Psych 322: AFAM Personality Final Exam

Sullivan, H.S. (1964): "The fusion of psychiatry and social science"

"Heterosexual activity seems to be one of the few unrestricted recreational outlets (for Negroes). I judge that there are many definitely promiscuous people and that this laxity arises from factors of personality development as well as from a promiscuous culture."

Terman, "The measurement of intelligence" (1916)

"No amount of school instruction will ever make them intelligent voters or capable citizens in the sense of the world...their dullness seems to be racial, or at least inherent in the family stock from which they come...Children of this group should be segregated in special classes and be given instruction which is concrete and practical. They cannot master abstractions, but they can be made efficient workers...There is no possibility at present of convincing society that they should not be allowed to reproduce, although from a eugenic point of view they constitute a grave problem because of their unusual prolific breeding." Lewis

Kenneth Clark's quote

"Professor Sumner had rigorous standards for his students. And he didn't just teach psychology. He taught integrity. And although he led the way for other Blacks in psychology, Sumner would permit no nonsense about there being anything like a 'Black psychology,' any more than he would have allowed any nonsense about a 'Black astronomy.' In this and in many other ways, Sumner was a model for me. In fact, he has always been my standard when I evaluate myself."

Kardiner and Ovesey

"The Mark of Oppression" (1951): -Black personality viewed as sum total oppression experienced in America -Racism has deformed the psyche of Black people -"there is not one personality trait of the Negro the source of which cannot be traced to his difficult living conditions. There are no exceptions to this rule. The final result is a wretched internal life..." -Black people suffer from low self-esteem -Three traits are primary: 1. conviction of unlovability: not worthy of love 2. diminution of affectivity: lack of feeling 3. uncontrolled hostility: angry black man/woman -that the negro must identify with himself is the most disturbing. he therefore adopts a compensatory identification with the white many, who he hates. The enormous amount of aggression that is mobilized in the Negro prevents any health self-esteem from getting a foothold -middle-class Blacks are particularly vulnerable to low self-esteem. this is due to them having higher expectations than lower class Blacks -Generalizations were based on interviews with 25 people (psychoanalytical): "our constant control was the American White man. We required no other control." -It is always with the Negro, who "identifies himself with feces" is vindictive, and fails in his social relations with other Black men because of his own projected self-contempt

McDougall, W. (1921): "Is America safe for democracy?"

"The colored men of this country are largely, I suppose, of mixed White and Negro descent. It may be suggested that the native inferiority in respect to this quality (intelligence) is an evil effect of crossbreeding of these two widely dissimilar races. This is a possibility. But facts are strongly against it. First the colored men of the Northern states showed distinct superiority to those of the South. Have they not a large proportion of White blood? I do not know, but I suspect it...We have allegation frequently made, that every colored man who has risen to distinction has been of mixed blood. It is perhaps difficult to prove the rule, but it is difficult to find exceptions."

More Black Psychology

"toward a Black psychology" -published by Joseph White in Ebony magazine (1970) -the journal of black psychology (1974)

Mentacide (Bobby Wright, 1978)

-"Mentacide is the murder of the human being's mind" -two types: alienating mentacide and peripheral mentacide -behavior results in stress that may produce disease -AXIS I, II, III, and IV

Ferguson, G.O. (1916): "The Psychology of the Negro"

-"No two races in history, taken as a whole, differ so much in their traits, both physical and psychic, as the Caucasians and African. The color of the skin and the crookedness of the hair are only the outward signs of many far deeper differences, including...temperament, disposition, character...instincts, customs, emotional traits and diseases. All these differences...are seen to be great as to qualify if not imperial every inference from one race to another...so that what is true and good for one is often false and bad for the other." G. Stanley hall, The Negro in Africa and America, 1905 -"It is the common opinion that the Negro differs more from the white in such traits (the feeling and dynamic side of the mental life) than in intellect proper. His emotions are generally believed to be strong and violate in their manifestations...Instability of character is ascribed to the Negro, involving a lack of foresight, an improvidence, a lack of persistence, small power of serious initiative, a tendency to be content with immediate satisfactions, deficient ambition...along with high emotionality and instability of character, defective morality is held to be a Negro characteristic."

For Wade Nobles, the African concept is...

-"we-ness" self concept, as opposed to an "I-ness" self concept -this concept recognizes that only in terms of one's people does the individual become conscious of his or her own existence

Primary Concerns of ABPsi

-APA has not related to the needs of the Black community -Black community used as a resource for research, but reciprocity is absent -APA has not used its resources to eradicate racism within the white community

Causality, fate, free will, and responsibility:

-Akan philosophy maintains that human beings are free and must therefore be held morally responsible for their actions and behavior: "trying hard breaks the back of misfortune" meaning if a person fails to do the right thing in a situation he or she should be held responsible, because it is within human capacity to do it correctly -Akan philosophy maintains that moral evil stems from the exercise of man's free will: deities operate independently of God and in accordance with their own desires and intensions, evil or otherwise; God is omnipotent; however, evil is the result of free will on behalf of mankind

Admission to Schools

-American University and the University of Illnois denied Sumner admission to graduate school -Instead, he attended Lincoln University and Clark University

Africentric Disorder

-Azibo Nosology -African Models of Illness

The deficient "deficit" model criticisms

-Baratz and Baratz (1970); Labov (1969): -an ethnocentric bias lies behind the assumption that linguistic capabilities of poorer black children is lower -lower class black children have a fully ordered and structured language -different, but not inferior

Alberta Banner Turner (1909-)

