Learning From The Past and Planning For The Future
MENTAL HEALTH MOMENT December 15, 2000 "You only live once, but if you work it right, once is enough." - Joe E. Lewis************************************************************************** Report on Addressing the Nation's Needs for Biomedical and Behavioral Scientists http://www.nap.edu/books/0309069815/html Visitors can find the full text ot the report at this site to read the National Research Council's comments about PhD-trained behavioral scientists and other topics in the document.
* * * * *
NAS Board on Children, Youth and Families http://www4.nationalacademies.org/cbsse/bocyfweb.nsf
The National Academy of Sciences' Web page on children, youth and families focuses on programs that affect the health and development of youth and families from the knowledge of the behavioral, social and health sciences. Visitors to the site can sign up for "Children and Families E-News," an electronic newsletter that sends monthly updates about the board's latest activities, meetings and reports.
* * * * *
February 21-25, 2001: Annual Meeting of the Society for Cross- Cultural Research and the Association for the Study of Play, San Diego
The Society for Cross-Cultural Research supports interdisciplinary, comparative research encompassing the anthropological, psychological and social sciences. The abstract deadline is January 30. Contact: William Divale, York College, CUNY, 94-20 Guy R. Brewer Blvd., Jamaica, NY 11451; email: divalebill@aol.com; Web site: http://www.york.cuny.edu/%7Edivale/sccr/index.htm
* * * * *
The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health is distributing free copies of "Managing Mental Illness in the Workplace: A Practical Guide for Supervisors," written by Rita Handrich, PhD. The manual is designed to provide employers and supervisors with a roadmap through the experience of managing employees who may have mental illness. Contact: Publications Division, Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, The University of Texas at Austin, P.O. Box 7998, Austin, TX 78713-7998; email: hf.comm@uts.cc.utexas.edu; Web Site: http://www.hogg.lac.utexas.edu
* * * * *
China Cultural Tour https://www.angelfire.com/biz3/odocspan/china1.html
**************************************************************************
I was asked to review a book on diversity in the United States for the Population and Environmental Psychology Bulletin. The book, by L.L. Naylor can be purchased online by going to: https://www.angelfire.com/biz/odochartaigh/searchbooks.html Below is the final draft of the review I am submitting. Any comments are welcome.
********************************************************************************
PROBLEMS AND ISSUES OF DIVERSITY IN THE UNITED STATES: A REVIEW OF NAYLOR Since the beginning of the United States as a country (and, indeed even earlier), diversity of culture and beliefs have been prominent. The related issues and problems have been concerns underlying the growth and development of the United States. Many current issues and problems faced in this country have roots going back at least as far as the beginning of this country. Others go back much farther.The dictionary defines diversity simply as difference. However, when applied to a number of issues and problems faced by modern society, it takes on some more complex meanings. Naylor (1999) has edited a book ("Problems and Issues of Diversity in the United States") with a series of articles dealing with a number of issues facing U.S. society. Many of these are just below or at the surface of public awareness. Unfortunately, they are not generally issues or problems we discuss openly or even frankly, yet they do have a large effect on our culture and society. These articles go to the heart of a number of these issues, name them, and openly discuss their effects on our society.
Naylor (1999) sets the tone in his introduction by discussing American culture, cultural and constituent identities, ethnic categories and distinct patterns of ideas, behaviors and products of American culture. He places emphasis on gaps between the ideal and the real America and the problems these pose for resolving the diversity issues facing Americans, including our idealization of individualism. Naylor defines culture as "the learned patterns of beliefs, behaviors and the products of these shared by, and in, groups of people."
While individualism is the most fundamental concept and is crucial to the belief system constituting the American world view, it is contrasted by the value of conformity. Wilcox (1999) analyzes these core values and the diversity of Americans. Some of the basic problems he analyzes include social stratification and class, social segmentation, linguistic diversity, race, ethnicity, discrimination, and the minority status of prejudice.
