Los Angeles, CA | July 4, 2018
by Danielle Leach


The Origin of FDMG Academy Vision
At the end of 2013, Dr. Umar first introduced the idea of opening up a residential academy for Black boys at the Meeting of the Minds (Think Tank) in Norfolk, Virginia meeting. During this meeting, Dr. Umar and members of the Black community brainstormed different schools that were up for sale and available which would make a good location for the FDMG RBG Academy. One of the schools was St. Paul's College. Saint Paul's College is a historically Black college in Lawrenceville, Virginia opened in 1888 by James Solomon Russell, freed slave and friend of Booker T. Washington. The school started with a dozen students and gained a steady enrollment over time. St. Paul's last graduating class was in June 2013.

One day, Dr. Umar received a call saying that St. Paul's would be going up for auction. Dr. Umar called the president of St. Paul's College to negotiate a bid on the college for $3 million. They wanted 4% down (~$150,000 down payment). The college didn't sell at the auction. So Dr. Umar was invited to visit to negotiate a deal.

Why St. Paul's?
90 miles from Richmond. 90 miles from North Carolina border
Southern Virginia
137 acres (of 500 acres. They sold 300 acres, which Dr. Umar initially intended to build a Black Wall Street on the excess acres).

“Black Wall Street” would consist of teacher and parent houses, gas station, supermarket, daycare, cleaners, fire department, police department. The ultimate vision? To incorporate into a city. The school would be the “foundation for a 21st century Black Wall Street Operation” proclaims certified School Psychologist, Dr. Umar Ifatunde.

The school is “small enough for a college, but big enough for the vision.” It has dormitories, brand new state of the art student center (built by alumni), a gymnasium cafeteria, and most importantly it's surrounded by undeveloped acres in a rural area, enclosed by an African-American community. The operating expenses were reported at $40-$60,000/month.

While on the tour, Dr. Umar was told by the realty company that he had until July-August to raise 2.5 million dollars.

FDMG Academy Fundraiser began on May 20, 2014 and nearly $150,000 was raised in 30 days.

School Objective: To teach youth knowledge of self (African Identity) and leadership

Key Curriculum Components:
Core: math, science, social studies, language arts
Agricultural science (farm)
Raw Food* Organic (no oven, microwave, or stove)
Natural Hair care
Clothing Manufacturing
Hospitality/Tourism/Hotel and Restaurant Management
Financial Economic (9th grade taxes*, 10th grade real estate, 11th grade business plan, 12th grade stock market/multi-trading, international commerce)
Military science (how to survive off the land)

To Make a donation, make checks payable to:
FDMG Academy
P.O. Box 6872 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19132
drumarjohnson@yahoo.com

Include name and mailing address so you can be honored for your donation. If you contribute $1000 or more, you will be named as one of the founding mothers/fathers.


To apply:
Send resumes to FDMGresumes@gmail.com. African-centered, pro-heterosexual applicants are encouraged to apply.

Degree required:
-certified math teachers, science, social studies, language arts
(bachelor's degree required; 18 college credits specific to content area you will be teaching at the school)
-social workers, nurses, building engineers, stock brokers, economists

Degree not required:
special skilled jobs
secretaries
security guards
natural hair care stylists
organic/raw food chefs
farmers
janitors
painters
bus drivers
classroom assistants

Other cities of interest: Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta

School suggestions? Send your school suggestions to Dr. Umar Ifatunde via text at 215-989-9858
School specs: 500-3000 student capacity

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyFuIfSPml4

Diagnosing ADHD & ID in African-American Children
Danielle Leach, M.S.
Los Angeles, California

Prevalence of ADHD & ID in African-American Children

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, often referred to as ADHD stands as one of the most commonly diagnosed disorders among children in America. Despite the significant amount of research conducted on ADHD surrounding diagnosis and treatment, there has been very little evidence that lends enough information to determine a definitive cause. To that end, many parents who are told that their child meets the criteria for the disorder, struggle with accepting the label of the diagnosis in the absence of an explicit cause or explanation as to how their child developed the disorder in the first place.