-Born in Chicago, Illinois; raised in Columbus, Ohio -Ph.D in Psychology, Ohio State University (1935) -worked at Ohio Bureau of Juvenile Justice as a clinical psychologist, supervising psychologist, and later as the chief psychologist -served as director of research for the Ohio Youth commission from 1963-1971 while she also taught graduate courses at OSU -citation from the state of Ohio and the Ohio Youth Commission stated the following, "Alberta Banner Turner, Ph.D., has been synonymous with mention of the field of juvenile rehabilitation and treatment in Ohio for 27 years. She has played a very active role in its history" -Holds Diplomate status in Clinical Psychology (ABEPP)

Mamie Phipps Clark (1917-1983)

-Born in Hot Springs, Arkansas -Ph.D in Psychology, Columbia University (1944) -served as a research psychologist for the US Armed Forces Institute and New York Examination Center (teacher's college) -also held position as a psychologist, professor, member of several boards of directors and member of several advisory groups -several publications with husband, Kenneth B. Clark, became classics in Psychology including 1. "segregation as a Factor in the racial identification of negro pre-school children" 2. "the development of consciousness of self and the emergence of racial identification in Negro of Negro pre-school children" 3. "skin color as a factor in racial identification of Negro pre-school children"

Inez Beverly Prosser (1897-1934)

-Born in Yoakum, Texas -Ph.D. in Educational psychology, University of Cincinnati (1933) -First Black woman to receive a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology -Her dissertation "non-academic Development of Negro Children in Mixed and Segregated schools" was one of the 1st studies of the social world of elementary school children -Dr. Prosser was killed in a car accident one year after receiving her doctorate

The genetic fallacy Jenson's successor

-British psychologist H.J. Eysenck: people are guilty of believing that because people are all born "equal" they are also born alike **equality- human rights, not human ability**

The Mulatto Hypothesis

-Formulated from 2 perspectives: 1. Persons of racially mixed ancestry are inferior 2. Person of racially mixed ancestry are superior -Significant numbers of psychological studies in the 1920's and 1930's purported to show a relationship between white ancestry and IQ

Influential Black Psychologists

-Francis Cecil Sumner -Kenneth and Mamie Clark -Herman Canady -Robert L. Williams -William Cross -Reginald Jones -Asa Hilliard

Francis Cecil Sumner (1895-1954)

-Francis Cecil Sumner was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas on December7, 1895 -His elementary education was through school systems in VA and New Jersey -his secondary education was self-taught with the help of his parents -in 1911, when he was 15 years old, he submitted a written examination and was permitted to enroll at Lincoln University -graduated magna cum laude in 1915 -Sumner was accepted into Clark University through the help of his good friend G. Stanley Hall -in 1916, he graduated valedictorian of his class with a Bachelor's Degree in English -he then returned to Lincoln University as a graduate student and professor of German and psychology -received his Master's Degree in 1917 -soon after graduation, he received word that he had been accepted to Clark University with a senior scholarship in psych -Sumner put his education on hold in 1917 and 1918 to serve in the US military in WWI -he returned to Clark University in 1919 -on June 14, 1920, he became the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in psych -Sumner taught at Wilberforce Southern University and West VA Collegiate Institute before becoming chairman of the psych department at Howard University -Howard University gained a reputation for providing African Americans with the highest quality of education in psych -In fact, it became known as the Black Harvard -Sumner married twice, but didn't have children -on Jan 12, 1954, he died of a heart attack while shoveling snow -he is known as the Father of Black American Psychology

African Historical Roots the Akans and God

-Grills and Ajei (2002) offers the features of an Akan (Ghana- West Africa) conceptualization of the person. The Akan system recognize God as the source of all being; that existence has both visible and invisible realms; that the universe is endowed with varying degrees of force or power which comes from the creator

Arthur Jensen

-Harvard Educational Review: argued that IQ differences can not be overcome with early educational exposure -Environment doesn't explain IQ difference; genetic factors are 90% -Level I and Level II intelligence: 1. level I is rote memory; more common among Blacks 2. Level II is creative thinking and problem solving; more common among Whites

African American Women in Psychology

-Inez Beverly Prosser -Alberta Banner Turner -Mamie Phipps Clark

Materialistic Depression

-Materialistic depression is the basis of one's self-worth on material items -the deprecation of one's self-worth based on the absence of material objects

Cultural racism

-Myrdal (1944): "an exaggerated American whose culture is merely a distorted development, or a pathologic condition of American culture" -Glazer and Moynihan (1963): "the negro is only an American, and nothing else. He has no values and culture to guard and protect" -Dr. E.B. Brody (1966): "The Negro has, technically speaking, no culture of his own"

African Center Psychologists

-Ni'am Akbar -Wade Nobles -Asa Hilliard -Linda James Myers -Kobi Kambon (AKA Joseph Baldwin) -Daudi Azibo

Dr. Samuel G. Morton

-Physician and professor of anatomy at Penns Medical College -Dedicated collector of crania -measured the capacity of skulls by filling them with white pepper seed (craniometric research) -later used shot and was convinced that the brain of the various races of man became "successively smaller" as one "descended" from the Caucasian to the Ethiopian

Arrah B. Evarts

-Physician at the Government Hospital for the insane, in Washington DC -Wrote article, "Dementia Praecox in the Colored Race": 1. ability to stick to a task is "deficient in the race" 2. race has learned no lessons in social control, and what they attained during slavery left them unstable 3. sexual instincts are unrestrained: fewer perversions and female masturbator is rare

Dr. Robert Bennett Bean (1906)

-Professor of anatomy at John's Hopkins: published a learned article on "some racial peculiarities of the Negro brain" in American Journal of Anatomy -Claimed African American brain was smaller, had fewer nerve cells and fibers: brain "efficiency" depended on the number and position of such fibers and possibility of African American development are limited -Conclusion: "useless to elevate the Negro by education or otherwise, except in the direction of his natural endowments"

Issues for Black People in this World

-Psychic struggle to both achieve social progress and not prove too antagonistic to the broader White community. -Receiving very little validation and affirmation for being Black -Disguisement of Blackness in certain situations and circumstances not to antagonize the other race. -Maintaining a sense of cultural integrity in a world that neither support nor affirms one's humanity as a person of African descent.

