The strengths of Black youths lie in their abilities to resist the barriers that they encounter in the various environments in which they exist. Yet the media and social science literature have defined the youths in terms of the pathology of their environments rather than focusing on the assets that Black youths use in such environments. Thus, terms such as inner city, urban, and at-risk are used as proxies for the youths' personality attributes and themes, such as violence, substance abuse, school underachievement, and family instability are used to define their life experiences. In doing so, the literature suggests that the negative behaviors that it ascribes to Black youths are normative in actuality. In this article, a new framework for understanding the assets of Black youths is provided. The framework highlights the role of racial socialization in the youths' development of strengths that allow them to cope effectively with barriers.

Boston College Currently, ethnic and racial minority individuals represent a large proportion of the U.S. population, and researchers expect that they will represent the majority of the population by 2050. This shift in U.S. demographics calls for a greater awareness and integration of cultural issues into the assessment and treatment of ethnically and linguistically diverse clients. This article examines the unique beliefs and manifestations of illnesses among Haitians in connection with the American Psychological Association's (APA, 2002) Multicultural Guidelines. The authors use a common culture-bound syndrome, Séizisman, to illustrate the cultural beliefs, assessment, and treatment of illnesses among Haitians. In so doing, they demonstrate how to incorporate the APA Multicultural Guidelines into treatment with clients of diverse cultural and racial backgrounds.

Existing research demonstrates that culture has a profound impact on the expression and manifestation of mental illness

Research on familial experiences has documented the important role of receiving family support, but has not examined the effects of providing such support. Empathic family stress refers to the stress that individuals experience in response to difficult life circumstances of family members. The current study took a first step in examining the empathic family stress of 134 Haitian immigrants. Results from hierarchical regressions indicate that empathic family stress is a significant predictor of depressive symptoms, but not acculturative stress, for Haitian immigrants. Findings from the study are examined from a strengths-based perspective, where empathic family stress is viewed as a sign of strong family connections among Haitian immigrants. Recommendations are provided for clinicians working with Haitian immigrants to help them experience empathic family stress in a healthy manner.

Educational attainment is often linked to upward mobility in the United States. As a result, current research has focused on the educational attainment of various racial groups, including Black Americans. However, few studies have examined the various ethnic and immigrant groups that comprise the Black population. To address this gap, the current article focuses on the educational attainment of Haitian immigrants ( n = 150) living in the United States. Results indicate that socioeconomic status (SES) is a predictor of educational attainment but, contrary to previous research, gender and aspirations are unrelated. Implications for educators and policy makers are discussed.