The rate of diagnosis of ADHD in children has been steadily on the rise over the past decade and continues to rise simultaneously as the criteria for diagnosis of ADHD becomes looser with the release of each new edition of the DSM (Diagnostic & Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders)  (Joyce Cheng, "Arguments about Whether Over-diagnosis of ADHD is a Significant Problem"). This increase can be explained by a number of contributing factors, including the following: (1) over-diagnosing (2) lack of continuity of care (3) loose criteria (4) increasing consumer demand and (5) clinician bias (Joyce Cheng, "Arguments about Whether Over-diagnosis of ADHD is a Significant Problem").

Matched with the overall prevalence of ADHD diagnosis in children in America stands a higher prevalence of ADHD with hyperactivity subtypes diagnosed in African-American children (Root & Resnick, 2003). This raises the question as to whether ADHD in African-American children is being over-diagnosed by clinicians or if more and more children are actually presenting with symptoms that meet criteria for the diagnosis. The complexity in resolving such problem is predicated on the reality that diagnosis of mental health problems in a marginalized population is highly likely related to the systemic pressures put on teachers and school psychologists to discriminate against children of color, leading to classroom segregation and over-placement of African-American children in special-education classes.

The higher prevalence of ADHD in African-American children still speaks to a bigger problem in our nation, with an underlining reality that more children are diagnosed with ADHD in America than any other country (Joyce Cheng, "Arguments about Whether Over-diagnosis of ADHD is a Significant Problem"). Despite our nation’s reputation of being a leader in health and education, many of its citizens are falling victim to the pitfalls of democracy and politics, as they remain the driving mechanisms by which these systems operate. The current rate for ADHD diagnosis in America stands at 11% and continues to rise as more and more generations of children are funneled through the system (Joyce Cheng, "Arguments about Whether Over-diagnosis of ADHD is a Significant Problem").

So while causes of ADHD in children remains unknown, there are several hypotheses for how African-American children are at a higher risk for attaining the disorder. One possible explanation for the higher prevalence of ADHD in African-American children has been linked to environmental influences, namely socio-economic status of the family to which the child is directly influenced by (Joyce Cheng, "Arguments about Whether Over-diagnosis of ADHD is a Significant Problem"), making children who attend schools in neighborhoods with families represented by low socio-economic status (SES) more susceptible to the diagnosis. Taking a closer look at the diagnostic criteria for ADHD, one can understand how a child’s socio-cultural environment can be a contributing factor to shaping the onset of the disorder. The DSM states that a child has to endorse either 6 of the Inattention symptoms and/or 6 of the Hyperactivity symptoms for a period of 6 months in order to meet the diagnostic criteria for ADHD (Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5, 2013, pp. 59-60). The symptoms must begin onset before age 12, be evident in two or more settings, and cause significant distress or impairment in functioning (Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5, 2013, pp. 59-60). Some of the symptoms included in this criteria that could possibly be explained by socio-cultural and environmental factors include the following:
difficulty in sustaining attention on tasks; difficulty with organizing tasks; avoids participating in tasks that require sustained mental effort; often loses things required to complete tasks; forgetful and easily distracted; being fidgety; leaving seat when expected to; unable to play quietly; unable to sit still; excessive talking; blurting out answers and not giving others time to complete their sentences; interrupting others; and having difficulty waiting turn (Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5, 2013, pp. 59-60).

So in essence, what may by perceived by one group of people as disruptive, inappropriate, and abnormal behavior, could simply be a representation of cultural differences between ethnic racial groups, high influenced by their socio-cultural environment in which they live in. Interpretation of these behavioral characteristics are predicated on whether or not the person making the observation views the behavior as a function of one’s culture and environment as opposed to an inherent trait that underscores a specific deficit in the individual.

The fact that there’s a higher prevalence of ADHD diagnosis in low SES schools (Root & Resnick, 2003) speaks more to racial disparities than it does income status, given that the majority of low SES families are represented by people of color. Within poor families, exists issues surrounding poor nutrition and diet which could also provide possible explanations for the hyperactivity and inattentiveness. Essentially, it would be very difficult for anyone to remain attentive and productive at work or school when there are concerns about one’s health and safety that linger constantly in their minds. Nevertheless, it is one’s cultural adaptation to these socio-economic problems linked to racial oppression and discrimination that also have a detrimental impact within every individual who is affected.