Negromachy (Charles Thomas, 1971)

-Refers to self-confusion and self-doubt/worth due to dependency on white standards and definitions -differential diagnosis with negativist-pejorativist -people with negativist-pejorativist may not be operating with white standards or preferences

"the african is incapable of self-care and sinks into lunacy under the burden of freedom. It is a mercy to give him the guardianship and protection from mental death."

-Secretary of State John C. Calhoun -arguing for the extension of slavery, 1844

Kenneth Clark influenced Sawyer (2000)

-Sumner had a hidden agenda in advocating for school segregation on the basis of the inferiority of African Americans -recognized the futility of arguing for equal, integrated education -placated Caucasians to receive economic and political support for African American education

Controversies

-Sumner wrote 2 controversial letters to the Worcester Gazette: 1. discussed the oppression of African Americans 2. criticized how the US viewed Germany after WWI -advocated for school segregation on the basis of the inferiority of African Americans -conducted controversial research on racial issues

Evolving African American, Black Psychology

-The evolution of the field of Black psychology has progressed from ancient to modern/post modern times in a consistent pattern. The history of Black psychology can be traced to the beginnings of human culture and civilization. -Classical African civilization was rife with literature concerned with matters psychological in nature, that is the nature of human consciousness, heart, mind, soul and beyond.

Foundations for an African American Psychology

-Thomas Parham (2009) argues that it was from African roots and a tree colored with worldview ideology of Black people that Western psychology was birthed -Parham believed that Western psychologists distorted traditional psychology and took out its core concept of the soul or spirit and redefined it as "the study of human behavior" -This redefinition shifted focus on measuring and classify the cognitive, affective and behavioral dimensions of an individual's personality. Among the limitations of this approach is the recognition that traditional Psychology in its attempt to understand the lifestyle, thought, feelings, and behaviors of the people of African descent fails to capture their ethos (emotional tone) -Thus, the emotional substance of a cultural group solidified by a set of common experiences, common heritage, and common culture -it is also the tone that creates a shared synthesis of energy or spirit, which helps to symbolize and even define the uniqueness of African descent people

Dr. Samual Cartwright of Louisiana

-Unhappy/runaway slaves were diagnosed as having: 1. Drapetomania: the flight-from-home madness 2. Dysaesthesia Aethiopica (rascality): caused by "insensibility of nerves" and "hebetude of mind" -they were said to pay no attention to the right of property (which they were considered) -slight their work and raise disturbances -"normal" slaves were happy-go-lucky

Info about Kenneth Clark

-Wrote and edited books on racial issues: 1.Prejudice and Your Child (1955) 2. Dark Ghetto: Dilemmas of Social Power (1965) 3. Relevant War Against Poverty (1968) 4. Negro American (1968) 5. Pathos of Power (1974) -First African American President of the American Psychological Association (1970-1971) -President of the Psychological Study of Social Issues -Clark and his wife researched the effects of prejudice, discrimination, and segregation on the developing child. -Their work was cited in the 1954 Supreme Court case that ended school segregation, Brown v. Board of Education. -Sumner died before the ruling. However, he was said to have been proud that one of his students played such a significant role in what is considered by many to be the most important Supreme Court decision of the twentieth century.

The deficient "deficit" model

-a poor child is not likely to bring his beginning school career the same skills and knowledge as a middle or upper class child: 1. better books and toys 2. familiarity with certain types of language 3. contact with the world outside of their neighborhoods

African/Black psychology basic conceptual premise

-based on ancient Kemetic principle of consubstantiation -consubstantiation is the primary principle underlying the universal law of nature -this principle states that all of he elements in the university are of one substance -African proverb: "whatever is is in the first place spirit"

Basis of belief in destiny

-before the soul sets out to enter this world it bids farwell to the supreme being; it receives the messafe that will determine the course of the individual's life on earth -it is the persistance of an action or behavior pattern or the inexplicability of an event that induces a belief in destiny; that which determines the uniqueness and individuality of a person

Gilbert Haven Jones

-born 1883 in Fort Mott, South Carolina -Ph.D. Philosophy University of Jena, 1901 -President of Wilberforce University

Myths from the past scientific "facts"

-by measuring crania it was proclaimed that African American's brains were formed with less fray matter: it is smaller and less developed (this difference cited as the physical basis of the psychological gulf between the races) -Minds of African Americans are less complex than those of Caucasians: dreams must also be "simpler in type" -In the 1840 Census, to prove it was unnatural for blacks to live under conditions of freedom in the North, it was cited that those conditions would eventually lead to insanity

Alien Self-Disorder (Akbar, 1984)

-conscious level rejection of one's African reality -denial of the reality of racism -active attempt to emulate European Worldview -avoid situations with other Blacks -may develop misoriented sexual orientation and/or marry non-Black ethnic spouses -DSM-IV TR correlation: thought disorder or personality DO?

A Broken Compass

-culture is where the psychology of a people can best be understood, referenced, and interpreted -culture describes the ethos of a people and designs, shape the patterns of interpreting reality -it provides an axiological interpretation of a people's value system that sees the following: 1. integrated vs fragmented vision of the self 2. expression of emotional feelings vs suppression 3. collective survival orientation vs individualistic and competitive

African/Black psychology

-defined as a system of knowledge, including philosophy, definitions, concepts, models, procedures, and practice, concerning the nature of the social universe from the perspective of African cosmology -it is the uncovering, articulation, operationalization, and application of principles of the African realty structure relative to psychological phenomena

Obenga (2005)

-described African Psychology as not particular to one ethnic group instead it reflects a basic historical continuity, consciousness, and cultural unity. -Black Psychology did not start from the West, rather it begun from human culture and civilization.

