E-Book Overview
There are now more than 32 million Mexican Americans living in the United States. As a result, the odds that a clinician will work with a member of this population—one of the fastest-growing minority groups in the United States—is extremely high. Understanding the culture, society, psyche, acculturation, assimilation, and linguistics specific to Mexican Americans, as well as their crises and appropriate interventions, is imperative to provide counseling/therapy services and culturally sensitive assessments.
In this book, author Mario Tovar explains how Mexican American history and society affects the needs of this group and how services to Mexican Americans require adjustments as a result. Tovar documents significant differences among Mexican Americans depending on whether they are documented or undocumented immigrants, and on their place of origin—rural versus urban areas of Mexico, and northern versus southern Mexico, for example. Readers will understand how the region of the United States in which Mexican Americans settle can influence the development of certain traits for them and learn about mental and physical health care practices common to Mexican Americans, including folk medicine and "healers" who often include grandmothers and elder neighbors.
E-Book Content
Mexican American Psychology
This page intentionally left blank
Mexican American Psychology Social, Cultural, and Clinical Perspectives
Mario A. Tovar
Race, Ethnicity, Culture, and Health Regan A. R. Gurung, Series Editor
Copyright © 2017 by Mario A. Tovar All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Tovar, Mario A. (Mario Alberto) Title: Mexican American psychology : social, cultural, and clinical perspectives / Mario A. Tovar. Description: Santa Barbara, California : Praeger, an Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC, [2017] | Series: Race, ethnicity, culture, and health | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016057092 (print) | LCCN 2017002781 (ebook) | ISBN 9781440841477 (hard copy : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781440841484 (e-book) Subjects: LCSH: Mexican Americans—Psychology. | Mexican Americans—Social life and customs. | Mexican Americans—Health and hygiene. | Mexican Americans—Mental health. Classification: LCC RC451.5.M48 T68 2017 (print) | LCC RC451.5.M48 (ebook) | DDC 362.2089/68073—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016057092 ISBN: 978-1-4408-4147-7 EISBN: 978-1-4408-4148-4 21 20 19 18 17 1 2 3 4 5 This book is also available as an eBook. Praeger An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC ABC-CLIO, LLC 130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911 Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911 www.abc-clio.com This book is printed on acid-free paper Manufactured in the United States of America
Contents
Series Foreword
vii
Preface ix Part I: Introduction to Sociologic al and Anthropological Topics Chapter 1. Overview of Mexican American Psychology
3
Chapter 2. Mexican American History
17
Chapter 3. Contemporary Mexican American Society
35
Chapter 4. Undocumented Immigration and Mexican Americans
49
Chapter 5. Assimilation and Acculturation of Mexican Americans
61
Chapter 6. Language, Communication, and Mexican Americans
73
Part II: Introduction to Clinical Topics Chapter 7. Mexican Americans and Mental Health
85
Chapter 8. The Clinical Interview
97
Chapter 9. Counsel