Following his examination of major problems presented by cultural and linguistic diversity, Wilcox goes on to identify and define the basic core values and associated orienting ideas in American culture. These include freedom, individualism, diversity, conformity, equality, work, achievement orientation, optimism, competence, honesty, sociability and authority. He contrasts the American dream, world view and reality with economic freedom, the free market, welfare (both individual and corporate), education (public and private), and affirmative action.
Social and religious freedom are core values within the American cultural ideology. Some of the major diversity issues confronting U.S. society include abortion issues, the meaning and influences of sin, sex and the American family according to Wilcox. Out faith in science and technology continues to be a vital issue in U.S. society. Failures of technology and/or man- made disasters severely affect our futures. Differences between religious fundamentalists and science continue to be issues of concern. Democratic and political freedom, linguistic freedom, bilingual education, medical freedom, HMOs, legal freedom, intellectual and academic freedom are just some of the problems and issues confronted. They are often based on self- interest, self-satisfaction, and self-justification regardless of what the actual facts might be.
Fujimura (1999) provides a brief case study of diversity and culture within the U.S. military, using the Navy as an example. She discusses the official vs the unofficial culture of the Navy as well as gender and ethnic cultures and notions of homosexuality. Though useful and somewhat informative, the limitations of generalizing from one service, a small sample size and a short period of time give a somewhat skewed picture of military culture. The Navy is the most conservative of the services and has some special conditions due to shipboard life experiences. A sample including the other services and relevant comparisons would enhance generalizability.
Lawson and Pillai (1999) present an in-depth discussion about the persistence of racism in America. Hate crimes, white supremacy groups, and attempts to eliminate affirmative action programs continue to plague attempts at overcoming discrimination and guaranteeing civil rights for all U.S. citizens.
Lawson and Pillai provide a brief historical overview of the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. Political protest and explanations for the persistence of racism are discussed and analyzed. A number of the relationships to income as a variable are discussed including family household disparities, unemployment, glass ceilings, educational achievements, and housing discrimination. Harley, Rollins and Middleton (1999) extend this discussion by analyzing discrimination and prejudice within the context of race, including discussion of environmental conditioning and categorization.
An additional area of diversity among Black Americans is explored by Gibbs (1999). Labeling and Afrocentricity are discussed as areas of concern affecting self-identity and cultural awareness. Class differences, popular culture and other divisions within Black culture as well as gender differences are discussed as factors affecting diversity within Black communities.
Ethnicity as a variable in the integration of psychological and social models is explored by Martin (1999). While ethnicity has emerged as the "politically correct" term for labeling racial and cultural diversity over the past decade, it is viewed as both the greatest strength and greatest challenge confronting U.S. society. Cultural pluralism as applied to 21st century social issues are discussed as important in the evolution of world advances in communications, transportation, globalization, and increased exposure of different cultures to each other on a daily basis. Martin discusses ethnicity as ethnic identity and presents an Identity Development Model (IDM).
Extending the discussion yet further, Williams (1999) explores the history and development of cultural diversity among poor people in America - including racial/ethnic discrimination and poverty. The culture of poverty (Lewis, 1968) and the function of poverty in the U.S. are discussed as well as attacks against the poor, the Great Society, and future support for the poor in a democratic society are analyzed.
Another form of cultural diversity explored by Kaminow (1999) involves that of generational differences. She contrasts "Baby Boomers" with Generation X or the "Whiny Generation", "The Slackers", "The Lost Generation", "The Postponed Generation". Both agree the Generation Xers were raised in a time of turmoil. Littwin (1986) described America's youth as feeling entitled to a nice place to live, a high-paying job in their liberal arts fields and happiness. Martin (1994) suggested that Generation X blames the Boomers for their lack of success. Littwin explained this sense of entitlement occurs because of the delusion of middle-class Americans of the 1960s who parented Generation X. The turmoil of the late 1960s brought social, financial and political upheaval. Littwin suggested that youth and America were spoiled and living in a fantasy world of high expectations and with a sense of entitlement without wanting to pay the price of hard work and self-denial. Kaminow (1999) goes on to discuss these and other characteristics and conflicts of the current generation of American youth and Generation X.