Origins of Scientific Racism

-emergence of rigid class structure in Britain -Science on rise via-a-vis religion -growing anti-slavery movement in US

African Shrines as Channels of Communication

-even if we talk about particular African religion as a "system" of beliefs resting on the same principles, it can be divided into as many different "departments" as there are cults and people who practice it -it can be said that the mystical life of an African is based on a more cognitive experience than that which underlies the ordinary and practical life: one is not born a mystic, one becomes it -shrines are channels of communication between the human and spiritual worlds: forest groves, large rocks, trees, etc; essential feature is that it creates a sacred space which joins together humans and sacred realities -ex: Ashanti of Ghana build large shrine houses, with ceremonial stools of deceased kings, queens and clan chiefs

G. Stanley Hall, founder of the American Journal of Psychology in 1887 and the first president of the American Psychological Association

-every child from conception to maturity, recapitulates every stage of development and must be treated gently and understandingly by more developed peoples. -in his widely read work "Adolescence" (1904): Hall described Africans, Indians, and Chinese as members of "adolescent races" in a stage of incomplete growth

Carl Gustav Jung

-famous European psychiatrist who thought of himself as an "expert on blacks" -many beliefs mirrored stereotypes of American contemporaries: 1. different strata of the mind correspond to the history of the races: "Negro has probably a whole historical layer less than that of the white man" 2. "energetic sexual repression" caused by African Americans: caucasians living together with African Americans pulls the white race down

Principles of African/Black Psychology

-focus is not on the individual's personality and behavior, but how each person's thoughts, behaviors, and emotions are aligned with the principle of truth -the fundamental principle of truth is Maat. According to Karenga, any discussion of African spirituality must begin with a discussion of the sacred principle of Maat

William Edward Burghardt DuBois challenged the views of Booker T. Washington

-he believed that "education among Blacks must first focus upon educating the best of the race (who would then) be in a position to begin to uplift the masses" -inspired a "negro renaissance" -intellectuals, novelists, and poets built racial pride and hope through writing

Dr. Samuel Cartwright of Louisiana, had a psychiatric explanation for runaway slaves

-he diagnosed their malady as drapetomania, literally the flight-from-home-madness, "as much a disease of the mind as any other species of mental alienation" -another ailment peculiar to Black people was dysaethesia Aethipica, sometimes called rascality by overseers, but actually due to "insensibility of nerves" and "hebetude of mind" explained Dr. Cartwright. Whereas psychologically normal Negroes were faithful and happy- go-lucky, the mentally afflicted ones "pay no attention to the rights of property...slight their work...raise distrubances with their overseers"

Maat

-in Kemetic spirituality, Maat is the fundamental principle of Divine, natural and social order as established by RA who was God at the time of creation -Maat is concerned with all spheres of reality, including the Divine or sacred world, the cosmos or universe, society, community, and family

Anti-self Disorder (Akbar)

-includes elements of Alien Self-Disorder -the vehement rejection, covertly and/or overtly, of being and becoming African -DSM-IV TR correlation: thought disorder (Axis 1 or personality DO Axis II)

Rorschach Test

-inkblots that people have to tell what they see -psychologists analyze their findings

Creator and creation

-it is the secondary divinities, not the Supreme Divinity, to whom believers tend to pay homage: the function of the Supreme Divinity is that of the creator -a common mystical attitude among African cultures is to put one's self on equal footing with God -Veneration of the dead is a common and frequent aspect of African liturgy: death doesn't represent the end of human existence, but a change in status -> ancestor

Psychohistory and culture of people of African descent (a broken compass)

-majority of the history of people of African descent is told from the context of slavery -the history of people of African descent within the discipline of Psychology is no less skewed -much of it has centered analysis in the context of a racist worldview that saw African people as genetically, intellectually, and emotionally inferior compared to Europeans and Americans

Negativist-Pejorativist

-person that identifies the core of the Black personality as extending from the atrocities of enslavement -doesn't acknowledge the African reality of the African personality -person sees the Black personality as an outcome of the experience and relationships with whites -focuses on the deficit model approach

Thematic Apperception Test

-pictures that people have to tell a story from -psychologists analyze the persons answers

Terms and Concepts associated with black psychology

-racial identity -racial socialization -stereotype threat -race-related stress -cultural mistrust -john henryism -Maat -maafa -spiritness -collectivism-communalism -time orientation -orality -verve and rhythm -harmony with nature

Psychological Misorientation (Kambon 1992)

-refers to operating without an African-centered orientation -manifests whenever alien influences enter the cognitions (attitudes, values, and beliefs) -consists of alien self-disorder, negativist-pejorativist, and black compulsiveness

Organic Disorder (Akbar)

-refers to physiological and/or biological diseases that have their etiological basis in white supremacy (poor nutrition, ecological racism, health related diseases) -EX: diabetes and the legacy of slavery or sickle-cell anemia and genetic survival -DSM-IV TR correlation: Axis III and Axis IV

Self-Destructive Disorder (Akbar)

-refers to the unfruitful and destructive attempts to cope with the stresses of race and racism in the US (more limited to African Americans, but can apply cross-culturally) -DSM-IV TR correlation: oppositional-defiant personality DO?

