Ellen L. Short

The Facets of Cultural Competence Searching Outside the Box

Sue’s proposed model is based on a critique of the Eurocentric assumptions underlying current clinical practice and reflects his innovative thinking and unique synthesis of past research. The specific areas addressed in this article focus on an examination of the multidimensional model of cultural competence (MDCC) and issues related to the definition of competence and its measurement. Areas of needed elaboration in the model include complexities related to power hierarchies (i.e., authority, authorization, and leadership) and implications for training and practice. Particular emphasis is placed on the complexities of cultural competence and the important contributions of Sue’s MDCC as an important step in making cultural competence a reality in the practice of counseling psychology.

From the Inside Out: Group Work With Women of Color

This article will present two models for conducting group work with Women of Color (WOC): the SisterCircle Approach and the Group Relations Model. The authors contend that the models, when used together, combine an internal and external focus (“inside out”) of group work that can assist group workers to conduct individual and group-level identity work with WOC and support them in developing integrated identities within social and political contexts that can be hostile to their existence. Theoretical foundations of the models, application, and best practices will be presented. Implications for practice and research will also be discussed.

The Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence: Racial and Ethnic Group Differences in Intelligence in the United States

This chapter focuses on the influence of environmental factors, especially instruction. It provides some of the more compelling reasons for believing that intelligence is changeable as a consequence of environmental factors. Beliefs, especially about intelligence, can have large effects, both beneficial and detrimental, on cognitive performance. Many researchers have identified working memory capacity as a factor that limits performance on cognitively demanding tasks. There is considerable agreement among many researchers on intelligence that both nature and nurture play major roles in determining intelligence and cognitive performance, despite differences of opinion regarding the relative contributions of the two types of factors. The obvious conclusion is that those who aspire to increase intelligence or to enhance peoples ability to perform cognitively demanding tasks, by instruction or other environmental means, are not tilting at windmills but are pursuing a reasonable goal.