Organizational Theory From an Afrocentric Perspective

Publication Productivity of African-American Social Work Faculty

“…He has maintained that because of their cultural prescription that places greater emphasis on speaking than on writing, African-American academicians are more inclined to express their ideas orally rather than in writing. An underlying assumption of Burgest's analysis is that traditional African philosophical assumptions continue to shape the ethos of contemporary African-Americans, an assumption also maintained by other writers (Akbar, 1979;Baldwin, 1985;Boykin & Toms, 1985;Dixon, 1976;Hale-Benson, 1982;Nichols, 1987;Nobles, 1980;Schiele, 1990). T o the extent that this assumption is correct, the oral tradition may help to explain some of the variance in productivity among AfricanAmerican faculty.…”

“…Whereas some investigators (Pearson, 1978;Schiele, 1990) have challenged Merton's (1 968) universalism assumption of science, others (Anderson, 1983(Anderson, , 1988Hill, 1980;Staples, 1984) have underscored the importance of attitudinal factors, which they assume influence the rejection of manuscripts by AfricanAmericans when submitted to mainstream or "white" journals.' It is suggested that these attitudes reflect racist beliefs that the works of African-American writers are unscholarly (Anderson, 1988;Staples, 1984); polemical (Anderson, 1983(Anderson, , 1988Staples, 1984); and too subjective (Anderson, 1983(Anderson, , 1988Hill, 1980).…”

Afrocentric Approaches to Social Work

“…The new, emerging literature was replete with the words Afrocentric and Afrocentricity. And while these were the most popular terms used (Schiele, 1990;King, 1994;Mathis, 1994;Daniels, 2001;Graham, 1999;Reid-Merritt, 2010), others (Roberts et al, 2000;Harvey and Rauch, 1997;Clegg, 1997;Crawley, 2001;Harvey and Hill, 2004;Bent-Goodley, 2005) preferred to use 'Africentric' or 'African-centered' in their challenge to Eurocentric approaches. Each of their contributions supported the expansion of the developing paradigm for Afrocentric social work practice.…”

A Comparison of European and African-Based Psychologies and Their Implications for African American College Student Development

“…This Afrocentric theory must reflect its collective, rhythmic, nonmaterial (spiritual), and affective character (Schiele, 1990). It must present belief that • human beings are conceived collectively, • human beings are spiritual, • human beings are good, • the affective approach to knowledge is epistemologically valid, • much of human behavior is nonrational, and • the axiology of highest value lies in interpersonal relationships (Schiele, 1990).…”