J. Manuel Casas

Hispanic masculinity: myth or psychological schema meriting clinical consideration

Given the significant upsurge in research on White males of European origin that documents a relationship between the construct of male gender identity (i.e., machismo) and physical and mental health, there is a clinical need to study and understand this construct and its relationship to health across diverse racial/ethnic groups, including, but not limited to, Hispanics. To help develop such understanding, this article first directs attention to a psychologically based gender schema theory that in the past 2 decades has received quite a bit of attention from researchers studying gender identity within the White majority populace. In focusing on this theory, the intention is to demonstrate how it can be used to provide a solid theoretical basefor clinical work with men whose social, mental, and physical well-being is negatively affected by their staunch adherence to a rigid traditional male gender identity. Specific recommendations that both researchers and clinical practitioners might take into consideration vis-a-vis this construct in their respective work are presented.

Mexican Americans and mental health: A selected review and recommendations for mental health service delivery

Eight working assumptions are generated from the literature in three problem areas and evaluated with recently published quantitative data, paying particular attention to variation within the ethnic group. Assumptions that Mexican Americans have few emotional problems, primarily use a folk medical system, do not rely on clergymen for emotional support, and have negative attitudes toward mental health services are rejected. Two assumptions are qualified: Mexican Americans have some emotional problems at different rates than Anglos and some Mexican subgroups are relatively unaware of mental health services. There is confirmation of the Mexican American extended family support system and mental health policies which variously discourage utilization by Mexican Americans. Implications for mental health service delivery are discussed.

Achieving Ethnic Parity in Counseling Psychology

With the increasing diversification of the population comes an increased need for ethnic minority psychologists. Most counseling psychology programs will have to dramatically increase the numbers of ethnic minority students they enroll and faculty they hire to achieve parity and meet the need for more ethnic minority counseling psychologists in the future. This article describes the preconditions and strategies needed to recruit, to select, and to support ethnic minority students and faculty in counseling psychology programs.

A Reflection on the Status of Racial/Ethnic Minority Research:

This article provides a nonexhaustive and critical review of selective research on client-counselor variables to exemplify the type and status and/or quality of work conducted on racial/ethnic minorities. In addition, specific and generic methodological and professional recommendations for improving the quality of research across topics and variables are proposed.

Educational placements of students with emotional and behavioral disorders served by probation, mental health, public health, and social services

This study examined child and family risk factors and behavioral indices of youths with emotional and behavioral disorders to determine critical factors that predicted the restrictiveness of their educational placements. Placements were defined on a broad continuum which ranged from general education classrooms to residential treatment and incarceration facilities. Results indicated that a discriminant function model which incorporated age, Caucasian identification, juvenile justice involvement, CAFAS score, family history of mental illness, substance use and school attendance indices correctly classified the placement of 53% of the students. Variables of student behavior, severity of behavior, and risk factors such as abuse and out-of-home care were not reliable predictors of placement. These findings are discussed in the context of system of care efforts to reform service system response to youths with special education and mental health needs and their families.

First impressions count: Ethnic/racial and lesbian/gay/bisexual content of professional psychology application materials

This article will help you learn about using application materials as one way to attract incoming ethnic/racial and lesbian/gay/bisexual (LGB) minority graduate students. Such materials are often an applicants first exposure to psychology programs and are typically overlooked as tools to be used to communicate multicultural information. The authors demonstrate that professional psychology training programs approved by the American Psychological Association that have application packets with more ethnic/racial and LGB content have significantly higher numbers of ethnic/racial minority students. The data from this study also indicate that programs are making small gains in using application packages to communicate ethnic/racial minority concerns and almost never mention LGB-related issues. Recommendations are offered to help professional psychology programs make better use of application materials to attract greater numbers of ethnic/racial and LGB minority students.