More specifically, within the African-American culture, it isn’t uncommon for a person to finish another person’s sentence while they are speaking, especially when the person speaking is having trouble formulating the words they’re trying to say. This linguistic difference seen within the African-American culture may come off as strikingly problematic in the context of a culture that highly values verbal ability defined by “appropriate” pronunciation, articulation, and subject-verb agreement. Even within many African-American churches, you will find a style of worship that is very different than what you will see in white churches where the congregation will interact with the pastor by “blurting out” phrases like, “Yes!” “Preach!” “Praise God” to encourage the pastor to continue preaching and serves as minimal encouragers to let the pastor know that the church is following what he’s saying. These slight nuances in communication speak to cultural differences between Blacks and Whites that are not yet recognized and understood by mainstream culture, especially as it relates to the educational school setting. Because Blacks within American society are seen as a numerical minority group, a lot of behaviors that are normal within this subgroup are pathologized within the greater context of the dominant culture.

As a result, the diagnostic criteria and labels of ADHD in the DSM are problematic for many clinicians because they are unclear and confusing (Root & Resnick, 2003). You can take 10 different clinicians, hand them one African-American child, and they will all come up with 10 different diagnoses. This is mostly due to the fact that the criteria in the DSM is very vague, too broad, and all-encompassing. Clinicians are met with a very challenging task of assessing pathological symptoms in clients that cause distress for the individual, but with respect to the diagnosis of ADHD, the symptoms are more a distress for the people in the individual’s life (namely the teachers and parents) than they are for the child themselves.

Dr. Umar Johnson, a Certified School Psychologist in the state of Pennsylvania who specializes in early childhood assessments indicates that there is a very high prevalence of ADHD diagnosis in African-American boys in public schools that is mostly linked to environmental causes, that he has coined, “Ain’t No Daddy at Home Disorder.” In his book, “Psycho-academic Holocaust: the Special Education & ADHD Wars against Black Boys,” Dr. Umar emphasizes the importance of the role of positive male role models and having a father figure to the healthy development of a child’s life (Johnson, U., 2013). The numbers of African-American children being raised in single parent households is alarming and has become a topic of increasing concern for change agents within the Black community.

Disproportionate and Over-representation of African-American Children in Special Education

Alongside the over-representation of ADHD in African-American children sits a disproportionate representation of Intellectual Disability (ID) diagnoses in African-American children. Despite studies with attempts to disprove the over-diagnosis of ID and ADHD in African-American children (Norman, Staff, Hillemeier, Farkas, & Maczuga, 2013), research has shown that African-American students are being diagnosed with an intellectual disability at a right that is twice as high than White students (Gentry, "Disproportionate Representation of Minorities in Special Education - How Bad?", 2009). As a result, the similar questions relating to the over-diagnosis of ID in Black students, much like ADHD arise.

Under Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, children have the right to be afforded a quality and equal education  (Root & Resnick, 2003) Under this Act, students should receive a multidisciplinary diagnosis and be afforded an appropriate individualized education plan (Root & Resnick, 2003). Despite legal regulations to enforce equality in education for African-American students, they are still met with challenges of racial disparity and discrimination in the educational school setting.

Over-representation of African-American students with intellectual disabilities has been attributed to: the classroom environment, family and environmental stressors, characteristics of the student, bias in standardized testing and curriculum, and teacher perceptions and attitudes (Gentry, "Disproportionate Representation of Minorities in Special Education - How Bad?", 2009). The most important and distinguishing factor that concerns many Black affirming clinicians is the biases presented in standardized testing and curriculum. In taking a deeper look at the disproportionality of African-American students in special education, test bias stemming from language barriers and economic disparity and disadvantage  appears to be the most influential (Skiba, et al., 2008)

Problems with Diagnosis

Operationally Defining Intelligence and ADHD

The problem with diagnosis of ADHD and ID (Intellectual Disability) in children is rooted in the way in which the two are defined and measured. The two constructs are operationally defined in the context of a society that has a long history of racial oppression and discrimination. On one hand, being able to identify and define a given problem in society can be beneficial, pointing us to possible solutions for how the problem can be fixed; but on the other hand, the way in which a problem is defined can cause more harm than good to every individual affected by the problem. With respect to the current diagnostic criteria for ADHD and ID in the DSM, it is very clear that there is a system designed to separate a group of individuals who deviate from the norm. So at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how or why they are different; what’s most important is that they are different and their difference is essentially causing a problem to society. Instead of appreciating the differences in individuals, we’ve become attuned to pinpointing and labeling those differences, putting those who are significantly different and don’t fit into society’s standard of normal in a dehumanizing box of their own.

