Читать книгу Introduction to Abnormal Child and Adolescent Psychology - Robert Weis - Страница 44

As we have seen, children’s mental health problems must be understood in the context of their family’s cultural background and experiences. Culture refers to the values, knowledge, and practices that people derive from their membership in social groups. It reflects their history, developmental experiences, and current social contexts that shape their perspective. Aspects of one’s culture include their geographic origin, migration status, language, religion, disability status, sexual orientation, and identity. Culture is highly influenced by people’s social network—that is, their family, friends, and members of their community (Comas-Diaz & Brown, 2018).

Race is a culturally constructed category that can be used to divide people into groups based on superficial physical traits. Although race has no agreed-upon biological definition, race is used by the US Census Bureau for demographic purposes and racial identification can influence people’s values, beliefs, and actions. In the United States, race categories include White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. People can also identify as multiracial (English et al., 2020).

Ethnicity is a culturally constructed identity that is used to define groups of people and communities. A child’s ethnicity can be rooted in a common history, geographic location, language, religion, or shared experience that distinguishes one group from others. For example, an adolescent might identify as Latino because he was born in Latin America. He might be White, Black, indigenous American, Mestizo, or multiracial. Another adolescent might identify as Hispanic because she speaks Spanish. She might have been born in Barcelona, Buenos Aires, or Baltimore. A third adolescent might identify as a Honduran American immigrant. Although he was born in Latin America and speaks Spanish, his experiences immigrating to the United States with his family are most important to his identity and worldview (Comas-Diaz & Brown, 2018).

Mental health professionals must carefully differentiate symptoms of a mental disorder from behaviors and psychological states that are sanctioned in a given society or culture. For example, a 3-year-old named Joseph insists on sleeping with his parents at night. Although Joseph’s refusal to go to bed by himself may indicate a sleep disorder, it might also reflect his family’s social–cultural beliefs and values. For example, in many non-Western societies, requiring young children to sleep alone is considered cruel and detrimental to their social and emotional development. If Joseph’s sleeping is culturally appropriate, it does not concern his parents, and it does not limit his family’s activities, it would not be classified as a mental health problem (Mindell, Sadeh, Kwon, & Goh, 2013).