Religious Values

-religion determines practically every aspect of African life -all actions and thought have a religious meaning and are inspired or influenced by a religious point of view -religious life is a community affair -to detach one's self from the religion of the community would be to isolate one's self from the group and to disrupt one's sense of communal membership and security and to lose much of the meaning of life

Akon Psychology and Freud

-similar to the ego, the sumsun interacts with the external world; the individual's personality -the sunsum may also be unconscious -unlike the ego, the sunsum is an constitutive part of the original psychological framework -both the sunsum and okra are present at birth -the sunsum tends to reflect aspects/functions of both the ego and the superego -traditional healers, operating at both the physical and psychical levels, (contrary to western medicine) have consistent success with diseases; this supports the theory of close relationship between the body and soul

Association of Black Psychologists

-the APA non-responsive to issues germane to African Americans -200 Black psychologists attending the 1968 APA convention in San Francisco organize and make demands for inclusion: 1. APA must racially integrate its workforce 2. must facilitate entry of more Blacks into nations graduate schools 3. eliminate racist material from journals 4. establish program to address minority concerns -On September 2, 1968 Charles Thomas and Robert Green elected as first co-chairs of ABPsi -Ernestine Thomas served as first national secretary of ABPsi -Journal of Black psychology established in 1974

Na'im Akbar's Divine or Spiritual Core Model

-the core of African American personality is divine substance (ex: spiritual substance having universal origin). it is defined by and reflects nature/natural order

Relation of Okra and Sumsum

-the departue of the Okra from the body means the death of the person; the departue of the Sunsum (dreaming) will not cause death -together, constitutive of a spiritual unity

Eugenics and Racism in Psychology

-the term eugenics was coined by Francis Galton in the 19th century, though the underlying ideas are much older and can be traced back, at least, to Plato's Republic -an index of psychologists' respect for eugenics is the fact that Hall, Cattell, Yerkes, Terman, Thorndike, and Woodworth all became presidents of the Psychological Association -In England as well, IQ testing was quickly adopted by eugenics: most notably by the social psychologist William McDougall, by his outstanding student, Cyril Burt, and by Karl Pearson (pg. 57)

Social Hierarchies

-there are arts, spiritualities, secrets, and religiously sanctioned concentrations of power, but they do not coincide in the same way -entertainment and the sacred are intrinsically related -among many african societies, ritual procedures induct boys and girls into the lowest grade of the social structure: Highest grade: elders, community leaders; successive grades share more responsibilities

Schools of Black Psychology

-traditional -Reformist -radical -

"scientific racism" and Darwin

-various human groups exist at different stages of biological evolution -the higher the races are those that are developed over a long period of time -on a lower rung of the ladder are those starters who have not quite outgrown the handicaps of their simian pasts

A concept of double destiny?

-what aspects or elements of a person's destiny are: 1....determined or chosen by the soul? 2...given by God? -A general destiny: 1. the message born by the soul is comprehensive and not every event in one's life is directly linked to a (predetermined) destiny 2. "accident" refers to an action or event that is unintended but that has a cause

Robert Williams' WEUSI Model

-williams (1981) referred to the basic core of the African American personality as the "collective Black Mind" -he identified a Kiswahili term WEUSI (the combo of the English term We, US, I). This term best characterize the african self concept as the core of Black personality

Three major constructs of Kambon's model are

1. African Self-Extension Orientation (ASEO) 2. African Self-Consciousness (ASC) 3. Cultural Misorientation (CM)

WEUSI has 3 distinguishing features

1. Blackness 2. Collectiveness 3. Naturalness

Spiritual or psychic constitution of the individual is comprised of seven elements

1. Ka-body 2. Ba-breath 3. Khaba- spiritual covering of the body 4. Akhu-the mind 5. Seb- ancestral soul 6. Putah - mental maturity 7. Atmu - divine soul

Schools of thought Africana, African American, Black Psychology

1. Pre-Assimilation: The creation of Ra as Ptah (the book of knowing), which is estimated to have been written around 2500 BC, presents a foundational interpretation of an African centered understanding of the role of cognition, affect and language in human functioning. 2.Assimilation-Conforming to Mainstream America: this refers to the approaches that adhere to the mainstream American cultural worldview. For example changing inwardly and outwardly or "shifting to White" then "Black" again. 3. Bicultural Reform: this approach intends more knowledge by emphasizing the duality of the Black experience but at the same time moving toward clearer self-definition. For example, Cross 1971 model of racial identity. The model starts with a stance conforming to the dominant culture's norms with the intension of predicting movement toward a positive racial identity. 4. Cultural Congruence: this refers to respect for others cultural background. According to Myers (2003) cultural congruence school faces the challenge of embarking on the interrogation of subject matter perceived as esoteric, mysterious, or unknowable by Western standards.

ASC consist of four key components

1. a collective African identity 2. a prioritization on African racial-cultural survival and Advocacy for and active participation in the creation and perpetuation of African centered institutions and practices 4. a resolute posture of defense against anti-African forces in one's thought, attitudes, and behaviors or in other individuals, groups, or institutions

The ASCS and CMS were developed to address concerns regarding assessment of the ASC and CM respectively. The ASCS is a 42 item, likert-type format questionnaire organized around four competency dimensions of ASC which are...

