Immigrant Experience and Psychology

¶ … Hispanic psychology has allowed clinical researchers to study the unique complexities of the Hispanic experience. Among the cornerstones of Hispanic psychology include issues related to biculturalism, acculturation, the immigrant experience, racism, oppression, in-group/out-group relations, and identity construction. Hispanic psychology has both individual, behavioral-cognitive components, as well as social-psychological components. Relevance This article is relevant to both the text and lecture material on ethnicity, identity, and psychology. Issues related to cultural competence, and the biases within the social science are also relevant.

This article helps to remove cultural bias in the field of psychology in particular because instead of imposing culturally biased frameworks and paradigms, Hispanic psychology uses a culturally specific and relevant paradigm. Also, this article is relevant to specific lessons and readings on Hispanic culture. Hispanic culture is itself heterogeneous, and within the overall rubric of Hispanic culture there are many subsets of identity from Nicaraguan to Cuban. Reflection In my experience, the field of psychology can be biased toward a white European model.

The behaviors that are believed to be normative or deviant differ depending one's cultural or ethnic background. It is impossible to truly divorce the subject from his or her cultural background. Culture, ethnicity, and language play major roles in individual identity formation. I have friends from many different ethnic backgrounds and even the language they use to refer to their feelings and other abstract concepts is different from my own. Field Application This article relates to the field experience this week in several ways.

First, it shows that it is indeed possible to reform traditional bodies of research and approaches to clinical psychology. Second, our field experience also shows that individual behavior can be understood much better within a culturally appropriate framework and theoretical viewpoint. Finally, the field experience reveals the similarities among a diverse community of Hispanics, just as the article shows the intersections between the various Hispanic communities in terms of their shared experiences. Visual Examples The first image shows a human hand with many different flags from Latin countries.

I selected this image because it highlights the diversity of the Hispanic experience, which is important to consider. The second image is that of a soccer match, which is one of the cultural elements that tends to unite different Hispanic cultures. I selected this image to correspond with the article's discussion of cultural commonalities and the ways acculturation is mitigated by some attachments to culture-specific issues like foods, language, or sports.

References Image 1: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjHsLvG2aHQAhUWzWMKHYqyDfEQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dealerelite.net%2Fprofiles%2Fblogs%2Fa-recipe-for-connecting-hispanic-consumers-to-your-dealership&psig=AFQjCNG-EddH0a69-1l2n3tyhKXpbh9DOw&ust=1478987719707085 Image 2: https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fhispanic-marketing.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F06%2FGatorade-World-Cup-2014-Ad1-495x400.png&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fhispanic-marketing.com%2Fhispanic-culture%2F&docid=3sf5IC2qRhJNXM&tbnid=KIIetigIR8hY9M%3A&vet=1&w=495&h=400&safe=off&bih=676&biw=1191&ved=0ahUKEwi-m6Te2KHQAhUQ8GMKHSkQBIQQMwhxKDEwMQ&iact=mrc&uact=8 Padilla, A.

M. (2002). Hispanic psychology: A 25-year retrospective look. In W. J. Lonner, D. L. Dinnel, S. A. Hayes, & D. N. Sattler (Eds.), Online Readings in Psychology and Culture (Unit 3, Chapter 3), Center for Cross-Cultural.