Psychology of Multiculturalism Identity Gender and the Recognition of Minority Rights

¶ … Psychology of Multiculturalism: Identity, Gender, And the Recognition of Minority Rights

This paper looks at the issue of multiculturalism, its development, its use by society and the ways in which the field of psychology have reacted towards, and used, multiculturalism. Firstly, a brief history of the meaning of multiculturalism will be entered in to, next a brief discussion of the work of five authors (in particular Kymlicka, Taylor and Gerd) who have been influential in the development of research about multiculturalism will be presented, and then the psychology of multiculturalism will be discussed, from the viewpoint of how multiculturalism has been embraced by psychologists.

What exactly is multiculturalism? Everyone has a different idea of the meaning of this word in their minds, and consequently many different meanings of multiculturalism float around in the literature and in popular speak. Multiculturalism has gained particular significance in the United States, where there have been severe cases of arbitrary racism, which are obviously opposed to multiculturalism, and also to the dictates of the American constitution: multiculturalism has, therefore, largely been defined in legal terms in the United States, in terms of defining multiculturalism and also defining legal sanctions against racial hatred and abuse, with these legal definitions and statutes then being used for shaping policy implementation (in education, for example) (Makedon, 1996).

Following this definition, largely enshrined in legal terminology, and based on the American Constitution, and people's (society's) adherence to this, then, this largely means that multiculturalism roughly equates to 'equality for all' which means that all people - of whatever age, sex, race - should be given a fair chance within society as a whole, for jobs, for education and for access to a decent standard of living (Makedon, 1996).

Under other definitions, multicultural identity can be seen to be an expression of freedom, an expression of cultural values, under which everyone is able to express their cultural values and beliefs, and that this expression will be accepted: many people argue that true multiculturalism comes when people from different cultural backgrounds can come together to join other cultures, to assimilate with those other cultures (Makedon, 1996).

This, unfortunately, is where the problem with the term 'multiculturalism' arises, as - for people of 'minority' racial and ethnic backgrounds - there is a sense, in United States societies, that 'multiculturalism' actually means 'assimilation' i.e., adherence to a set of cultural values, usually 'white' cultural values, such that 'multiculturalism' is, in practice, little more than racism in disguise - 'we recognize you are of Latin American descent, and we respect that, but we would prefer it if you could join with other cultures" says society as a whole, where the 'join' means 'become like us or fail'.

It is interesting to note that white American 'culture' is so strong that the world is becoming 'Americanized': Coca-Cola bottles are everywhere, and the decadent lifestyle of rich Americans is the envy of everyone the world over, with levels of obesity, due to the sedentary, do-as-little-as-possible lifestyle rising in many Western European countries, for example, which have been taken over by the 'American dream'. It seems that this lifestyle is the envy of many, and it is not difficult to see why not, as Americans are amongst the most privileged people in the world, with a stable economy, food in ample supply, enough jobs to ensure everyone is fed etc.

Multiculturalism can therefore be seen as the 'weaning out' of the ethnic territory of citizens of a many-cultured democracy, under which multiculturalism is reflected at the social level with the psychological changes that occur within individual members of a society when they embrace many cultures: it has been argued that as a result of traumas suffered as part of a 'minority' group, a member of that ethnic group may eschew their ethnicity and enter in to the multicultural mass at large in order to avoid being perceived, by society as whole, as a member of that traumatized group (Makedon, 1996). This phenomena, which is labeled as ' escape from the traumatized self' by psychologists is well documented in ethnic and assimilation studies, in which people have been shown to disavow their native culture in favor of the dominant white culture (Makedon, 1996).