Methods of Diagnosis

The method in which ADHD and ID are diagnosed speaks to why so many children, specifically African-American children meet the diagnosis. Efforts to make diagnosis more valid, reliable, and fair point to the need for differential diagnosis (Warner-Metzger & Reipe, "Disruptive Behavior Disorders in Children and Adolescents", 2013). So essentially, in terms of diagnosing ADHD, there needs to be a more defined way of interpreting and understanding behaviors presented by African-American children in classrooms. Before making a diagnosis of ADHD-hyperactivity subtype to a child who seemingly meets the diagnosis of ADHD as defined by the DSM 5, a well-trained clinician should assess whether there are instances where the child is able to sit still and complete tasks and under what circumstances as opposed to only looking for instances when the child is having difficulty sitting still, because there is a distinct difference. It could be that the child is able to sit for long periods of time and attend to a task in an environment that is supportive of his learning style when he is given a task that the child finds meaningful and enjoys. The expectation of discipline for children to sit for a lengthy time in a classroom may be unrealistic for most children who appreciate interactive and engaging activities that include physical movement.  

Likewise, instead of giving a child an intelligence test, like the WISC, which was originally normed on a group of White children, to assess their intelligence, clinicians should utilize culturally sensitive measures that accurately measure cognitive ability as opposed to verbal ability, which in part is biased toward European English speakers. Although many African-American children are taught English in their family household and in the schools, clinicians must be mindful that there still exists a language barrier for many African-Americans, much like there is for immigrants to whom English is their second language. As an African-American, I can assert that speaking “proper English” comes as a challenge for many African-Americans, as it still remains the language of our oppressor and a tool used to further oppress a group of people who come from a lineage of slaves where English was not their native language.

Effects of Diagnosis

The impact of mis-diagnosis of ID and ADHD in children can have very profound effects. Restricting a student to a certain academic setting, such as special education classes, can limit his or her learning potential making it problematic for the developing child to compete in a global marketplace (Codrington & Fairchild, 2012). More specifically, the placement of students in special education can lead to the reverse effect than initially intended, causing them to adopt similar characteristic of children with disabilities which could lead to an increase high school dropouts, police arrests, decreased employment, and a lesser chance of independent living (Codrington & Fairchild, 2012). Dr. Umar Johnson speaks on the school to prison pipeline in his book, “Psycho-academic Holocaust: the Special Education & ADHD Wars against Black Boys,” suggesting that public schools are designed to weed out African-American boys by labeling them with ADHD, ODD, and other conduct disorders, which inevitably shape the child’s identity  (Johnson, U., 2013). So essentially, these special education classes becoming a “holding cell” for the African-American students that many culturally incompetent teachers have wrote off as bad apples.

Other effects of over-representation of African-American students in special education include lesser academic expectations and stereotyping (Edwards, O.W., 2006). When African-American students are labelled learning disabled, they feel a sense of lowered self-esteem (Hamilton & Astramovich, "Counseling Children with ADHD: Three Focus Areas for Professional Counselors"). A threat to one’s self-concept and identity will inevitably affect the way in which they are perceived by others in the world and ultimately determine their place in society.

Reconceptualization of ADHD and IDD in African-American Boys

Interdisciplinary Approach to Diagnosis
           
Considering the issues with bias in testing and assessment, leading to an over-diagnosis of ADHD and ID in African-American children and disproportionality of African-American students in special education classes, it is likely that an interdisciplinary approach to diagnosis is warranted to ensure proper and fair treatment of African-American students in the classrooms. This entails having a consultation with medical doctors, pastors, community leaders, and Black affirming mental health advocates before a permanent label of ADHD or ID are assigned to a child. As it stands, a psychologist can diagnose ADHD, a disorder that is considered to be a deficit in one’s brain, without the aid of a physician or medical doctor. Much like depression is understood as a deficit in serotonin in the brain and can be diagnosed without a CAT scan of the brain, the same ill-informed practice is happening with mental health diagnoses rooted in one’s genetic and biological makeup.

