About the Book
For practitioners and students seeking to deepen cultural sensitivity in clinical practice, this book examines the ethnic diversity of clients. It reveals the pervasive influence of race, ethnicity and power on the practitioner's own identity and interactions with others - clients, peers, subordinates and superiors. The author emphasizes the need for cross-cultural sensitivity amongst practitioners and shows how the power/lack of power, inherent in roles of clinician and client, can effect clinical processes and outcome. Drawing on examples from her clinical practice and the numerous cultural sensitivity training workshops she has conducted at universities, health facilities and professional meetings world-wide, the author helps individual practitioners to a better understanding of their own values and attitudes in daily clinical practice.
Table of Contents:
Culture, social interaction and the human services; understanding difference; understanding ethnicity; understanding race; understanding power; assessment. Afterword: beyond the cultural interface. Appendix: teaching methods.
Review :
Alvin F. Poussaint, M.D.Harvard Medical School, from the foreword"Understanding Race, Ethnicity, and Power" is a much-needed and long-overdue book...It will prove of substantial benefit not only to practitioners in mental health, but to scholars and professionals in education and the social sciences. Although it is clear that we are living in an increasingly complex multicultural society, we are doing very little to prepare our young people to prosper in it. I believe this volume should become required reading for all who aspire to careers in the field of human services.
Carolyn L. Attneave, Ph.D.University of WashingtonUnafraid to help others face painful self-discovery, Pinderhughes provides vignettes of experience to illustrate feelings and behaviors that emerge from our racial and ethnic heritages. Non-judgmentally she shows how these merge with experiences of the inequality of power inherent in our gender, social class, economic, and professional attitudes and values...This may be the most important book in the field to emerge in this decade, not just for those engaged in easily visible cross-cultural settings, but for all of us whose vocation is serving our fellow human beings.
Harry J. Aponte, A.C.S.W.Director, Family Therapy Training, Program of PhiladelphiaPinderhughes speaks expertly from life, academic scholarship, and experience in training clinicians about differences in race, ethnicity, and power. She sidesteps no difficult or uncomfortable issue, and manages to be both bold and even-handed in the treatment of the most sensitive issue in America today. With this original work, Pinderhughes challenges our ideas about race and ethnicity, while incorporating her insights into the practical everyday work of the clinician.
Monica McGoldrick, M.S.W.Robert Wood Johnson Medical SchoolPinderhughes steers us masterfully through the complexities of ethnicity, culture, race, and political power at the individual, family, group, and national level. She takes full account of the complexities of human identity in this clear, hardhitting, touching, and remarkable book. She explores how bias is learned, why difference causes discomfort, how we defend against it, and why practitioners need to understand these issues. No one who cares about families, culture, or human identity can afford not to read this book. it is a masterpiece.
Price Cobbs, M.D.Author of "Black Rage"Elaine Pinderhughes has written a timely and powerful book. Her judicious use of case studies and subtle insights illuminate how an understanding of race, culture, and ethnicity are vital underpinnings for both individual mental health and the therapeutic process. This book should be read and savored by all those interested in the crucial issues of cultural diversity.
Price Cobbs, M.D. Author of "Black Rage" Elaine Pinderhughes has written a timely and powerful book. Her judicious use of case studies and subtle insights illuminate how an understanding of race, culture, and ethnicity are vital underpinnings for both individual mental health and the therapeutic process. This book should be read and savored by all those interested in the crucial issues of cultural diversity.
Alvin F. Poussaint, M.D.Harvard Medical School, from the foreword
"Understanding Race, Ethnicity, and Power" is a much-needed and long-overdue book...It will prove of substantial benefit not only to practitioners in mental health, but to scholars and professionals in education and the social sciences. Although it is clear that we are living in an increasingly complex multicultural society, we are doing very little to prepare our young people to prosper in it. I believe this volume should become required reading for all who aspire to careers in the field of human services.
Carolyn L. Attneave, Ph.D.University of Washington
Unafraid to help others face painful self-discovery, Pinderhughes provides vignettes of experience to illustrate feelings and behaviors that emerge from our racial and ethnic heritages. Non-judgmentally she shows how these merge with experiences of the inequality of power inherent in our gender, social class, economic, and professional attitudes and values...This may be the most important book in the field to emerge in this decade, not just for those engaged in easily visible cross-cultural settings, but for all of us whose vocation is serving our fellow human beings.
Harry J. Aponte, A.C.S.W.Director, Family Therapy Training, Program of Philadelphia
Pinderhughes speaks expertly from life, academic scholarship, and experience in training clinicians about differences in race, ethnicity, and power. She sidesteps no difficult or uncomfortable issue, and manages to be both bold and even-handed in the treatment of the most sensitive issue in America today. With this original work, Pinderhughes challenges our ideas about race and ethnicity, while incorporating her insights into the practical everyday work of the clinician.
Monica McGoldrick, M.S.W.Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Pinderhughes steers us masterfully through the complexities of ethnicity, culture, race, and political power at the individual, family, group, and national level. She takes full account of the complexities of human identity in this clear, hardhitting, touching, and remarkable book. She explores how bias is learned, why difference causes discomfort, how we defend against it, and why practitioners need to understand these issues. No one who cares about families, culture, or human identity can afford not to read this book. it is a masterpiece.
Price Cobbs, M.D.Author of "Black Rage"
Elaine Pinderhughes has written a timely and powerful book. Her judicious use of case studies and subtle insights illuminate how an understanding of race, culture, and ethnicity are vital underpinnings for both individual mental health and the therapeutic process. This book should be read and savored by all those interested in the crucial issues of cultural diversity.
