The Concept of Race and Psychotherapy

The Concept of Race and Psychotherapy
Author: Jefferson M. Fish
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2010-11-05
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1441975764

Is our society color-blind? Trans-racial? Post-racial? And what—if anything—should this mean to professionals in clinical practice with diverse clients? The ambitious volume The Concept of Race and Psychotherapy probes these questions, compelling readers to look differently at their clients (and themselves), and offering a practical framework for more effective therapy. By tracing the racial “folk taxonomies” of eight cultures in the Americas and the Caribbean, the author elegantly defines race as a fluid construct, dependent on local social, political, and historical context for meaning but meaningless in the face of science. This innovative perspective informs the rest of the book, which addresses commonly held assumptions about problem behavior and the desire to change, and presents a social-science-based therapy model, applicable to a wide range of current approaches, that emphasizes both cultural patterns and client uniqueness. Among the highlights of the coverage: Common elements in therapy and healing across cultures. The psychological appeal of racial concepts despite scientific evidence to the contrary. Lessons psychology can learn from anthropology. Three types of therapeutic relationships, with strategies for working effectively in each. The phenomenon of discontinuous change in brief therapy. Solution-focused therapy from a cross-cultural perspective. Thought-provoking reading for psychologists, psychiatrists, clinical social workers, and other mental health professionals as well as graduate students in these fields, The Concept of Race and Psychotherapy affirms the individuality—and the interconnectedness—of every client.

Mexico's Merchant Elite, 1590-1660

Mexico's Merchant Elite, 1590-1660
Author: Louisa Schell Hoberman
Publisher: Duke University Press
Total Pages: 380
Release: 1991
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780822311348

Combining social, political, and economic history, Louisa Schell Hoberman examines a neglected period in Mexico's colonial past, providing the first book-length study of the period's merchant elite and its impact on the evolution of Mexico. Through extensive archival research, Hoberman brings to light new data that illuminate the formation, behavior, and power of the merchant class in New Spain. She documents sources and uses of merchant wealth, tracing the relative importance of mining, agriculture, trade, and public office. By delving into biographical information on prominent families, Hoberman also reveals much about the longevity of the first generation's social and economic achievements. The author's broad analysis situates her study in the overall environment in which the merchants thrived. Among the topics discussed are the mining and operation of the mint, Mexico's political position vis-a-vis Spain, and the question of an economic depression in the seventeenth century.

Diagnosing America

Diagnosing America
Author: Shepard Forman
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Total Pages: 330
Release: 1995
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780472083367

A clarion call to anthropologists to help address critical social problems that tear at the fabric of our society