Latinos and latinas in community psychology: A review of the literature

Abstract

Latinos and Latinas are one of the largest minority groups in the United States yet they remain a silent group. The article begins by considering the social, historical, and economic backgrounds of Latino and Latina groups in the U.S. as a context for understanding diversity and as a resource for explaining the participation of this minority group in community psychology. This article then examines the extent to which Latinos and Latinas are present and participate in community psychology throughout its publications and explores the nature of their participation through a thematic analysis of the published literature. A content analysis was conducted on 1,851 articles published from 1973 through 1992 in the American Journal of Community Psychology and the Journal of Community Psychology to evaluate the presence of Latinos and Latinas in the community psychology literature. The quantitative analysis revealed that 3.7% (n = 69) of all the articles reviewed focused on Latinos and Latinas or had samples with at least 15% of the participants coming from this ethnic group. Mexican Americans/Chicanos were the focus of the largest number of articles about specific Latino and Latina subgroups, followed by Cubans and Puerto Ricans. The results indicated less attention to Latino and Latina populations in the community psychology literature than would be expected from the field's goals. However, a qualitative review of the articles was more encouraging since many articles by and about Latinos and Latinas reflected values consonant with the field such as cultural pluralism or employed conceptual tools of the discipline such as empowerment or ecological approaches. Nevertheless, some of the articles reviewed also lacked a concern for the field's values in relation to Latinos and Latinas as a group. Finally, suggestions and strategies to empower this group are offered.

Barriers to treatment for eating disorders among ethnically diverse women

“…This rate is consistent with rates reported by other investigators for treatment seeking for psychological problems in minority groups (O'Sullivan, Peterson, Cox, & Kirkeby, 1989;Ying & Miller, 1992). There has been growing recognition in the mental health care field that minority populations do suffer from mental health problems and that their underuse of the mental health care system is not a function of less need for such care (Bernal & Enchautegui-de-Jesus, 1994;O'Sullivan & Lasso, 1992). Compared with White samples, minority groups are much less likely to seek treatment (Dew, Dunn, Bromet, & Schulberg, 1988).…”

Content and method trends in the Journal of Community Psychology between 2003 and 2007

“…However, this study found that the representation of cultural minorities fell below the proportion of these groups within the United States. Similarly, Bernal and Enchautegui-de-Jesus (1994) examined the representation of the Latino and Latina community in the JCP and AJCP during the 1973-1992 period and found that only 3.7% of published articles focused on this group, which falls far below the proportion of this group in the population of the United States (Bernal & Enchautegui-de-Jesus, 1994). These authors note that the comparative paucity of articles devoted to diversity issues, especially among specific underserved groups, suggests a gap between the ideals and practice of community psychology, which suggests that the ongoing examination of the extent to which community psychology rhetoric of valuing diversity is translated into the focus of published work.…”

“…Several studies of trends in published research have been conducted on the most established journals in community psychology and community mental health (Angelique & Culley, 2003;Bernal & Enchautegui-de-Jesus, 1994;Loo, Fong, & Iwamasa, 1988;Lounsbury, Cook, Leader, Rubeiz, & Meares, 1979;Lounsbury, Leader, Mears, & Cook, 1980;Martin et al, 2004;Novaco & Monahan, 1980;Speer, Griggs, Gibson, Lubin, & Hughey, 1992). However, studies of this nature have been particularly scarce in the last decade, and no studies examining data sets of articles published in community psychology journals in the 2000s were identified.…”

“…Existing trend analysis research in community psychology can be broadly categorized into two subtypes: First, those that review general epistemological and methodological trends during a comparatively shorter time period (5-10 years) such as Lounsbury et al (1979), Lounsbury et al (1980), Martin et al (2004), andSpeer et al (1992); second, those that provide an in-depth review of specific predetermined focal areas such as cultural diversity (Bernal & Enchautegui-de-Jesus, 1994;Loo et al, 1988) or gender issues (Angelique & Culley, 2003), and these typically examine longer time periods (20-30 years). The present study falls into the former category whereby general theory and method trends were identified; but the present study also touches on some of the more specific focal areas related to gender and culture that have been addressed in previous long-term studies.…”

Ranking institutional settings based on publications in community psychology journals

“…found a decreased concern for theory and an increased emphasis on individuals independent of their environments. Finally, Bernal and Enchautegui-de-Jesus 1994! examined AJCP and JCP from 1973, and found that 79% of articles did not include ethnic minorities in their samples.…”