Black and White Racial Identity

This book examines the major theories of Black and White racial identity. Moreover, theoretical perspectives that were originally developed to describe social fomentation have been updated and expanded to explain the role of racial identity in counseling dyads, social relationships, and groups. Measures for assessing racial identity are described. Original research addresses the relationship of racial identity to other personality characteristics such as value orientations, decision-making styles and counseling process variables such as satisfaction, counselor strategies, and client reactions.

Part 1 presents basic racial identity theory and measurement issues as they pertain to individuals and intergroup functioning. Ideally this material will be useful to persons who are seeking a basic introduction to Black and White racial identity theory. Part 2 introduces empirical attempts to examine the correlates of racial identity. This section is primarily intended for the reader who is interested in generating research questions and/or evaluating some of those that already have been generated. Part 3 includes speculative and empirical chapters that study the influence of racial identity on everyday interactions. This material also describes the influence of racial identity attitudes on various kinds of counseling interactions. The final chapter presents models for promoting identity development. This book should appeal to anyone interested in the social and behavioral sciences, including psychiatry, social work, and cross cultural psychology; nursing and education.

JANET E. HELMS is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Maryland and Fellow in Divisions 17 (Counseling Psychology) and 45 (Ethnic Diversity) of the American Psychological Society.