In a final article, McQuillan (1999) contrasts rugged individualism and educational opportunity. He does this by contrasting two fictional school cultures and briefly analyzing racial and ethnic tensions at the University of Colorado. Concepts of schools as collective institutions, "residential apartheid", "white privilege", and educational opportunity are contrasted and discussed.
Solutions to many of the problems of cultural diversity, while perhaps popular with a general public searching for easy solutions, tend to often be too simplistic and naive. Unfortunately they reflect the rather skewed perceptions of cultural diversity shared by many Americans. Those more familiar with the cultural diversity of America will find this volume stimulating and quite worthy of further discussion. Hopefully it will generate not only academic discussions and seminars, but other venues as well.
**************************************************************************
To order this book, go to the following and place the author's name or the title in the search engine: https://www.angelfire.com/biz/odochartaigh/searchbooks.html
**************************************************************************
REFERENCES
Author 1985. Webster's New Compact Dictionary. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Fujimura, C.K. 1999. Official and unofficial culture: The U.S. Navy. In Problems and Issues of Diversity in the United States. Naylor, L.L. (ed.). Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey, pp 55-66.
Gibbs, T. 1999. Diversity among Black Americans: Part of America's hidden diversity. In Problems and Issues of Diversity in the United States. Naylor, L.L. (ed.). Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey, pp 97-110.
Harley, D.A., Rollins, C.W. and Middleton, R.A. 1999. Discrimination and prejudice run amuck. In Problems and Issues of Diversity in the United States. Naylor, L.L. (ed.). Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey, pp 87-95.
Kaminow, B. 1999. X, lies and social signs: Defining. In Problems and Issues of Diversity in the United States. Naylor, L.L. (ed.). Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey, pp 147-160.
Lawson, E.J. and Pillai, V. 1999. The persistence of racism in America's cultural diversity. In Problems and Issues of Diversity in the United States. Naylor, L.L. (ed.). Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey, pp 67-86.
Lewis, O. 1968. The culture of poverty. In On Understanding Poverty. Moynihan, D.P. (ed.). New York: Basic Books.
Littwin, S. 1986. The Postponed Generation: Why American Youth Are Growing Up Later. New York: William Morrow.
Martin, D. 1994. The whiny generation. In The Gen X Reader. Rushkoff, Douglas (ed.). New York: Ballantine Books, pp 235-237.
Martin, K.P. 1999. The evolution of ethnic (ethnicity): Integrating psychological and social models. In Problems and Issues of Diversity in the United States. Naylor, L.L. (ed.). Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey, pp 111-129.
McQuillan, P.J. 1998. Educational Opportunity in an Urban American High School: A Cultural Analysis. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
McQuillan, P.J. 1999. Culture in conflict: Rugged individualism and educational opportunity in a Diverse Society. In Problems and Issues of Diversity in the United States. Naylor, L.L. (ed.). Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey, pp 161-183.
Naylor, L.L. 1999. Problems and Issues of Diversity in the United States. Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey.
Wilcox, D.M. 1999. American core values and questions of diversity. In Problems and Issues of Diversity in the United States. Naylor, L.L. (ed.). Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey, pp 19-53.
Williams, N. 1999. Cultural diversity among poor people. In Problems and Issues of Diversity in the United States. Naylor, L.L. (ed.). Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey, pp 131-145.
**************************************************************************
Contact your local Mental Health Center or check the yellow pages for counselors, psychologists, therapists, and other Mental health Professionals in your area for further information.
**************************************************************************
George W. Doherty O'Dochartaigh Associates Box 786 Laramie, WY 82073-0786
MENTAL HEALTH MOMENT Online: https://www.angelfire.com/biz3/news
