The United States of America consists of a large and diverse multiethnic
population. Its success as one of the world's more influential, affluent,
and colorful countries can be attributed to the hard work of its millions
of immigrants that have come from every corner of the globe for more than
225 years as well as its varied and vibrant indigenous population. Many
of its brightest-and, unfortunately, darkest-moments have involved immigrants
and indigenous people who have not belonged to the white, middleclass mainstream.
Most U.S. citizens don't have to go back more than two generations to trace
their ancestry to some place other than the so-called "contiguous 48
states" plus Alaska and Hawaii. Many, of course, have strong connections
with the first people to live here. The country continues to pride itself
on multiculturalism and essentially an open-door policy. At the same time,
it continues to struggle with prejudice, discrimination, stereotypes, and
various inequalities associated with origin of birth, color of skin, or
place of worship.
Because this Congress marks the first time that IACCP has met in the United
States, we consider it appropriate and indeed obligatory as the host country
to present glimpses of the American cultural and ethnic kaleidoscope. Accordingly,
we invited five speakers to present snapshots of United States diversity.
The stories they will tell, backed up by solid research and social scientific
insights, are important. While their perspectives are grounded in the American
experience, people from all over the world will see that what they have
to say will often be similar to experiences in their own countries. In order
of their appearance on the program, we are pleased to present these influential
individuals. Each lecture in this series will last about one hour.
Tuesday, August 4, 8:30-9:30 A.M., Room: AH-100
Penis envy, promiscuity, and pleasure: Our changing stories of sex and gender
Carol Tavris earned her Ph.D. in the interdisciplinary social-psychology
program at the University of Michigan, and her career has been devoted to
writing and lecturing about the importance of scientific and critical thinking
in psychology, with a special focus on culture and gender issues. She is
author of Anger: The misunderstood emotion and The mismeasure
of woman; and, with Carole Wade, three introductory textbooks devoted
to mainstreaming culture and gender: Psychology (5th ed., 1998), Psychology
in perspective (2nd ed., 1997), and Invitation to psychology (Summer,
1998).
Whither sex--and sex roles? On the occasion of IACCP's 25th anniversary,
it seems appropriate to look back, critically assessing the two leading
answers to this question. According to the biological/evolutionary view,
men and women have different brains, sexual strategies, and psychological
needs; these embedded differences are thus resistant to significant change.
According to the social/cultural view, disparities between women and men
at any given time are largely due to cultural, organizational, and economic
arrangements; hence, change is not only possible but inevitable. In this
talk I will examine the reasons for the ascendance of the biomedical model
of sexuality and gender differences in the last 25 years; explore the contributions
and the limitations of biological explanations; critically examine some
assumptions about change in both the biological and cultural traditions;
and recklessly make a few predictions about the future of male-female relationships.
Tuesday, August 4, 2:00 - 3:00 P.M., Room: AH-100
The Cultural Psychology of African Americans
James M. Jones is professor of psychology at the University of Delaware,
and Director of the Minority Fellowship Program at the American Psychological
Association. He earned his Ph.D. from Yale University (1970), and taught
at Harvard University during which time he published the first edition of
Prejudice and racism, and spent a year in Trinidad & Tobago on a
Guggenheim Fellowship studying Calypso humor. This work led to the development
of the TRIOS model of African American culture. McGraw-Hill published a
second edition of Prejudice and racism in 1997. He is currently working
on a book on the Cultural Psychology of African Americans for Westview
Press. Dr. Jones is a social psychologist, and serves on the editorial boards
of the International Journal of Intercultural Relations, and the
Journal of Black Psychology, and is past-chair of the Society of Experimental
Social Psychology.
The confounding of race and culture in the case of Africa Americans will
be examined from a cultural psychology perspective. This perspective argues
that culture evolves over time hence contemporary meaning is historically
rooted. It also contends that culture is reactive and adaptive hence is
created anew over time. "Near" culture describes those psychological
processes that are informed by culture, and give meaning and direction to
one's experience of the world. The psychological concepts embodied by TRIOS
(Time, Rhythm, Improvisation, Oral Expression and Spirituality) will be
examined as exemplars of the cultural psychology of African Americans. In
a dual-structure analysis, it is argued that race defines the "reactive"
and culture the "evolutionary" dimensions of African American
culture. A dual-structure analysis of culture is used to argue for a dual-structure
concept of psychological identity.
