussed as seen by two evaluators from yet a third culture (the United States). The expectations of individuals from all three cultures (English, Costa Rican and U.S.) are raised in tight of these culture specific problems.     

The impact of cultural,ethnic, and national variables on attitudes towards the disabled in Israel: A review

Studies in Israel relating to attitudes of various ethnic, cultural and religious groups towards the disabled were reviewed. The results indicate that although there were differences in attitudes towards the disabled, these differences appear to be a function of interaction effects between many other variables and not necessarily only related to ethnic, cultural, and religious affiliation.     

Acculturation process of Colombian immigrants into the American culture in Bergen County,New Jersey

This research was conducted to analyze the acculturation process of Colombian immigrants in the Hackensack area of Bergen County, New Jersey. The instrument used to measure acculturation was a questionnaire developed by Szapocznik et al. (1978). The subjects were 218 Colombian immigrants placed in age categories from 13 to 68 years, and 70 native American high school students, as the reference group. The study addressed three questions: (1) Is there any relationship between acculturation of the immigrants and the length of time they reside m the new culture? (2) Does age affect the process of acculturation? (3) Is sex a factor in the process of acculturation? The results of the study showed that (1) acculturation appeared to progress as a function of the length of time Colombian immigrants resided in the host culture (2) the degree of acculturation appeared to be a function of the age of the Colombian immigrants, and (3) generally, males appeared to acculturate more than females. Young males appeared to acculturate more than young females on the behavioral scale. However, in the value scale, young Colombian females appeared to move more readily toward the American reference groups than did young Colombian mates.     

International conferences: Significant measures of success

This article reviews the literature on evaluating international conferences identifying significant factors which contribute to measured success. Extensive previous research over the last twenty years has identified criteria for evaluating success which continue to be ignored as international conferences repeat the same mistakes. More systematic research is needed. A framework of 25 evaluation measures is described for future research on the assessment of international conferences.Responses to three items of a questionnaire sent out by the East-West Culture Learning Institute as part of a project studying international conferences are also discussed, relating to evaluation measures, problems of evaluation and potential benefits of evaluation. Guidelines and suggestions are provided synthesizing the available research toward planning more successful international conferences in the future. In conclusion, six issues are identified for further clarification in future research on international conferences.     

Challenging evaluation to the cross-cultural test: Program evaluation in cross-cultural settings

The author cites the recent emergence of two new fields in education: evaluation and international education. Each has developed unique methodologies in its area of most concern. Evaluators judge the process and output of national programs; international educators plan for programs overseas. Although the author believes such developments should be complementary, the professions have remained relatively isolated from one another in two distinct regards: as practitioners in a single field, and in the manner in which they train students. Drawing upon personal experience, the author illustrates how current evaluation methods fail to provide adequate guidance in cross-cultural settings. The author further identifies issues, poses questions, and calls for increased cooperation between fields of evaluation and international education as well as across the social science disciplines.     

Cultural consultation: Implications for hispanic mental health services in the United States

The need to maximize the influence of the limited number of Hispanic mental health professionals in the United States requires the development of new roles. One possible role is that of cultural consultant to non-Hispanic providers. Cultural consultation can serve to help mental health providers differentiate between cultural differences and cognitive, affective and social deficits. This article will operationalize the concept and goats of cultural consultation, issues related to non- Hispanic staff providing services to Hispanics will be outlined, and a series of recommendations will be presented to assist individuals and organizations in developing cultural consultation programs.     

Hyperactivity among Hong Kong Chinese children

Hyperactivity has been claimed to be predominantly an American phenomenon. The present study used Conners' Abbreviated Teacher Rating scale to rate 506 normal Chinese children in Hong Kong as well as 167 children independently diagnosed as hyperactive. Sex differences similar to American findings were noted, although the ratings for Chinese girls were much lower. Overall decrease in hyperactive symptoms towards adolescence was also found. The possible influence of cultural factors on incidence of hyperactivity is discussed.     

Rural women in development: Veil of invisibility,world of workFemmes rurales et le developpement: Voile d'invisibilite,monde de travailLas mujeres rurales en el desarrolo: El velo de las invisibilidad,en mundo del trabajo

Over the last decade, evidence has been accumulating that the process of development has resulted more frequently in greater economic marginalization than benefits for poor rural women in much of the Third World. Yet recent efforts aimed at incorporating these poor non-urban women into development have been hampered by the “veil of invisibility” hiding their past and present conditions and contributions. This article formulates some hypotheses concerning female invisibility as well as productivity, and then contrasts the extant view of rural Third World women as relatively unproductive with (1) evidence drawn from evolutionary history, and (2) data from new micro-level and UN studies. The former indicates that women were the primary producers in most pre-agrarian human groups. The latter indicate that women continue to produce approximately half the world's food, although there is dramatic regional variation. The article concludes with an analysis of the statistical biases and stereotypes that obscure these contributions and briefly indicates the cost of this invisibility to the countries involved as well as to the women themselves.     

Attitudes toward an enemy and personality in a war environment

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of war environment on political attitudes toward an enemy and on personality development. High school students from an Israeli town on the border of “Fatahland” and a town in central Israel were asked to fill out: A questionnaire on their political views toward the Israel-Arab conflict and the Repression-Sensitization (R-S) scale (Byrne et al., 1963). Results showed three factors in the students' political views: (a) Return of the Controversial Territories (Samaria, Judea, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and Sinai); (bj Credibility of the Arabs in negotiation; (c) The policy of the previous government in its return of certain territories in Sinai.It was found that the students in the border town were less opposed to return the Controversial Territories than the students in the non-border town. Repressers in both towns gave more credibility to the Arabs in negotiation than did sensitizers. Girls agreed more with the policy of the previous government in its return of the territories in Sinai than boys. Results also showed that the students in the border area as well as boys in both towns were more repressive in their personality type than the students in the more peaceful area and girls of both towns respectively.     

An examination of the relationship of United States television and Canadian identity

This article is intended to add to the literature on the relationship of imported media to a country's national identity. It focuses on the effects of American television on Canadian national identity. Utilizing metric multidimensional scaling, substantial differences were found in the relation between the self and the concepts “Canada” and the “United States” when a Canadian sample was broken down by frequency of viewing American television. The more U.S. television viewed by Canadians, the less they perceived of themselves as Canadian and the more they perceived of themselves as Americans. In the portion of the sample that watched an extreme amount of American television, the subjects identified significantly closer to the United States than to Canada. The implications of these findings are discussed in light of the Canadian context.     

Images of life in America: The impact of American T.V. in Israel

The present study sets out to uncover young Israelis' perceptions of the American reality using the postulates and methodology of the cultivation analysis approach to mass communication. The comparison of the perceptions of “light” and “heavy” T.V. viewers with measures of the actual reality reveals that heavy viewers demonstrate a strong and consistent tendency to paint a rosier picture of life in the U.S., in terms of wealth and standard of living, even when other factors (age, gender, residence and ethnic group) are held constant. The findings of this study have methodological implications concerning the study of media effects as well as theoretical implications regarding the ongoing debate on “media imperialism.”