Which psychological appraoch dose fit into African American experience in U.S.A.?

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I am writing on African American identity in Toni Morrison's latest novels within the framework of AA psychology.

My finding so far is Adelbert.H.Jenkins's Humanistic approach is the most potential and prevalent model.

Yet I am wonering who else the African American psychologists are in this study.

And also can Positive psychology be an alternative for AA psychology?

-- Michelle Jiyon Im (augey@iastate.edu), April 25, 2004

Answers

Hi Michelle, I am not an expert in this area, but I will share some of my views. I feel that many of the ideas of Humanistic Psychology and the more recent Positive Psychology movement can be helpful to many individuals and groups (including African Americans). They are somewhat different perspectives with different histories, but have in common the emphasis on being optimistic to increase goal attainment, as well as for benefiting physical and psychological health. I realize that often African Americans experience racial discrimination and many people have low expectations for them. These experiences may lead to negative consequences for African Americans (e.g., low self-esteem, low self-expectations, low paying jobs, giving up too easily, economic and social segregation, anger, and sometimes becoming overly defensive). Humanistic Psychology with its emphasis on everyone having free will, individual responsibility, and almost unlimited potential, may be of particular value to both minorities or majorities. Both of these models can foster an optimistic viewpoint that is important in motivating us to not give up too easily, as well as giving us a strong sense of personal moral responsibility. Humanistic Psychology also emphasizes empathy and valuing all humans, which may help us come closer to the goals of seeing things from another's point of view, treating people as individuals, and caring about everyone. On the other hand Behavioral, Biological, and Evolutionary perspectives in psychology, while not intrinsically incompatible with either the typical African American experience, optimism, or humanistic values, they nevertheless typically do not emphasize them quite as much as Humanistic Psychology and Positive Psychology. Behavioral, Biological, and Evolutionary perspectives also are more likely to be misused or abused. For example, they may be used to overemphasize biological or cultural constaints and lead to a sense of hopelessness or they may in some cases exaggerate group differences or focus too much on the differences. I personally have no problem with the Behavioral, Biological, or Evolutionary perspectives or for that matter almost any major perspective in mainstream contemporary psychology, since my experience has been that psychologists typically have strong social values. However, in the wrong hands some of their ideas can be overemphasized or distorted in ways that could possibly lead to more discrimination, more giving up, and more individuals rationalizing their failures or possibly waiting for some major source of assistance to come along before they attempt something that is difficult and takes a long time to accomplish. I think the field of Social Psychology deserves special recognition for helping us identify and reduce prejudice and discrimination, as well as convincing us that people are quite similar in their basic psychological processes. I hope this helps or at least stimulates someone to give a better response. Paul

-- Paul Kleinginna (pkleinginna@georgiasouthern.edu), April 25, 2004.

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