1. collective African identity and self fortification 2. resistance against Anti-African forces 3. value for African-centered institutions and cultural expressions 4. value for African culture

Beliefs and Practices of Yoruba religion

1. ideas of destiny and reincarnation 2. a cosmology that places human beings at the center of a nexus of forces 3. a complex ritual system that consists of divination and sacrifice 4. a rich system of ceremonies

Culture, according to Parham is the core of our beingness. Culture does the following for each indivual:

1. it unifies and orders our experiences by providing a worldview that orients our activity and interpretation of reality 2. it provides collective group identification built on shared history, symbols, and meanings 3. it institutionalizes and validates group beliefs, values, behaviors and attitudes (Ani, 1994)

In accordance with Nobles' model of African self-concept, the most essential components are:

1. one's historical past 2. one's historical future or collective spirituality consciousness 3. one's physical and collective self

Perspectives that helped African Psychology lose its way

1. scientific colonialism which refers to the challenge of maintaining one's sanity and mental health: diminishing of power for ex, persons of African descent fiving away their power by allowing others especially white society to define and frame the way one should look at his or her circumstances 2. the yielding of power by African Psychohistory to European American psychology 3. the prevalence of social pathology that contaminates the lives of people of African descent: ex-allowing other people to control the way one thinks

Core elements of African-Centered Psychology:

1. the spiritness that permeates everything that exist in the universe 2. the notion that everything in the universe is interconnected 3. the idea that the collective is the most salient element of existence 4. the idea that self-knowledge (know thyself) is the key to mental health (Parham, 2002)

Seven cardinal virtues of Maat

1. truth 2. justice 3. righteousness 4. harmony 5. order 6. balance 7. propriety

Balancing two competing world views

According to Parham (2009), Du- Bois (1903) is best known for labeling the duality of life for people of African descent. In his book the souls of Black folk, shows the challenges of being a person of African descent in an American experience that prove to be harsh, destructively discriminatory, brutally oppressive and anything but supportive for Black people.

Zeitgeist

African Americans considered inferior in intelligence and morality: -misuse of intelligence tests to prove the inferiority of racial and ethnic minorities -in 1921, US president Warren Harding said that social equality b/t African Americans and Caucasians would never be possible due to "fundamental, inescapable, and eternal differences of race" Segregation: -Sumner had a separate table in the dining hall of Clark University -African Americans were excluded from educational, occupational, and military opportunities -they were restricted to agricultural and vocational trades

Construction and Strategic functions of Mami Water:

African-centered: -dad-rasta hair represents unrestrained fertility, creativity and spiritaulity -white complexion and facial features are symbolic of the sacred -connection between her and material wealth Foreign: -traditional shrines and rituals reveal foreign elements -a foreign divinity associated with wealth A Hybrid: -considered allied with the earth god (Beugre) and together responsible for fertility and prosperity; purpose of this partnership was to protect against witchcraft

African/Black Psychology vs. Psychology of African Americans

African/Black Psychology: -Africentric conceptual framework -Grounded in an African realty structure Psychology of African Americans: -Pro-black -reaction to western (white) psychology -grounded in a western epistemological framework -concerned with the psychological consequences of being Black in America

Black socialization is defined as

Afro-typing, which begins in the Black community within the Black family. According to Williams (1981), the developmental pathways for Black children are either natural "Afrocising process" which consist of Black churches, schools, and neighborhoods Or Anglocentric process, which consist of mainstream White American society. These are racially integrated churches, schools, and neighborhoods

culture of poverty

Basil Bernstein (1960): -Lower class use restricted language: more generalized and repetitive -Middle class use elaborated structures: more precise and flexible -lower class thought processess: problem solving capabilities; distinguish between subtleties; make logical relationships -lower class lack many opportunities to develop cognitive skills

WEUSI Model-Blackness

Blackness is the most distinctive feature of WEUSI. -it contains 4 major aspects: 1. genetic blackness 2. cultural blackness 3. psychological blackness 4. spiritual Blackness

Black Student Psychological Association (BSPA) meeting with APA

Demands: -more efforts to recruit/admit Black undergraduate and graduate students in psychology -recruit more Black faculty -create scholarship fund -create practical training experiences in the Black community -more degree programs that train Black students to function in the community -the APA accepted the BPSA proposal -Furthermore, the APA established the Commission for Accelerating Black Participation in Psychology

Psychology and scientific racism

Francis Galton: -founded Eugenics movement; promoting a master race, especially of British Stock Herbert Spencer: -Coined the phrase "survival of the fittest" G. Stanley Hall: -most eminent of US psychology; co-founder of APA; Blacks, Asians all part of adolescent race Gustav Le Bon: -races of man are psychologically and physically distinct A.R. Jensen: -inferiority of African Americans is genetically-based

The christian view

Genesis: -Curse of Ham Babylonian Talmud: -oral tradition of Judaism suggest Ham was cursed for having sex on the Ark Book of Mormon: -Nephi 5:21: dark skinned individuals are the result of curse placed against rebellious leader named Laman

Early racial classification

Genesis: -descendants of Ham, Shem, Japhet Carl Von Lunnaeus (1735): -Homo Americanus: reddish, erect, free, ruled by custom -Homo Europaues: white, muscular, stingy, ruled by opinion -Homo Asiaticus: yellow, melancholic, inventive, ruled by rites -Homo Afer: Black, indulgent, cunning, slow, negligent, ruled by caprice

Concepts of Being and Causality

God and the other categories of being

Black rage

Grier and Cobbs (1969): -constant exposure to racism results in rage -black men develop cultural paranoia in which every White man is viewed as a potential enemy -black men also develop cultural depression, cultural masochism, and cultural antisocialism, all of which are adaptive mechanisms for living in a racism society

Other sources of Scientific Racism

Hans Eyenck: -Left Germany instead of joining the Nazi Party -Racial differences in IQ are genetic Lewis Terman: -IQ tests proved a low level of intelligence common in Spanish-Indian, Mexican, and Negro -No amount of school instruction will ever make them intelligent voters or capable citizens in the true sense Robert Yerkes: -Army Alpha and Army Beta tests -the "tests brought into clear relief..the intellectual inferiority of the Negro -education alone will not place the negro race on par with the caucasian Carl Brigham: -As racial admixture increases, American intelligence would decline...owing to the presence of the negro