Under this definition, therefore, again, it appears that one is allowed to 'pick and choose' ones culture, citizenship, and date and time of conversion to another culture: multiculturalism, under this definition, therefore seems to suggest that birth has little impact or effect on one's cultural heritage; rather, one is free to choose which culture one would like to be a part of, instead of having this ascribed to us, on the basis of previous group affiliation or physical characteristics (Makedon, 1996). This, again, is questionable reasoning, especially in view of the fact that if one looks at the racial/ethnic background of high-ranking employees in any public - or private - sector organization, the great majority of these people are white: it seems that the dominant culture in the 'multicultural' United States society is white. This, and many other similar arguments, have led many to suggest that multiculturalism is little more than racism in disguise: the wolf in Granny's clothing like in the popular childhood fairy tale: "we're going to make you feel safe and wanted, but underneath, we're going to eat you up unless you change, and even if you do change, we won't fully accept you." The view of multiculturalism as a modern expression of the political principles that allow both for majority rule and respect for the rights of minorities (Makedon, 1996) is acceptable in principle, and is great dinner party talk for members of the dominant culture, but until there is true equality within U.S. society as a whole, multiculturalism will be little more than a political ideal, little more than dinner party talk.

What have other writers said about the issue of multiculturalism? Kymlicka's milestone 1995 text Multicultural Citizenship: A Liberal Theory of Minority Rights focuses on the theory of multiculturalism and the issue of group rights, and argues that liberalism is inadequate, as it is too concerned with individual rights, to the detriment of group rights. Kymlicka uses many examples, which are taken mostly from Canadian politics and society, to illustrate his main point, which is that the culturally diverse society in which we live has meant that issues of identity and rights are central to an understanding of how such culturally diverse societies can live together: indeed, one definition Kymlicka highlights often is the definition of multiculturalism as the inclusion of 'perspectives of women, minorities, and non-Western cultures in recognition of the increasingly diverse character of life in modern Western societies' (from The Columbia Dictionary of Modern Literary and Cultural Criticism). Kymlicka is largely entirely supportive of the way in which multiculturalism, as a veil, offers a defense to individual rights, but his tone is rather doom-filled throughout, with a view to how collective individual rights can be translated in to a fair and equal and just society: he is, after all, aiming to elaborate from his discussion fundamental principles of justice.

It has been argued by many that Kymlicka's definition of culture is flawed, from a societal perspective, as Kymlicka appears to define culture as 'a nation, that is, a historical community, more or less institutionally complete, occupying a given territory or homeland, sharing a distinct language and culture' (McDonald, 2004). This dismisses the problems endured by many 'subcultures' such as gays, the disabled, the poor, by saying that the problems with these groups arise from within their own culture, and as such, that they are not relevant to his main points of discussion, and so many people have dismissed Kymlicka's theories, as too idealized (McDonald, 2004).

The issue of multiculturalism is therefore fraught with problems, stemming from problems with providing workable, all-inclusive definitions for basic concepts such as 'culture': Kymlicka's book was important in that it stimulated debate about the issue of multiculturalism, as much for what was in the book as for what was left out.

Other authors, such as Charles Taylor, with his 1994 book Multiculturalism: examining the politics of recognition, reinforce the problems with attempting to implement multiculturalism in to policy: marginalized groups tend, for ease, for example, to be grouped in to one cultural group, which then defeats the whole implicit purpose of multiculturalism. Taylor's politics of recognition was a call to arms for politicians and policy makers alike, as in the book he argues that culture, identity, is mostly formed on the basis of the recognition, or non-recognition, we receive from others: indeed he states on his opening page, "Due recognition is not just a courtesy we owe people: it is a vital human need." Later in the book, he talks about the issue of recognition and worth, and points out that the multiculturalism debate tends to reinforce the negative psychological effects of belonging to a minority culture, rather than offering any respite at all for members of these minority cultures.

We have seen what effect multiculturalism has had on society as a whole, and how certain academics have attempted to address these issues, but what effect has the issue of multiculturalism had on the field of psychology?

As we have seen, white North American culture is dominant in the United States, with this culture overtaking and assimilating many other cultures, yet the population of North America is changing, as an influx of Hispanics, Latin Americans, Asians and many other racial groups have immigrated in to North America (Saeman and Thomas, 2004). Indeed, Hispanics and Latin Americans now hold 21 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, and 39 seats are held by African-Americans (Saeman and Thomas, 2004).

How has psychology reacted to the cultural changes, and is the field of psychology ready for the revolutionary changes that some are calling for to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse populations (Saeman and Thomas, 2004)? Psychology is moving on a couple of fronts to meet the new challenges that multiculturalism poses for both the profession and the nation: the subject of development and embracing the multicultural challenge received increased attention beginning in 1998 and 1999 when a group of five psychologists of color envisioned a three-year "window of opportunity" to make a meaningful difference in the ethnic minority issues in the profession (Saeman and Thomas, 2004).

