Chapter 7: Multicultural Barriers and the Helping Professional: The Individual Interplay of Cultural Perspectives

Question 1

True/False

Question: Shame is an emotion felt at the group level, whereas guilt is an individual emotion.

Answer 1

true

Question 2

Which of the following has been described as a challenge faced by counselors in treating culturally diverse populations? SATA

a. linguistic barriers, because the United States is largely a monolingual society
b. to understand the worldviews, cultural values, and life circumstances of clients
c. to play roles other than that of “psychotherapist” based on the needs of the client
d. All of the choices are correct.

Answer 2

d

Question 3

One definition of _ _ is that it consists of all those things that people have learned to do, believe, value, and enjoy.

Answer 3

culture

Question 4

Which of the following are components of White culture?

a. rugged individualism
b. individual has primary responsibility for self
c. independence and autonomy highly valued
d. individual can control the environments
e. all of the above

Answer 4

e

Question 5

Describe what the YAVIS syndrome is and what effect may it have in working with diverse populations?

Answer 5

Therapists tend to prefer clients who exhibit the YAVIS syndrome: young, attractive, verbal, intelligent, and successful. The authors state that this preference tends to discriminate against people from different minority groups or those from lower socioeconomic classes.

Question 6

True/False

Question: Cognitive behavioral therapy, but not psychodynamic therapy, includes many components of White culture.

Answer 6

false

Question 7

True/False

Question: “Minority standard time” refers to the poor people’s tendency to disregard punctuality due to a conflict with their past-focused time orientation.

Answer 7

false

Question 8

Which of the following has been described as the three major categories of cultural barriers that can lead to an ineffective helping relationship with culturally diverse clients?

a. racial identity, health variables, and worldview orientation
b. culture-bound values, language variables, and class-bound values
c. culture-bound values, location, and language variables
d. None of the choices is correct.

Answer 8

b

Question 9

True/False

Question: Assertiveness training represents the White cultural value of emotional and behavioral expressiveness.

Answer 9

true

Question 10

Which of the following has been described as the most dominant affective expression emphasized by collectivism?

a. guilt
b. passivity
c. shame
d. sadness

Answer 10

c

Question 11

How should a lack of self-disclosure be understood when working with diverse populations?

Answer 11

• Most forms of counseling and psychotherapy tend to value one’s ability to self-disclose and to talk about the most intimate aspects of one’s life. Self-disclosure has often been discussed as a primary characteristic of a healthy personality.
• Therefore, clients who do not self-disclose readily in counseling and psychotherapy are seen to possess negative features; that is, being guarded, mistrustful, or paranoid.
• However, multicultural therapists must recognize that personal self-disclosure in some collectivistic societies is not acceptable because it may reflect poorly on the entire family and bring a collective sense of shame. Previous experiences in some groups may prohibit self-disclosure due to past history of racism.

Question 12

Nonlinear, holistic, harmonious, and intuitive thinking have been described as characterizing:

a. scientific methods
b. left-brain activities
c. right-brain activities
d. Western philosophies

Answer 12

c

Question 13

How should a counselor enter a situation with a client who is culturally different?

a. free from any preconceived notions or generalizations
b. with a mental list of generalizations from which to view the client
c. with guidelines to be tentatively applied, changed, and challenged
d. a and c

Answer 13

c

Question 14

What are considered two of the most overlooked topics in psychology and mental health practice?

a. openness and intimacy
b. social class and classism
c. individualism and collectivism
d. None of the choices is correct.

Answer 14

b

Question 15

Insight is considered a _ _ - _ _ value. Elaborate on why this is important in working with culturally diverse clients.

Answer 15

class-bound

Insight is a class-bound value because it assumes that people have time to sit back and contemplate motivations.

Question 16

Because of cultural misunderstandings, a counselor that works with a person from a minority background might conclude that the client is _ _ if he/she avoids eye contact.

a. repressed, inhibited, shy, or passive
b. angry and guilty
c. low in his/her racial identity
d. trying to manipulate the counselor

Answer 16

a

Question 17

Western society tends to value ___________, which involves linear thinking.

a. constructivism
b. intuition
c. collaboration
d. scientific empiricism

Answer 17

d

Question 18

Culturally diverse clients who do not conceive of mental and physical health as separate entities may expect

a. empathic listening
b. immediate solutions and tangible forms of treatment
c. psychoanalysis with a psychiatrist
d. None of the choices is correct.

Answer 18

b

Question 19

Describe therapeutic class bias.

Answer 19

Considerable bias against people who are poor

• In the area of diagnosis, it has been found that an attribution of mental illness is more likely when the person’s history suggested a lower rather than higher socioeconomic class origin
• The class-bound nature of mental health practice emphasizes the importance of assisting the client in self-direction through the results of assessment instruments and through self-exploration via verbal interactions between client and therapist. However, the assumptions underlying these activities are permeated by middle-class values that do not always apply to life in poverty. In an extensive historic research of services delivered to minorities and low socioeconomic clients, Lorion (1973) found that psychiatrists refer to therapy those persons who are most like themselves—White rather than non-White and from upper socioeconomic status

Question 20

True/False

Question: Almost all racial/ethnic minority groups are collateral compared with White Americans in their relationships with people.

Answer 20

true

Question 21

The view that a “bad” child was destined to be that way is most likely to be found among

a. Asian Americans
b. Hispanic Americans
c. African Americans
d. American Indians

Answer 21

b