The purpose of this paper is to write a personal reaction to Chapters 7 and 8 in the following text:
Pinderhughes, E. (1989). Understanding race, ethnicity, and power: The key to efficacy in clinical practice. NY: The Free Press.
I found this chapter very comprehensive and well-written. As a foundation for discussing the competencies needed in considering sociocultural, ethnic and race issues in clinical assessment, Pinderhughes first summarized the general competencies needed for effective intervention in clinical work with diverse cultural/ethnic groups. She then noted the association between these competencies and the competencies needed to conduct a meaningful assessment. Thus, this chapter of the book was neatly tied in with all that was written previously.
Pinderhughes also delineated all of the cultural, ethnic and racial considerations the clinician must be aware of as she assesses the client's problem. As a guide and a help to overcoming one's own biases in the assessment, Pinderhughes listed seven key questions which counselors should ask and answer.
What was especially good about these questions is that they were sufficiently broad in scope to include not only the cultural and ethnic issues that might be involved in the problem but also the general psychoemotional issues. Further, some of the questions allowed for general psychosocial and environmental concerns.
In her discussion of the competencies needed for assessment, Pinderhughes made the point that the clinician needs to make sure that neurotic stress response is not confused with what may be an appropriate cultural response. This is a very important point which Pinderhughes illustrates well by providing several examples of client reactions that are appropriate within their cultural context but quite easily seen as neurotic if considered solely from the Anglo-American cultural perspective.
Pinderhughes adds to the discussion by noting that desp...