These five members foresaw revolutionary changes that would make the APA a multicultural organization "that would produce culturally sensitive and aware psychologists": the five - Derald Wing Sue, Ph.D., Rosie P. Bingham, Ph.D., Lisa Porche-Burke, Ph.D., Melba Vasquez, Ph.D., and Steve James, Ph.D., - were motivated to increase the attention paid to multicultural issues by the election of Richard Suinn, Ph.D., as the first Asian-American president of APA in 1998 (Saeman and Thomas, 2004).

Responding to Suinn's call for more emphasis on multiculturalism, they planned the first National Multicultural Conference and Summit in January 1999 in Newport Beach, CA (Saeman and Thomas, 2004). Out of that conference emerged an evolving definition of multiculturalism that went beyond the limited traditional ethnic-minority orientation to include other groups that feel excluded from the mainstream of psychology (Saeman and Thomas, 2004). Proposed guidelines for clinical competencies in dealing with diverse populations also emerged from the conference: an important milestone in dealing with minority groups (Saeman and Thomas, 2004).

About the same time, the APA's Committee of State Leaders initiated a program to increase the number of ethnic minorities in state psychological association membership and leadership (Saeman and Thomas, 2004). Elected to head the diversity initiative was Rita Dudley-Grant, Ph.D., past president of the Association of Virgin Islands Psychologists: a native Virgin Islander who practices in St. Croix, Dudley-Grant sees parallels between the increased interest in multiculturalism and the struggles to win civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s (Saeman and Thomas, 2004). Dudley-Grant argues that the goal in civil rights was to get into the door, to gain parity by enabling disenfranchised people to gain access to educational, employment and housing resources, hoping the problems of discrimination would be solved; however, she noted, not accomplished completely in the civil rights struggle was attitudes by the prevailing white society (Saeman and Thomas, 2004).

If we can't change a person's internal understanding of people with difference backgrounds and if we can't change someone's innate attitude toward other groups, there will always be a division and difficulty in gainful parity or equality, not only of opportunity, but interaction as well," Dudley-Grant said, and when asked what a "multiculturalist" would ideally hope for in an ideal society, she said: "At this point, I can't get into the leadership positions that I want to be in. I can't get into the decision-making positions that I feel qualified for. I don't get the promotions I should be getting, and I am not invited to the backroom conversations where real decisions are made" (Saeman and Thomas, 2004).

The 1999 National Multicultural Conference and Summit in Newport Beach also resulted in an article that appeared in a recent issue of the American Psychologist: in this article, the authors charged that "our professional associations and other organizations have been slow in developing new policies, practices and structures to accommodate the diversity of our society and our social, economic and political systems seem inadequate and often ill prepared to deal with the challenges posed by racial and ethnic minority groups and communities" (Saeman and Thomas, 2004).

The article continued that "multiculturalism has been discussed primarily from a racial and ethnic perspective but must include the broad range of significant differences (race, gender sexual orientation, ability and disability, religion, class, etc.)" (Saeman and Thomas, 2004). In short, the authors say, multiculturalism rejects the European white monoculture that has historically defined the prevailing cultural norm and which has driven practice, training and research during the last century (Saeman and Thomas, 2004). Finally, the article predicted the APA would have to undergo "revolutionary" changes if the authors' dream of a multicultural profession is to become a reality (Saeman and Thomas, 2004).

While recognizing that all revolutions have ebb and flow, peaks and valleys, Porche-Burke, president of Phillips Graduate Institute in Encino, CA, says she thinks the attention multiculturalism is now receiving by APA represents a significant start toward the inclusion of multiculturalism in the practice of psychology (Saeman and Thomas, 2004). Porche-Burke, who represents Division 45 (Society for the Study of Ethnic Minority Issues) on the APA Council of Representatives, said "it will take more than folks of color to make the revolution complete. It will take the entire psychology community to recognize that it can no longer exclude from consideration and study those populations that have long been unrepresented" (Saeman and Thomas, 2004).