Counselor Education Students’ Perceptions of Wellness and Mental Health in African American Men: The Effects of Colorism

Abstract

Colorism is discrimination based on skin tone. Skin color influences clinicians’ diagnostic impressions. The degree to which colorism influences counseling students’ clinical decision making is unknown. This study examined colorism's effect on counselor education master's students’ (N = 154) clinical decisions. Analysis of covariance failed to produce statistically significant results when comparing students’ evaluations of a male African American's mental health and wellness, when controlling for presentation management, across 4 skin tones. Counselors should include colorism in diversity training. El colorismo es la discriminación basada en el tono de la piel. El tono de la piel influye en las impresiones diagnósticas de los profesionales clínicos. Se desconoce hasta qué punto el colorismo influye en las decisiones clínicas de los estudiantes de consejería. Este estudio examinó el efecto del colorismo en las decisiones clínicas de estudiantes de maestría en educación de consejeros (N = 154). El análisis de la covarianza no produjo resultados estadísticamente significativos al comparar las evaluaciones de los estudiantes sobre la salud mental y el bienestar de un cliente afroamericano varón, controlando la gestión de la presentación de 4 tonos de piel diferentes. Los consejeros deberían incluir el colorismo en la capacitación de diversidad.

Counselor Education and Supervision: 2018 Annual Review

“…Clinical perspectives articles focused on master's-level students' experiences related to clinical decision-making and practices. In one study, colorism did not influence students' clinical decisions as anticipated (Hairston, Laux, O'Hara, Roseman, & Gore, 2018); Hutchison et al (2018) presented a thematic analysis regarding knowledge and perceptions of cultural display rules in counseling practice. Qualitative researchers attended to students' experiences with psychodynamic theory and practice (Smith, 2018), metaphors in internship reflections (Storlie, Giegerich, Stoner-Harris, & Byrd, 2018), and interns' experiences related to disability-focused practice (Rivas & Hill, 2018).…”