Family and Fantasy Moynihan report

Hypothetical "white family" -flawed to assume that the "white family" contains all the "positive" aspects given to it in the Moynihan Report (William Ryan (1965)) -divorce rates: up 800% over the last 100 years -illegitimacy rates: up 50% over the last 25 years -increased rates of drug addiction and alcoholism in white suburbia -rate of increase higher than that of African American families

Spiritual Beings and Agents of Illness

In African cultures, spiritual beings may be seen as important causes of illness. Among the San: -Spirits of divinities are not associated with parts of the earth, but with the sky, (sun, moon, stars) -Spirituality has little bearing upon economic and social life -Heavenly beings are prominent among the essential trance dance of the religion and its healers—Num (spiritual energy) -Causes of illness: loss of soul or intrusion of some foreign object into the body of a person Among the Maasai: -Religion is rich in terms of ceremonies and rituals; elaborate ceremonies correlate with certain rights of passage at different ages -God is associated with the heavenly realm, although omnipresent; the cause of all illness and death Among the Sukuma: -Religion is composed almost entirely of a direct ritual relationship between ancestral spirits and the living -There is no "afterlife" -Since ancestors are able to harm their descendents, there is some amount of awe of them ***It is the same spiritual agents who cause and contribute to illness, that also heal and comfort.***

Kobi Kambon's African Self-Consciousness Theory

Kambon takes the position that the dynamic African spirituality of communalism or uniting into holistic synthesis is the driving energy of African American personality

Sumner Influenced Kenneth Clark

Kenneth Clark: -Sumner's most famous former student -Planned to attend med school after graduating from Howard University -Changed his mind after taking an intro psych class with Sumner ("to hell with med school, psych is the discipline for me")

The concept of a person

Okra (soul): -that which constitutes the innermost self- the essence - of the individual person -the embodiment and transmitter of the individual's destiny; fate Sumsum (spirit): -the activating principle in the person -that which experiences (thoughts, feelings, desires); awareness; energy; moral attributes

Akbar proposes that the energy system of Black personality is...

Rhythm which is the flow (the natural and unrestricted free flowing of energy) and flow is interconnecting (the natural binding function of energy/spirit)

More ABPsi history

Second annual meeting of ABPis -held in Washington, DC i 1969 -meeting corresponded with 77th annual meeting of the APA -black student psychological association confronts APA -As APA president George Miller was speaking, 20 Black students walked to the stage and asked that they be allowed to address the audience

The Deficient "Deficit" model revised

Susan H Houston (1970): -studies stating the linguistic disabilities of disadvantage children were not using modern linguistic and psycholinguistic theory -there is no such things as "primitive language" -all forms of all languages are systematic: own rules, and few differences in underlying structures -just because a child uses a different phonological structure doesn't mean he or she is making mistakes or incapable of making "proper" pronunciations

According to Wade Nobles, the basic core of the African personality is...

The Black self concept, which derives from the nature of the African worldview. -African worldview emphasize oneness with nature, interdependence and oneness of being

CMSS3

The alien orientation subscale reflects a general Eurocentric emphasis in one's self-concept and one's approach to life in general

CMSS6

The integration orientation subscale reflects an emphasis on the inclusion/involvement of Non-Black, Whites in as many aspects of one's life as possible (from intimacy to the most distant/abstract of experience)

Peripheral Personality Disorders

These disorders generally refer to the DOs listed in the DSM (at the time that the article were written, the DSM III was current)

Cultural Blackness

This is acquired through the socialization thrust or function of traditional Black institutions. These institutions comprise the Black family, the Black church, the Black community, historically Black colleges, barber shops/beauty salons, etc.

Genetic Blackness

This is inherited, thus all black possess it. Melanin, both skin melanin and neuro-melanin (brain and nerve system) are critical components of genetic Blackness. This defines the basic biological and identification of Black people throughout the world

Psychological Blackness

This refers to Black awareness and black consciousness. It exists as potential and must be developed through process called AFROCIZING (black culture-specific socialization). Williams define this component as a corpus of attitudes, beliefs, preferences and behaviors undergirded by Africentric philosophy. It is one's personal Black identity developed in Afro-space and expressed through Afrotypes

Collectiveness

This refers to common or shared Africanity among Black people. At the level of the individual, WEUSI means a collective (common/share) Black mind. At the level of groups, institutions, and organizations, WEUSI means a collective Black network -It's a deeply rooted African part of Black people's nature at all levels of being (individual, group, community, nation, world) that essentially refers to pulling together and working toward common goals

Spiritual Blackness

This regers to feelings of unity and oneness of being with other Blacks. It is the sense of collectivity, togetherness and rhythm (free-flowing energy communicated in harmonious music, movement and general expressive behavior) that Black people feel and express in regard to each other. The concept of "soul" conveys that it is a very special quality of feeling unique to Black people.

