Name of Theory
Cultural identity
Introduction
Since the colonial era, a predominately Eurocentric Western cultural lens has been imposed widely, with adverse consequences for minority* couples and families. Despite increasing diversity, treatment approaches tend to adhere to Eurocentric cultural values like rationality and individuality, resulting in misperceptions that these values are universal. Similarly, Western treatment research values internal validity provided by randomized controlled trials over external validity that focuses on whether or not findings generalize to couples and families with diverse cultural identities who remain underrepresented in studies. These narrow, rigid definitions of normalcy often do not consider collectivist and extended family values or the varied family structures, gender roles, socialization, discrimination...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
American Psychological Association. (2002). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. Washington, DC: Author.
Benish, S. G., Quintana, S., & Wampold, B. E. (2011). Culturally adapted psychotherapy and the legitimacy of myth: A direct-comparison meta-analysis. Journal of Counseling Psychology. doi:10.1037/a0023626. Advance online publication.
Jernigan, M. M., Green, C. E., & Helms, J. E. (2017). Identity models. In S. Kelly (Ed.), Diversity in couple and family therapy: Ethnicities, sexualities, and socioeconomics (pp. 363–392). Santa Barbara: Praeger.
Kelly, S. (Ed.). (2017). Diversity in couple and family therapy: Ethnicities, sexualities, and socioeconomics. Santa Barbara: Praeger.
Knudson-Martin, C. (2017). Gender in couple and family life: Toward inclusiveness and equality. In S. Kelly (Ed.), Diversity in couple and family therapy: Ethnicities, sexualities, and socioeconomics (pp. 153–180). Santa Barbara: Praeger.
McGoldrick, M., & Hardy, K. V. (Eds.). (2008). Re-visioning family therapy: Race, culture, and gender in clinical practice (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
McIntosh, P. (1998). White Privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack. In M. McGoldrick (Ed.), Re-visioning family therapy: Race, culture, and gender in clinical practice (pp. 147–152). New York: The Guilford Press.
Schwarzbaum, S. E., & Thomas, A. J. (2008). Dimensions of multicultural counseling: A lifestory approach. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Sue, D. W., Ivey, A. E., & Pedersen, P. B. (1996). A theory of multicultural counseling and therapy. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2001). Mental health: Culture, race, and ethnicity: A supplement to Mental Health: A report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD: Author. Retrieved from http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/reports.
Walsh, F. (2016). Applying a family resilience framework in training, practice, and research: Mastering the art of the possible. Family Process, 55, 616–632. doi:10.1111/famp.12260.
Wood, W., & Eagly, A. H. (2002). A cross-cultural analysis of the behavior of women and men: Implication for the origins of sex differences. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 699–727.
Yip, T., Douglass, S., & Sellers, R. M. (2014). Ethnic and racial identity. In F. T. L. Leong, L. Comas-Diaz, G. C. N. Hall, V. C. McLoyd, & J. E. Trimble (Eds.), APA handbook of multicultural psychology, Theory and research (Vol. 1, pp. 179–205). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. doi:10.1037/14189-010.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Kelly, S., Omar, Y. (2017). Cultural Identity in Couples and Families. In: Lebow, J., Chambers, A., Breunlin, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_473-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_473-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-15877-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-15877-8
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences