This volume is designed to enhance the cultural competence of mental health and educational professionals working with West Indian families. It provides a concise introduction to the historical, sociopolitical, family, and cultural contexts that shape the experiences of this growing immigrant population. Describing typical family structures, roles, and values, the author highlights inter-island differences as well as differences between African Americans and African West Indian Americans. Guidelines for culturally aware assessment, intervention, and training are presented, illustrated with sensitive clinical material. Ideal for practicing professionals, the book also serves as a text in graduate-level courses in multiculturalism, psychological assessment, linguistic assessment, educational assessment, and family therapy.

Many of those who emigrated from the Caribbean to the UK after World War II left behind partners and children, causing the break-up of families who were often not reunited for several years. In this book, Elaine Arnold examines the psychological impact that immigration had on these families, in particular with relation to attachment issues. She demonstrates that the disruption caused by separation from both family and country often had long-term traumatic consequences. The book draws on two studies carried out by the author in 1975 and 2001. In the first, she interviewed mothers who had emigrated without their children, and in the second, children (now adults) who had been left behind and were later reunited with their parents. This insightful book will assist all those working with people of African Caribbean origin in the UK to better understand their experiences and the impact that separation and loss has had on their lives. It is essential reading for social workers, counsellors, therapists and any other professionals working with families of African Caribbean origin.

Presents new ways in which art therapy is being used. Describes a wealth of cases where art therapy has been used with bereaved children, refugees, psychotics, psychosomatic patients, and many others. Discusses a variety of methods employed by art therapists, including the creative use of photography, video, computers, and psychodrama. Describes ways of introducing art therapy to children, and a new method of working with depressed patients. Also covers training issues, such as countertransference through art-making, using art in supervision, and training in termination.

The Health and Well-Being of Caribbean Immigrants in the United States is a timely addition to the knowledge base concerning the integration of this population into the fabric of American society. On the eve of the fortieth anniversary of the 1965 Immigration Reform Act, this book examines the relationship between immigrants from the Caribbean and the culture of the United States. This body of work provides resources for scholars and researchers and provides instrumental strategies for use in practice by counselors/social workers, curriculum developers, and immigration analysts. With this book, you will develop a new appreciation for the social capital immigrants bring with them, their adaptation to their new society, and the extent to which their distinctive characteristics promote or hinder their social mobility. Using tables, figures, and graphs, The Health and Well-Being of Caribbean Immigrants in the United States provides thorough analyses of broad-ranging issues and proposes viable solutions to the problems these immigrants face. In this important resource, expert educators, researchers, and community leaders address the unique challenges that affect this population, including: increased infant mortality rates increased HIV/AIDS among the Caribbean community the growing trend of violence and abuse among Caribbean and Caribbean-American youths the special needs of aging and elderly immigrants living in the United States the impact of the 1996 immigration legislation on Caribbean families The Health and Well-Being of Caribbean Immigrants in the United States paints a clear picture of how these citizens are coping with the social, economic, and political aspects of the American way of life. This guide offers new findings and insight into the reality of the diverse immigrant Caribbean population, setting the stage for establishing groundbreaking initiatives to develop better support services. Innovative community-based approaches and culturally specific prescriptive intervention models make this book an integral source for social scientists, human service professionals, and policymakers.

Originally published in 1982 Social Work and Ethnicity was the first purpose-written text for social work students, administrators and practitioners designed to prepare them conceptually and practically for work in Britain’s established ethnic minority communities. Much more than the vicissitudes of immigration now had to be considered: this book discusses social work’s response to chronic racial discrimination and disadvantage and the hazards and advantages of taking ethnicity into account in service delivery. Emphasised throughout is the role of the social services in promoting good race relations and a better deal for black people. Social Work and Ethnicity is based on research carried out by Mrs Cheetham and sponsored by the DHSS to identify the major concerns of social workers with ethnic minority clients and to study the development of relevant services in Britain and the USA. The contributing authors are mainly practitioners and come from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds; in fact, this is the first book on social work to be published in Britain to which a substantial contribution has been made by black writers. The specially commissioned contributions discuss the fundamental questions of principle in giving special consideration to ethnicity and underline the implications for practice. In particular, the lessons which Britain can learn from American experience are reviewed. The book opens with a discussion of political and ethical questions; the problems of assessing need and monitoring services are then examined. This is followed by several chapters on the special needs of various ethnic minority client groups, particularly children and young people, who now deserve priority attention. The tricky issue of ethnic matching is discussed, so too are the different methods of developing services which are appropriate to ethnic minority needs and aspirations. Recruitment, training and education for work in a multi-racial society are subjects for several chapters and the book concludes with the experiences of two ethnic minority social workers. This book is a re-issue originally published in 1982. The language used and assumptions made are a reflection of its era and no offence is meant by the Publishers to any reader by this re-publication.

As new immigrant communities continue to flourish in U.S. cities, their members continually face challenges of assimilation in the organization of their ethnic identities. West Indians provide a vibrant example. In West Indian in the West, Percy Hintzen draws on extensive ethnographic work with the West Indian community in the San Francisco Bay area to illuminate the ways in which social context affects ethnic identity formation. The memories, symbols, and images with which West Indians identify in order to differentiate themselves from the culture which surrounds them are distinct depending on what part of the U.S. they live in. West Indian identity comes to take on different meanings within different locations in the United States. In the San Francisco Bay area, West Indians negotiate their identity within a system of race relations that is shaped by the social and political power of African Americans. By asserting their racial identity as black, West Indians make legal and official claims to resources reserved exclusively for African Americans. At the same time, the West Indian community insulates itself from the problems of the black/white dichotomy in the U.S. by setting itself apart. Hintzen examines how West Indians publicly assert their identity by making use of the stereotypic understandings of West Indians which exist in the larger culture. He shows how ethnic communities negotiate spaces for themselves within the broader contexts in which they live.

A unique panoramic survey of ethnic groups throughout the United States that explores the diverse communities in every region, state, and big city. Race, ethnicity, and immigrants' lives and identity: these are all key topics that Americans need to study in order to fully understand U.S. culture, society, politics, economics, and history. Learning about "place" through our own historical and contemporary neighborhoods is an ideal way to better grasp the important role of race and ethnicity in the United States. This reference work comprehensively covers both historical and contemporary ethnic and immigrant neighborhoods through A–Z entries that explore the places and people in every major U.S. region and neighborhood. America's Changing Neighborhoods: An Exploration of Diversity uniquely combines the history of ethnic groups with the history of communities, offering an interdisciplinary examination of the nation's makeup. It gives readers perspective and insight into ethnicity and race based on the geography of enclaves across the nation, in regions and in specific cities or localized areas within a city. Among the entries are nearly 200 "neighborhood biographies" that provide histories of local communities and their ethnic groups. Images, sidebars, cross-references at the end of each entry, and cross-indexing of entries serve readers conducting preliminary as well as in-depth research. The book's state-by-state entries also offer population data, and an appendix of ancestry statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau details ethnic and racial diversity.