Cultural Competence and Intergroup Relations: Exploring Collective and Competitive Victim Beliefs in the U.S.

Abstract

Considering the history of race relations in the United States and the ever-increasing diversity of society, multicultural competence is an essential and integral component for adequate psychotherapy, education, and research. When evaluating approaches to multicultural competence training, research shows that racial and ethnic minority (REM) students have unique experiences in multicultural courses that are impacted by their racial identity and lived realities of oppression. These lived experiences can also impact the ways racial ethnic groups view and interact with each other. The aim of the following papers is to better understand how specific ethnic intergroup processes impact overall cultural competence and relations among marginalized groups in the U.S. In Chapter 2, I discuss the importance of cultural competence training for mental health clinicians and highlight the disparity in current cultural competency training models. In Chapter 3, I used a grounded theory methodology to examine the complex process and functions of collective and competitive victim beliefs among Black Americans and Asian Americans in the U.S., exploring themes that may be unique to minority groups in the U.S. The results may provide insight into additional aspects of multicultural competence training that better serve racial ethnic minorities. It may also provide social justice implications for better understanding ethnic intergroup processes and what is needed to heal and enhance group relations in the U.S.