Ethnicity and Family Therapy
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This paper is a discussion of Ethnicity and Family Therapy, a collection of essays edited by Monica McGoldrick, John K. Pearce, and Joseph Giordano, studying the importance and impact of ethnicity and culture in family therapy practice. Each individual's cultural background determines the way in which he or she deals with crisis and reacts to psychological problems. This background also affects the individual's family dynamics, and therapists who include the family in the treatment program must understand the ways in which ethnicity and culture can have an impact on the intervention process. This book includes a broad range of studies, profiling the ways in which different cultures view the family, consider time, and think about outside intervention. Although some factors that first appear to be related to culture turn out to cross ethnic boundaries, many other elements can affect the way a family reacts to therapy. The book also suggests that the therapist's own ethnic background is a factor for consideration, affecting his or her reactions to the family and interpretation of therapeutic efficacy. Ethnicity and Family Therapy provides a thought-provoking overview of the kinds of issues that must be considered in any approach to planning a family therapy treatment program. According to McGoldrick and her colleagues (1982), ethnic and cultural considerations have been largely ignored in family therapy study. Because the United States is so culturally diverse, includi
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n which problems themselves are defined. A Jewish family, for example, may consider itself in need of professional counselling when a child does not fulfill his or her full potential in school, while a Chinese family might consider disruptive classroom behavior as a sign of real trouble. An overly assertive child may be valued in one culture and proscribed in another, and an effective therapist needs to have a clear understanding of the cultural expectations that may influence specific behavior patterns.
McGoldrick and her colleagues include several chapters that deal with specific issues and examples of the ways in which understanding cultural differences can affect the therapist's work. One chapter discusses work done with a family of Vietnamese refugees, in which language barriers and a lack of social support had isolated the widowed mother in the family. Language is often a factor that needs to be addressed in family therapy, since new immigrants (especially older family members) often have more difficulty mastering English and are consequently unable to participate fully in the therapy process. In fact, language sometimes proves to be an obstacle within the family itself, as younger members and those born in America ma
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Approximate Word count = 2033
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)
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