Wednesday, Ausust 5, 11:00 - 12:00 A.M., Room: AH-100
Directions in gender research in American Indian societies: "Two Spirits"
and other categories
Beatrice Medicine is a Hunkpapa Lakota from the Standing Rock Indian
Reservation in South Dakota. She received her Ph.D. in cultural anthropology
from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Bea has held numerous visiting
and distinguished professorships at colleges and universities throughout
the United States and Canada and holds memberships in many professional
associations and societies. Her most recent honors include the 1993 Distinguished
Native American Alumna Award from South Dakota State University, the Distinguished
Service Award from the American Anthropology Association, the 1995 Ohana
Award for Multicultural Counseling Excellence from the American Association
of Counselors, and the 1996 Malinowski Award from the Society for Applied
Anthropology. Currently, she is completing a book for the University of
Nebraska Press entitled An ethnography of drinking and sobriety among
the Lakota Sioux.
Indigenous social role categories which represent "third gender"
characteristics, as the Lakota (Sioux) winkte and the Dine (Navajo) nadle,
and other native terms, mark the status of these individuals. However, they
are often blanketed by the term, berdache, in the social science literature.
Contextualization in an ethnographic frame is essential to greater comprehension
of these roles. A critical review of contemporary research and the writings
of the native occupants of these categories has resulted in an all encompassing
term - "Two Spirits." Coterminously, native terms for Lesbians
are also emerging. However, all native gay males and Lesbians have not accepted
the term. This presentation will discuss the concerns of indigenous researchers
and "others" in this discourse.
Wenesday, August 5, 3:30 - 4:30 P.M., Room: AH-100
Hispanic psychology: A 25-year retrospective look
Amado M. Padilla received his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from
the University of New Mexico in 1969. He served on the University of California,
Los Angeles (UCLA) faculty in the Department of Psychology from 1974 - 1988
where he also directed the Spanish-Speaking Mental Health Research Center.
Currently, he is Professor of Psychological Studies in Education in the
School of Education at Stanford University, Stanford California. Padilla
is also chairman of the graduate program in Language, Literacy and Culture.
He is the founding editor of the Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences
(Sage Publications) which he has edited since 1979. Among his 160 publications
are Acculturation: Theory, methods and some new findings (1980);
Chicano ethnicity (1987); and Hispanic psychology (1995).
On the personal side, he is an avid jogger, gardener, and chef.
Hispanic Americans are a socially and culturally diverse (e.g., Mexican
American, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central American, etc.) population that early
in the 21st century will be the largest ethnic group in the United States.
Substantial and meaningful psychological research with Hispanics did not
begin until the early 1970s. Today there are major developments in Hispanic
psychology that merit serious attention because of their contribution to
general psychological theory and practice. This address will begin with
an overview of the major themes (e.g., psychological acculturation) and
challenges (e.g., culturally appropriate clinical services) that have constituted
the central focus of psychological theory and research with Hispanics in
the United States. This will be followed by an overview of current work
that examines such things as ethnic identity development and group reactions
to discriminatory social policies such as English-only and anti-immigration
legislation, while accommodating and evolving into a significant social
group with political and economic power in the U. S. The address will conclude
with an analysis of how Hispanic psychology fits into the broader theoretical
discussion of various psychological perspectives involving culture, including
cross-cultural, cultural, and ecological psychology.
Thursday, August 6, 11:00 A.M. - 12:00 Noon, Room: MH-163
"The mental health of Asian Americans: What we know and what we don't
know."
Stanley Sue is Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, Director of
the Asian American Studies Program, and Director of the National Research
Center on Asian American Mental Health, an NIMH-funded research center,
at the University of California, Davis. He received a B.S. degree from the
University of Oregon and the Ph.D. degree in psychology from UCLA.
This presentation discusses several issues. How mentally healthy are
the Asian (e.g., Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese)
populations in the United States? What is the relationship between acculturation
to American values and well-being? How can psychotherapy and intervention
be tailored to meet the needs of Asian Americans? What lessons can we learn
regarding culture and mental health from our observations of Asian Americans?
Evidence does suggest that the rates of mental disorders among Asian Americans
are not extraordinarily low. Attempts to determine the exact prevalence
rates have been hindered by characteristics of the Asian American populations,
particularly their relatively small size, heterogeneity, and rapid changes
in demographics. Immigrants are particularly likely to encounter stress
that affects their well-being. Furthermore, treatment strategies that consider
the cultural background of clients seem to be beneficial for Asian Americans.