Essentials of Culture in Psychological Assessment - (Essentials of Psychological Assessment) by A Jordan Wright (Paperback)

About the Book

"Understanding the history of cultural bias in psychological assessment is crucial given the historical connection between psychological assessment (e.g., intelligence testing) and racist and eugenicist ideology. Indeed, it is well known that the early history of psychological and intelligence testing in the United States was strongly rooted in and remains tarnished by eugenics, blatant ethnic and racial discrimination, and attempts to oppress individuals who were not from the dominant culture (e.g., Allen, 2006; Franklin, 2007; Guthrie, 2004; Sayegh et al., 2023). Contemporary Euro-American psychological assessment is, unfortunately, shaped by inherent biases of the dominant Western culture, such as the narrow racial, cultural, and social identities and norms informing it. In addition, the early functions of psychological assessment in Europe and the United States (U.S.) in the 19th century reflected sociocultural interests of the time (e.g., racial segregation in schools [Terman, 1916] and immigration restriction [Allen, 2006]). The consequent 20th-century testing movement similarly continued to rely on definitions of intellectual abilities reflective of the dominant culture and measurements"--

Book Synopsis

Integrate cultural awareness and humility into your psychological assessments

In Essentials of Culture in Psychological Assessment, editor Jordan A. Wright curates a collection of invaluable work that helps psychological assessors be more deliberate in acknowledging--and, in some cases, mitigating--the role that culture and cultural experiences can play in the psychological assessment process. It encourages assessors to think about cultural issues as they relate to clients, including the cultural background clients bring with them to the assessment and the oppressive experiences they may have endured.

You'll explore the roles that power and privilege might play in the assessment process and the cultural variables that affect the interaction with clients and the process as it unfolds. You'll also discover how culture and oppression can be considered and accounted for throughout the entire lifecycle of a psychological assessment.

Readers will also find:

• Tools and strategies for conducting culture-informed and diversity-sensitive psychological assessment
• Techniques for understanding the data that arises from clients from various backgrounds
• Ways to integrate culture into every aspect of psychological assessment

Perfect for psychology clinicians of all kinds, Essentials of Culture in Psychological Assessment is a can't-miss resource that will inform, improve, and transform the way you conduct psychological testing and assessment on clients from a variety of cultural backgrounds.

From the Back Cover

An insightful discussion of how to integrate cultural awareness and humility into your psychological assessments

In Essentials of Culture in Psychological Assessment, distinguished clinician, author, and editor A. Jordan Wright delivers a collection of resources to help psychological assessors be more deliberate and mindful in acknowledging, and sometimes mitigating, the role that culture and cultural experiences play in psychological assessments. The book encourages assessors to consider cultural issues as they relate to clients, including the cultural background that clients bring with them to the assessment and experiences of privilege and oppression that may be impacting them.

The included works explore the roles that power and privilege play in the assessment process and the cultural variables that can affect assessors' interactions with clients, as well as how culture and oppression can be accounted for during the entire lifecycle of a psychological assessment.

The book contains:

• Useful tools and strategies for conducting culture-informed and diversity-sensitive psychological assessments
• Techniques for understanding data that come from clients' varied backgrounds
• Ways to integrate culture into the different parts of a psychological assessment

Perfect for psychology clinicians of all types, Essentials of Culture in Psychological Assessment is a powerful collection of resources that will inform, improve, and change the way you conduct psychological testing and assessment with clients from all cultural backgrounds.

About the Author

A. JORDAN WRIGHT is the Director of the PhD program in combined Clinical/Counseling Psychology at New York University, where he is also the Director of the Center for Counseling and Community Wellbeing, NYU's training clinic. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Assessment Psychology and the American Board of Professional Psychology, a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Society for Personality Assessment, and chaired the APA task force that developed guidelines for education and training in psychological assessment. He is also the Chief Clinical Officer at Parallel Learning.