Preventing Over-Diagnosis

Teacher training, behavior management strategies, early prevention, less bias testing, increased family and community engagement, and policy reform are all likely solutions to preventing or reducing over-diagnosis of ADHD and ID (Skiba, et al., 2008). If research has already found that clinicians are biased in their assessment of psychological researchers, teacher training in cultural diversity may prove to be a likely solution. However, cultural diversity training isn’t the end all be all, because with training also comes the threat of external socialization that the teachers are affected by in a broader context. So teachers and clinicians can go through hours of cultural diversity training to make them more aware of the differences in culture between students of various racial ethnic backgrounds, but the training may not be as effective in curbing their inherent bias against children of color all together – given the overarching influence of a racially oppressive society propagandized by the media and politics.

Therefore, advocacy on behalf of teachers, psychologists, and community leaders is paramount to reducing the likelihood of over-diagnosis and over-representation of African-American students in special education classes (Codrington & Fairchild, 2012). While teacher training is useful, it isn’t sufficient.

Addressing test bias in a more concrete manner also plays an integral role in preventing over-diagnosis. Clinicians should ask the following questions: Do tests have high construct validity? Do they measure what they purport to measure? (Reynolds & Suzuki, 2012). Many researchers and clinicians alike are advocating for the development of testing and assessments that are more culturally sensitive and appropriate for the demographic they are being used on (Reynolds & Suzuki, 2012).

The No Child Left Behind Act puts the responsibility on the teachers to ensure their students are grasping the material (Land, M.Y, 2015). If students aren’t meeting the curriculum standards set by the school district, then it becomes the teacher’s job to ensure that their student receives the proper educational plan that supports their style of learning. The challenge comes in developing an educational plan that addresses any learning deficits the child may be experiencing while at the same time, making sure the child isn’t being discriminated against by being placed strategically in segregated classrooms that make them feel inferior, unequal, and less intelligent. So ultimately, school psychologists are tasked with the responsibility of reducing the number of African-Americans over-represented in special education classes ("Racial and ethnic disproportionality in education", 2013).

Issues surround blaming the victim versus blaming the system arise when attempting to develop solutions to the problem of over-representation of African-American children in special education classes ("Attention Problems: Intervention and Resources", 2015). We live in a society that promotes freedom of individual choice and responsibility in the face of systemic oppression and discrimination. Finding a balance between the two can be quite alarming and perplexing.

Overall effective solutions to curbing the disproportionality problem in public schools involve a systemic approach that include the following: Getting family involved in prevention and intervention (Carr, A., 2009); Multi-cultural training and education for educators working with African-American youth (Ford, B.A., 1992); taking a strength-based approached in promoting achievement, ethnic identity, and skill-building in African-American youth (Ford, D.Y. "Counseling Gifted African American Students: Promoting Achievement, Identity, and Social and Emotional Well-Being", 1995); and more importantly, teaching through learning styles i.e. expressive arts, poetry and music, drama, puppetry, writing, and drawing (Ford, D.Y. "Counseling Gifted African American Students: Promoting Achievement, Identity, and Social and Emotional Well-Being", 1995)
 
Copyright Danielle Leach 2017 All Rights Reserved 
 
References:

Attention Problems: Intervention and Resources [Pdf]. (2015). Center for Mental Health in
Schools at UCLA.

Carr, A. (2009). The effectiveness of family therapy and systemic interventions for child-focused
problems. Journal of Family Therapy, 31(1), 3-45. doi:10.1111/j.1467-
6427.2008.00451.x

Cheng, J. (n.d.). Arguments about Whether Overdiagnosis of ADHD is a Significant
Problem[Pdf]. Los Angeles: National Center for Mental Health in Schools at UCLA.