Cigarette and Smokeless Tobacco Use among Migrant and Nonmigrant Mexican American Youth

Increase in smoking/tobacco-related diseases among the Hispanic population calls for an examination of its use among this population. This study examined the relationship between gender, level of cultural identification, migrant status, and grade level and tobacco use and perception of its harn among Mexican American youth. Results showed males more likely to use cigarettes (occasional and daily) and smokeless tobacco than females when grade, cultural identification, and migrant status of parents are held constant. No gender effect was found for lifetime cigarette use. The odds of using cigarettes and smokeless tobacco increase substantially across grades. Effects were foundfor Mexican American/Spanish and AnglolWhite American cultural identification and daily cigarette use. Youths who belonged to nonmigrant families or who identified with a traditional Mexican American/Spanish culture were more likely to consider regular tobacco use as harmful. These and other findings are discussed from the perspective offuture research and prevention and intervention efforts.

Counseling Psychology's Public Image:

One of the major issues in need of increased attention from professionals in the field of counseling psychology is that of public image. What type of image do we, as members of the discipline, wish to project? And how may we further the perception that counseling psychology is a vital resource to be utilized in addressing societal issues? This report, comprising several working papers presented at the Third National Conference for Counseling Psychology: Planning the Future (the Georgia conference), approaches these issues first, by providing a capsulated overview of pertinent literature in the field and, second, by forwarding a number of recommendations or action plans for the development and promotion of a positive professional image among academicians, practitioners, and the public at large. As a means of implementation for the recommendations made, an Ad Hoc Committee on Public Image was formulated and subcommittees identified to address academic, media-related, and political concerns.

The Categorization of Ethnic Stereotypes by University Counselors.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of cognitive organizational factors on stereotyping. Using a free-sort task, it was found that university counselors tend to form constellations of stereotypes that correspond to specific ethnic groups. Although there was a tendency not to differentiate Anglo and Asian American stereotypes, Chicano stereotypes were well differentiated from the other two groups. Implications for research and the provision of mental health services are discussed. El propósito de éste estudio fue el investigar el impacto de factores organizacionales cognoscitivos en los estereotipos. Al utilizar una tarea de distribución libre de estímulos, se encontró que consejeros universitarios tienden a formar una constelación de estereotipos que corresponde a grupos étnicos específicos. Aunque se encontró una tendencia a no diferenciar los estereotipos del Anglo y del Asiático-Americano, los estereotipos de los Chicanos estaban bien diferenciados del estereotipo de los otros dos grupos. El trabajo discute las implicaciones de los resultados encontrados para la investigación y la provision de servicios de salud mental.

Case Study of a Community Mental Health Collaborative: Impact on Identification of Youths with Emotional or Behavioral Disorders

The participants in Santa Barbara Countys Multiagency Integrated System of Care (MISC) have serious emotional or behavioral disorders that require collaboration among family members, health and safety-net agencies, education, and community-based organizations. This investigation compares the characteristics of students referred to school-administered special education services due to emotional or behavioral disorders (E/BD) prior to initial opening into the system of care and those identified as having E/BD after the initial opening into MISC. At the time this study was conducted, serious emotional disturbance (SED) was the term use in California; however, to reflect current terminology the term E/BD is used throughout this article. The purpose of this study was to (a) investigate the influences of cross-agency coordinated service delivery on the frequency of special education eligibility both locally and statewide (California); (b) examine the psychosocial histories, presenting problems, and diagnostic information of E/BD-identified students in the MISC program; and (c) examine issues related to concerns that the implementation of collaborative systems of care will increase E/BD identification rates. During the implementation of a cross-agency, colocated service delivery system, the number of county youths who were eligible for public mental health services in Santa Barbara County increased from 956 to 1,826. At the same time, the number of youths residing in the county who were eligible for special education E/BD services increased from 101 to 204. Whether these youths with E/BD, who were identified by the schools after the system of care was in place, represent a distinct group is explored. Issues related to the interpretation of findings and for improving understanding of identification patterns for students with E/BD are offered.