Culture, Ethnicity and Mental Health (LPSY3025A)
Undergraduate Course, Eugene Lang College
Course Objectives:
•  To provide an introduction to the study of how culture and ethnicity influence human behavior in general, and mental health in particular. Topics to be covered include the role of culture in shaping psychological development, constructions of abnormal behavior, and expressions of psychopathology.
•  To educate and stimulate thinking about the major mental health and social issues facing individuals from different cultural groups. Attention will be focused on the sociocultural, historical, and psychological analyses of five major ethnic groups in the United States : African American, Chicanos/Latinos, Asian Americans, Arab Americans, and American Indians. In particular, we will examine racial/ethnic differences in the prevalence of mental disorders, the relationship between acculturation and adjustment, the conceptualization and assessment of racial identity, and clinical intervention and research with the cultural groups of interest.
•  To help students recognize cultural influences in their daily lives.