Codrington, J., & Fairchild, H. H. (2012). Special Education and the Mis-education of African
American Children: A Call to Action [Pdf]. Association of Black Psychologists.
Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5. (2013). Washington, DC:
American Psychiatric Publishing, pp 59-60

Edwards, O. W. (2006). Special education disproportionality and the influence of intelligence
test selection. Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability, 31(4), 246-248.
doi:10.1080/13668250600999178

Ford, B. A. (1992). Multicultural Education Training for Special Educators Working with
African-American Youth. Exceptional Children, 59(2), 107-114.
doi:10.1177/001440299205900203

Ford, D. Y. (1995). Counseling Gifted African American Students: Promoting Achievement,
Identity, and Social and Emotional Well-Being [Pdf]. Charlottesville: The National
Research Center on the Gifted and Talented.

Gentry, R. (2009). Disproportionate Representation of Minorities in Special Education - How
Bad? Lecture presented at The 3rd Annual Jane H. Leblanc Symposium in
Communication Disorders in Arkansas State University, State University.

Hamilton, N. J., & Astramovich, R. L. (n.d.). Counseling Children with ADHD: Three Focus
Areas for Professional Counselors [Pdf]. American Counseling Association.

Johnson, U. (2013). Psycho-academic holocaust: the special education & ADHD wars against
black boys. United States: Prince of Pan-Africanism Publishing.

Land, M. Y. (2015). School Psychologists Experiences with Assessment of Culturally and
Linguistically Diverse Students. Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
National Association of School Psychologists. (2013). Racial and ethnic disproportionality in
education [Position Statement]. Bethesda, MD

Norman, P. L., Staff, J., Hillemeier, M. M., Farkas, G., & Maczuga, S. (2013). Racial and Ethnic
Disparities in ADHD Diagnosis from Kindergarten to Eighth Grade. Pediatrics, 132(1),
85-93. doi:10.1542/peds.2012-2390d

Reynolds, C. R., & Suzuki, L. A. (2012). Bias in Psychological Assessment. Handbook of
Psychology, Second Edition. doi:10.1002/9781118133880.hop210004

Root, R. W., & Resnick, R. J. (2003). An update on the diagnosis and treatment of attention-
deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children. Professional Psychology: Research &
Practice,34(1), 34-41. doi:10.1037//0735-7028.34.1.34

​Skiba, R. J., Simmons, A. B., Ritter, S., Gibb, A. C., Rausch, M. K., Cuadrado, J., & Chung, C.
(2008). Achieving Equity in Special Education: History, Status, and Current
Challenges. Exceptional Children, 74(3), 264-288. doi:10.1177/001440290807400301
​
Warner-Metzger, C. M., & Reipe, S. M. (2013). Disruptive Behavior Disorders in Children and 

Copyright 2017 Danielle Leach All Rights Reserved

Characteristics and Prevalence of ODD
           
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-5) classifies Oppositional Defiant Disorder as a disruptive disorder typically diagnosed in childhood, among Intermittent Explosive and Conduct Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2014). It is one of the most stigmatizing disorders that a child or adolescent can receive and is reported to be the number one cause of referrals to youth mental health facilities (Nock, M.K. et al, 2007). Historically, ODD was associated with youth delinquency in the DSM-II and was broken down into the following three subtypes: runaway reaction, unsocialized aggressive reaction, and group delinquent reaction; whereby all three subtypes were explained by environmental factors (Pardini, D.A, et al, 2010). The unsocialized aggressive subtype, described in the DSM-II in 1987 consisted of behavior in children that was seen as hostile, aggressive, and disobedient, and was primarily due to parental neglect and lack of effective parenting and disciplinary control (Pardini, D.A, et al 2010). Conceptualization of ODD – unsocialized aggressive subtype is similar to the current understanding of ODD, described in the current DSM-5. Despite advances in the DSM-5 to make the criteria more specific and reliable, the current conceptualization of Oppositional Defiant Disorder is purported to be too general and broad in nature, making it easier to over-diagnose children and adolescents who wouldn’t otherwise meet the criteria (Grimmett, M.A., 2016).

