Assessment and Culture: Psychological Tests with Minority Populations (Practical Resources for the Mental Health Professional) [Hardcover]

Sharon-ann Gopaul McNicol (Author), Eleanor Armour-Thomas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 17, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0122904516 | ISBN-13: 978-0122904516 | Edition: 1

Assessment and Culture challenges the classical approach to the assessment of minority populations by pointing out the deficiencies in this approach and offers instead a bio-cultural model of assessment. The principle objective of this book is to help mental health professionals to more accurately assess individuals from various ethnic, cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The culture-fair techniques and strategies of the book tap into a broad range of the abilities and aptitudes of the examinee. Assessment and Culture provides a cultural frame of reference which allows the examiner to take into account the individual's social and cultural factors in development, coping style and personal history. Individual chapters consider the practical aspects of assessing the intellectual, linguistic, academic, visual-motor, emotional and vocational functioning of culturally diverse children. An entire section of the book is devoted to writing the assessment report.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

After 15 years of cross-cultural practice in assessment and research, with individuals from various ethnic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds, the authors have produced this book, offering an eclectic approach to assessment in the cognitive, personality, vocational, linguistic, visual-motor and educational areas. The underlying principle of Assessment and Culture is the successful assessment of culturally and linguistically diverse individuals. Proper assessment relies on mental health professionals understanding the values and cognitive styles endemic to an individual's cultural upbringing. A biocultural approach to assessment is proposed in a simplified form so that clinical mental health and educational professionals can apply it to individuals from any culture. The key feature of this approach is that it seeks to empower the examinee through observing his/her strengths as they relate to and interact with various systems in the examinee's environment.

Among the book's key features:
· Captures various aspects of cross-cultural assessment
· Presents research conducted by mental health professionals from various ethnic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds
· Proposes a biocultural model of assessment
· Endorses the assumption that each set of cultural circumstances results in a unique individual response

About the Author

Sharon-Ann Gopaul-McNicol, Ph.D. has recently been appointed as the Assistant Director for the Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation. Prior to coming on at APA, she was the director/coordinator of the school psychology program at Howard University, and is a clinical and school psychologist. She is the author of eight books, some of have been used to train psychologists in working with cross-cultural populations. Dr. Gopaul-McNicol has presented at various national and international conferences and has served as a psychological and educational consultant for various education departments around the world.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 210 pages
• Publisher: Academic Press; 1 edition (October 17, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0122904516
• ISBN-13: 978-0122904516
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,086,680 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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