Visible Racial/Ethnic Groups

Professional Mandate

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fifth Edition, calls for the appropriate identification of research participants and clientele by specifying major demographic characteristics such as sex, age, and race/ethnicity. Language for racial/ethnic designations changes over time, and members of designated racial/ethnic groups perceive some terms negatively. It is recommended that racial/ethnic designations reflect the preferred nomenclature of the groups discussed. It is important to use terminology that empowers racial/ethnic groups in their collective social identities, as well as in their psychological well-being.

Historical Evolution of Racial/Ethnic Labeling

During the early 20th century, psychological research (i.e., intelligence research) and counseling practice recognized racial differences by comparing Caucasians with non-Caucasians (typically Black Americans) and interpreting any differences between groups against Caucasians as the standard or normative group. Thus, non-Caucasian groups were labeled deviant or deficient when found to differ from Caucasians as research participants and as counseling clientele.

As the representation of visible racial/ethnic group counselors and psychologists increased in the 1960s, they began to confront the deficit models of diversity in the profession, moving toward affirming diversity in racial/cultural identity. That is, research and practice began to examine cultural characteristics of African, Asian, Latin, and Indigenous Americans, to develop normative standards common to each racial/ethnic group. Research of within-group differences rather than between-group differences was promoted. The positive aspects of each racial/cultural group were affirmed by within-racial-group research.

In the 1970s, the social and psychological influences of racial oppression on members of visible racial/ethnic groups came to the forefront in counseling research and practice. The influence of racial socialization on the counseling process examined White counselor-Black client relationships and expectations for counseling. William Cross's theory of psychological Nigrescence introduced the role of oppression as a critical factor in shaping the stages of Black racial identity, emphasizing the impact of Blacks' encounters with the White normative standard in the development of Blacks' sense of their social and psychological identities. In the 1980s and 1990s racial identity theory in research and practice was expanded to all racial/ethnic groups. Racial identity theories are concerned with how individuals abandon the effects of oppression (as either oppressed or the oppressor) and develop respectful and equitable attitudes toward their own racial group and other racial groups.

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