Origins of the Psychology of African Americans

US: -Gilbert Haven Jones (1909) -Francis Cecil Sumner (1920) -In 1963, only 14 out 50 Historically Black colleges had psych departments -In 1938, Herman Canady organized Black psychologists as part of the American Teachers Association -In 1950's, Kenneth and Mamie Clark conducted doll studies

African derived Religion in the African American community in the US

Yoruba Religion: -originated in West Africa where it was the popular religion among the Yoruba kingdoms -Yoruba derived relgion entered the US in the 1960s -conversion among Afro-Americans illustrated rejection of Christianity and the search for a religious perspective to foster African American identity -the religion became increasingly popular, particularly among Cuban immigrants

According to Akbar's model, awareness of self enables the personality to...

act in terms of its own enhancement, affirmation, and preservation. -In addition, it also transcends the individual self

G. Stanley Hall

advocated for the inclusion of minorities and women in Clark University

The CMS consist of 56 items in a Likert-type format designed to

assess the level of one's endorsement of different aspects of a European Survival Thrust across six subscales

Traditional

characterized by a defensive and reactive posture, expresses a lack of desire for an authentic Black psych, advances European models of psych for understanding Black behavior and is focused on changing white attitudes and behaviors

Akbar's model proposes that the Black personality, in terms of its divine substance or spirituality, is both...

conscious and unconscious. -it's fundamentally a collective self-consciousness that can be distorted but cannot be destroyed. -as a conscious phenomenon, it is an awareness of the inner (Divine) core of the personality

Azibo Nosology

consists of numerous disorders developed and defined by Africentric psychologists -There are three overarching disorders: 1. peripheral personality disorders 2. misorientation 3. mentacide

Mami Water in African Religion and Spirituality

counter to rigid, Western culture, African religion and life coexist: adaptability, flexibility, tolerance and opennes -Thus, ambivalent relationship among Africans and divinities/spirits: the causes of joy AND sorrow -cultures frequently assimilate new traditions into their spiritual and social systems -Mami Water: name applied by Africans to a class of female and male water divinities/spirits that have assumed elements from European, New world and Indian cultural traditions

Grills and Rowe (1998)

described African Psychology as incorporating several fundamental concepts such as; worldview and the corresponding metaphysical basis of African science, concepts of consciousness, conceptualization of the person and human beingness, concepts of health and wellness, and models of the healing exchange or process.

Williams advanced the concept of

developmental space (socialization/social learning developmental space) and "dual pathways of development"

CMSS2

examines the individual orientation subscale that reflects an I/Me emphasis in life as opposed to a collective emphasis

CMSS1

examines the materialism orientation subscale that reflects a physical material objectification emphasis through ascription for value and significance to experiences in life (emphasizing on physical characteristics, clothes, money, things, etc)

Value for African Centered Institutions and Cultural expression

examines the psychological disposition reflecting belief in the importance of Africentric/pro-Black-oriented empowering organization, institutions, practices that are under African/Black control based on African cultural definitions

Peripheral Mentacide

fosters the disorganization of the African personality DO

Journal of Black Psychology

founded in 1971

Alienating Mentacide

includes those behaviors that denigrate the African character -like using the "n" word, race-related jokes

Nosology

is a system for classifying disease, disorder, or pathology

According to Akbar, this African consciousness is to be...

mentally alive and viable, must be maintained and reinforced through the creation and operation of self-affirming institutions -Ex: religious celebrations, rituals, memorials, museums, books and literature, monuments, etc. This will help prevent the distortions of Western philosophy

Wade's Nobles' Extended self model

one's self-definition is dependent on the corporate definition of one's people (collective consciousness)

African American historians criticized Caucasian historians for

presenting a biased view of history by omitting the contributions of African Americans

The drive for Black personality is to...

reaffirm oneness with nature; thus, rhythm is a self-transcending striving, seeking a state of shared self, a collective or communal self

African Self-extension orientation

refers to the deeply rooted, unconscious, genetically based African spirituality reflecting a continual, unending urge/striving for collective-communal expression of African cosmic (spiritual) wholeness or unity. It is the core of the personality that is inherited in the bio-genetic condition of being born African

Cultural Misorientation

refers to the intense, pervasive and prolonged condition of forced (imposed) cultural indoctrination by European Americans. CM focus on the psychological orientation of all Diasporan African descendants reflecting the European survival thrust emphasizing a materialistic, individualistic, alien and anti self-destructive, and racial integration orientation in one's thoughts, attitude and behaviors from European cultural oppression

Reformist

represents both the historical evolution and contemporary period in Black psych. It maintains the concern for White attitudes and behaviors, but focuses more on changing public policy. The school advocates for an Afrocentric model of Black psych, but combines these approaches with traditional models of psych

African Self Consciousness

represents the conscious expression of African spirituality (ASEO) that affirms African life, survival, and self determination

Thomas, Sillen and Sue (1978)

stated that it was impossible to appreciate the status of Black folks in the psychiatry/psychology literature without reference to the following three general themes: 1. inferiority 2. cultural deprivation 3. multicultural issues -this is due to myopically focused research and scholarship from a hard core racism and reaction to the severity and trauma of social oppression

CMSS4

the anti-self orientation subscale reflects the same emphasis as the ASO with added emphasis on negative values being ascribed and hostility directed toward Blackness/Africanity

CMSS5

the self-destructive orientation subscale reflects an emphasis on self group injurious and antisocial or criminal thoughts and behaviors especially directed towards Blacks

Collective African Identity and Self fortification

this examines the psychological disposition reflecting a sense of collective African identity and a tendency to engage in activities that affirms one's African identity

Resistance against Ant-African forces

this examines the psychological disposition reflecting a tendency to resist, by any means necessary and all information that may be perceived (experienced/interpreted) as ant-i-African or Black or a threat to African survival in any way, shape or form

Value for African Culture

this is the psychological disposition reflecting a firm belief in the value/importance of traditional African cultural forms (practice, product artifacts etc.) for Africans in America

Naturalness

this refers to the distinguishing feature of WEUSI as Black specific behavior such as unity, commonality, spirituality, and rhythm. These are the purest, most unadulterated forms of Black behavior and functioning. Thus, it is natural for Blacks to form families, groups, organizations, networks and so on that are empowering and unnatural for Blacks to engage in de-empowering behaviors

Radical

this school makes no appeal to whites and directs their attention to the analysis and treatment of Black people. The radical school insist on developing a psych that has its roots in the African worldview