The effect of client race and social class on clinical judgments

Fischer, Joel; Miller, Henry M.

doi:10.1007/bf01793605

Cited by 14 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Strickland et al (1988) found that "white neurotics and psychotics were given higher ratings of severity than black neurotics and psychotics while black normals were rated more 'normal' than white clients" (p. 146), findings that are consistent with the present results. Similar analogue studiesbut with patient's race as a between-subjects variable-have also reported a pro-Black bias (Fischer & Miller, 1973;Merluzzi & Merluzzi, 1978). Although participants claimed they had assumed Mr. X to be White during the race undisclosed condition, a race undisclosed condition is not the same as a race White condition, and the obtained findings should be interpreted accordingly.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Conscious and nonconscious African American stereotypes: Impact on first impression and diagnostic ratings by therapists.

Abreu¹

1999

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

104

101

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Sixty therapists randomly assigned to 1 of 2 priming conditions were primed with African American stereotypes or neutral words using 80-ms flash words on a computer screen. This procedure may activate information processing outside of conscious awareness. After this task, participants were exposed to a brief vignette introducing Mr. X, a patient referred for treatment, and then were asked to rate Mr. X on various dimensions. Results indicate that participants primed with stereotype words rated Mr. X significantly less favorably on hostility-related attributes and significantly more favorably on hostility-unrelated attributes than did participants primed with neutral words. The findings suggest that therapists can be affected by African American stereotypes in ways that produce negative or positive first impressions depending on the nature of the attribute that is rated.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Conscious and nonconscious African American stereotypes: Impact on first impression and diagnostic ratings by therapists.

Abreu¹

1999

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

104

101

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“…However, there is also the phenomenon of “bending over backwards” for clients of different races in order to ensure “fair” judgments. In one study, white social workers rated black clients more positively than they did white clients (Fischer and Miller, ). If such overcompensation is a regular feature of social service provision, our empirical findings may understate the preferences of African Americans and Hispanics for providers who are racially and ethnically similar.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Importance of Race and Religion in Social Service Providers

Hsu

Hackett

Hinkson

2013

Social Science Quarterly

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Objectives The objectives of this study are to investigate the traits that clients find important in professional social service providers, comparing confidence in client management skills (friendliness, experience, and knowledge) to desire for demographic characteristics (being of the same race and religion). Methods To accomplish this task, we use multiple regression to analyze results of the Lehigh Valley Trust Survey of low‐income recipients of social services. Results While most respondents find the professional traits important, there is significant variation in whether respondents consider demographic characteristics to be important. We find that having a provider of the same race is very important for African Americans and Hispanics, while having a provider with similar religious beliefs is extremely important for evangelical Protestants. Other predictive variables for homophilous preferences in race and religion are age, mobility, and education. Conclusions Professional skills corresponding to organizational position are important to most people, but specific demographic groups prioritize racial, ethnic, and religious homophily. While we suggest some possible explanations (perceived or actual discrimination and cultural concordance), further research is needed to determine the causes.

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“…of counselors' impressions. We also attempted to formulate our designation of social class membership in a somewhat more fine-grained way than had previous studies, which often specified only two social class divisions referred to as upper and lower (e.g., Fisher & Miller, 1973) or middle and lower (e.g., DiNardo, 1975;Lee & Temerlin, 1970). This study instead delineated four different groups corresponding generally to the Zweig (2000) typology presented earlier.…”

Section: This Studymentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The scale was patterned after numerous previous studies that have featured similar rating scales to capture diagnostic impressions (e.g., Fisher, Matthews, Robinson, & Burke, 2001;Fisher & Miller, 1973;Gushue, 2004). A sample item is ''How depressed would you estimate Michael to be?''…”

Section: Clinical Features Questionnaire (Cfq)mentioning

confidence: 99%

The relationship of clients’ social class to early therapeutic impressions

Smith

Mao

Perkins

et al. 2011

Counselling Psychology Quarterly

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Using case vignettes that differed in the presentation of the client's social class, the influence of social class on therapeutic impressions was studied in the context of just-world beliefs. Results suggested that (1) participants with higher levels of belief in a just world saw poor and working-class clients as more unpleasant to work with and more dysfunctional and (2) working-class vignettes were associated with the lowest predictions of session depth and smoothness. The findings suggest that counselors may respond differently to clients based on their social class, and in a way that negatively predisposes them toward work with poor and working-class clients.

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The effect of client race and social class on clinical judgments

Cited by 14 publications

References 9 publications

Conscious and nonconscious African American stereotypes: Impact on first impression and diagnostic ratings by therapists.

Conscious and nonconscious African American stereotypes: Impact on first impression and diagnostic ratings by therapists.

The Importance of Race and Religion in Social Service Providers

The relationship of clients’ social class to early therapeutic impressions

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