Ethnicity and cultural diversity: An analysis of work published in community psychology journals, 1965–1985

Abstract

The purpose of this survey was to examine the extent to which community psychology has committed itself to one of its original missions: to foster cultural relativity and diversity. Content analyses were conducted of all articles published in the American Journal of Community Psychology, Community Mental Health Journal, and the Journal of Community Psychology from the journals' inception through 1985. Of all articles published, 13% furthered the goals of cultural diversity, and 86% did not. Further breakdown revealed that 5.5% of the articles were on a single U.S. ethnic minority group, 5% compared an ethnic minority group(s) to Whites, 2% were on an international cultural group, and .5% compared two or more ethnic minority groups to each other. Compared to CMHJ, a higher proportion of articles published in AJCP and JCP were devoted to cultural diversity. Greater attention has been given to the study of Blacks and Hispanics/Puerto Ricans than to Asian Americans or Native Americans. For all journals combined, there was an overall increase in the proportion of articles devoted to cultural diversity and ethnicity over time. Still, 5% to 11% was considered short of the proportion of ethnic minorities in the United States (over 20%), leading the researchers to conclude that progress has been made, but more needs to be done.

The Spirit of Ecological Inquiry and Intervention Research Reports: A Heuristic Elaboration

“…For instance, almost 20 years ago Loo et al (1988) found that overall only 13% of the articles published between 1965 and 1985 in AJCP, the Community Mental Health Journal (CMHJ), and the Journal of the Community Psychology (JCP) attended to cultural relativity or cultural diversity; 17% within AJCP alone. They respectively defined cultural relativity and diversity as the within group study of a single ethnic group (e.g.…”

Generational Differences in Resistance to Peer Pressure among Mexican-Origin Adolescents

“…In sum, it has been well documented that research on White populations outnumbers research on ethnic or culturally diverse populations (Fisher, Jackson, & Villarruel, 1998;Graham, 1992;Loo, Fong, & Iwamasa, 1988), which limits our understanding of how cultural differences may affect development, beliefs, ideas, and behaviors in ethnic minority adolescent populations. Furthermore, research exploring intragroup differences has been almost nonexistent and, when conducted, has not typically been founded on theoretical bases.…”

Who's Left Out and Who's Still on the Margins? Social Exclusion in Community Psychology Journals

“…Like Loo et al. (), Bernal and Enchautegui‐de‐Jesus () established that the representation of these groups fell well below their overall proportion in the U.S. population. They argued that the comparative paucity of diversity‐related articles, especially among specific underserved groups, indicated a gap between the ideals and practice of community psychology (Bernal & Enchautegui‐de‐Jesus, ).…”

“…Although Loo et al. () also reported an increase in cultural diversity over 20 years (from 5.5% to 11%), they illustrated that the representation of cultural minorities still fell well below the proportion of these groups within the U.S. population (of over 20%). They concluded that progress was evident in promoting cultural diversity in published work, but they held that more needed to be done to ensure that the underrepresented did not remain on the margins (Loo et al., ).…”