Diversity and Psychology
Derived from the Greek word, psyche "meaning 'breath, sprit, soul' and the Greek work logia meaning the study of something," the study of psychology is "the science of the mind and behavior" (Nordqvist, 2009). In the medical dictionary, psychology is "The profession (clinical psychology), scholarly discipline (academic psychology), and science (research psychology) concerned with the behavior of humans and animals and, related mental and physiological processes" (Nordqvist, 2009). In short, psychology is the science that answers the ever fascinating questions of how and why people and organisms think and behave in the manner in which they do. Psychology is imperative in the study of understanding and exploring one another and the people that surround us- society often looks to the study of psychology to explain the diverse population that inhabits the world. To that end, the concept of diversity is also another essential concept to comprehensively understand. Diversity, as defined by the University of California at Berkley, "refers to human qualities that are different from our own and those of groups to which we belong; but that are manifested in other individuals and groups" with a myriad of dimensions including "but not limited to age, ethnicity, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, sexual orientation, educational background, geographic location, income, marital status, military experience, parental status, religious beliefs, work experience, and job classification" (University of California, Berkley). The study of psychology is the science of mind and behavior while diversity "refers to the human qualities that are different from our own and those of groups to which we belong"- it only seems that these two concepts are intertwined in a way so that in order to truly understand someone's thought processes and behavior, then they should be understood within the context of diversity (University of California, Berkley). It is imperative that the scholarly community and society examine diversity through the lens of psychology and examine the following: how diversity is understood in psychology, how diversity impacts psychological...
In addition to the obvious categories of diversity including "race, ethnicity and sexual orientation" there are also "hidden diversity categories" including political views, religious beliefs and socioeconomic backgrounds (McClintock Greenberg, 2010). These categories mentioned that individuals may fall into comprise diversity in our community's have an impact, or at least an influence, on the way that people think and behave. When psychologists work with these groups of individuals, a strong sense of the diverse nature needs to be grasped in order to truly understand the thoughts and behaviors that may result. Psychologist need to strive "to apply culturally appropriate skills in clinical and other applied psychological practices" (Manesse, Saito, & Rodolfa). To understand the diverse nature of the human population and the animal population, psychologist can make more informed scholarly conclusions about the thoughts and behaviors of these organisms.
Furthermore, another question to understand in the realm of diversity and psychology is how diversity impacts psychological considerations. Knowing that diversity influences people's thoughts and behaviors, special psychological consideration need to be taken in to consideration in order to help an individual progress and move forward. For example, if there was an elderly gentleman who became physically disabled due to complications from a stroke or heart attack, the healthy psychologist on hand would make an assessment that would take into consideration "a number of factors including racism, able-ism, fluency in English, changes in social status, mobility, multiple identities, generational history, family and "community" resources to gain an understanding about how they relate to the presenting problem,…
