Cultural mistrust: An important psychological construct for diagnosis and treatment of African Americans.

Abstract

Although clinicians are encouraged to be more sensitive to cultural factors in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders, as evidenced by the significant changes in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994), little information is provided to help them determine which aspects of culture are important to the mental health of African Americans. This article discusses the importance of cultural mistrust as a psychological construct in the lives of African Americans. The origins of the construct, the research it has generated over the past 2 decades, and implications for improving interventions with Black clients seeking mental health care are discussed.

Predictors of Treatment Engagement in Ethnically Diverse, Urban Children Receiving Treatment for Trauma Exposure

“…Finally, African Americans may be less engaged in treatment because they have less trust in the mental health services system than Latinos (Whaley, 2001). There may be a number of good reasons for this, including the fact that African Americans are more likely to be misdiagnosed or hospitalized by mental health service providers (Whaley, 2001), and that African American families are more likely to be reported to Child Protective Services than families from other ethnic/racial backgrounds (Drake et.…”

“…There may be a number of good reasons for this, including the fact that African Americans are more likely to be misdiagnosed or hospitalized by mental health service providers (Whaley, 2001), and that African American families are more likely to be reported to Child Protective Services than families from other ethnic/racial backgrounds (Drake et. al, 2011;Fluke, Yuan, Hedderson & Curtis, 2003).…”

“…For example, as mentioned in question one, ethnic/cultural match between clients and therapists (HallidayBoykins, Schoenwald & Letourneau, 2005;Sue, 1998), acculturation (Rodriguez et. al, 2007), and cultural mistrust (Whaley, 2001) may all be important predictors of treatment engagement.…”

A gale force wind: Meaning making by male survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

“…The African American community and to a lesser extent some of the Latino communities have generally not trusted mental health professionals, often believing that they will be treated in a discriminatory manner (Thompson, Basile, & Akbar, 2004) and evidence exists to support their fears (Clark, Anderson, Clark & Williams, 1999;Grier & Cobbs, 1968;Rasheed & Rasheed, 1999). Whether they are currently being treated in a discriminatory manner, past experiences with prejudice may have made it very difficult for some of the men of color to come to the interviews; and both racial discrimination and their anticipation of being responded to in a racially biased manner often prohibits many men of color who are abuse survivors from pursuing help (Waters, 1999;Whaley, 2001).…”

Collusion, torture, and inequality: Understanding the actions of the American Psychological Association as institutional betrayal

“…Cultural mistrust is a construct used to describe a mistrust of Euro-Americans among African Americans due to experiences with racism and oppression (Terrell & Terrell, 1981); cultural mistrust also may be applicable to other minority groups. Cultural mistrust is distinguished from paranoia, as the former is an understandable and even self-protective response to oppression (Whaley, 2001). Cultural mistrust has most often been studied with regard to its impact on counseling relationships but has also been found to affect other health care settings.…”