According to the DSM-5 criteria for Oppositional Defiant Disorder, any child who is angry, loses his temper often, blames others for his or her mistakes/behavior, or refuses to obey and respect authority, would meet the criteria for ODD (American Psychiatric Association, 2014). To receive a diagnosis of ODD, the symptoms must be observed by someone who is not a sibling (American Psychiatric Association, 2014) – which is typically the child’s teacher at school - and must persist for at least 6 months, appear at least once per week, and cause distress to the client or others in the client’s environment (American Psychiatric Association, 2014). Other symptom criteria include: irritability, annoying others, and being vindictive/spiteful (American Psychiatric Association, 2014).

Understanding how the diagnosis of ODD has been formulated and conceptualized over the years is important to understanding how the disorder can become a crutch for school psychologists, teachers, and clinicians who work directly with children who exhibit problem behaviors. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (2009) views Oppositional Defiant Disorder as a byproduct of various biological, psychological, and social contributing factors. Some of the biological factors that make a child more susceptible to acquiring ODD include the following: having a parent with a history of ADHD, ODD, Conduct Disorder, Substance Abuse Disorder or Mood Disorder; having traumatic brain imagery or impairment in the region of the brain responsible for impulse control and decision making; toxin exposure; and poor nutrition (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2009). Psychological factors linked to ODD include having an absentee or neglectful parent and poor social skills (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2009). Last, but not least, several social and environmental factors have been identified as possible causes of ODD that include poverty, growing up in an adverse environment, and parental divorce (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2009). While the definitive cause of ODD in children and adolescents remains unknown, it’s reasonable and helpful to conceptualize ODD as a disorder that occurs in the context of maladaptive environmental factors and social influences. 
 
Diagnosis of ODD in African-American Boys
           
A qualitative study conducted by researcher and doctor, Marc A Grimmett uncovered some of the contextual factors and diagnostic processes of licensed mental health professionals when assessing, diagnosing, and treating clients with ODD (Grimmett, M.A., et al, 2016). The study consisted of in-depth interviews, which lasted approximately 1.5 hours and what he and his research team found concerning the process for which clinicians were assigning mental health diagnoses was quite alarming. The results of the data analysis showed that there were four domains that influenced the clinician to assign a diagnosis of ODD to a client which included: managed health care/insurance demands; ODD criteria being too broad; stigmatization of ODD; and counselor bias in assessment that excludes cultural/external factors (Grimmett, M.A., et al, 2016).  The researchers found some consistency in responses given by the clinicians in the study across these four domains in which they were assessed, suggesting that there could be some external and internal factors within the therapist and within the context of the system in which he or she practices that directly influence his/her decision to assign a diagnosis of ODD.
           
Since the criteria for ODD in the DSM is broad in nature, it serves as a “catch-all phrase” for clinicians who may not quite be able to put a finger on why their student is misbehaving or acting out in class. One participant in the study described it as a “holding cell for behaviors that are not understood” (Grimmett, M.A, et al, 2016). This points to a major problem with the use of the DSM by clinicians who are culturally incompetent and who rely heavily on the DSM as a tool for labeling as opposed to an instrument for assessing, understanding, and conceptualizing. Many clinicians are so hard pressed to end each intake session with a diagnosis that they forget to do a complete, comprehensive evaluation, taking into account family, social, and cultural influences that could be impacting their client’s symptomology.

​Cognitive Affective Symptoms of ODD
           
According to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (2009), “difficulty or inability to form social relationship or process social cues,” is a likely leading contributing factor leading to the development of Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Although the development of ODD can be conceptualized in the context of the child’s social environment, it’s also helpful to see the cognitive aspects of behavior that impact ODD symptomology. Two theories serve to be very helpful in investigating the cognitive-affective role and relationship in the presentation of ODD, which include Appraisal Theory and Network Theory. According to Appraisal Theory, “Unconscious appraisal of stimuli takes place prior to the emotion whereas conscious attribution of the emotion to a cause and/or labelling of the emotion (e.g., as fear or anger) takes place after the emotion” (Houwer, J.D., 2010). Under this principle, emotions can be understood as happening both on the subconscious and conscious level. So that it’s likely that some emotions we experience happen in response to stimuli from our environment that we aren’t always aware of. Take for example the stimulus of the colors red and yellow. Typically, red and yellow are known to evoke a feeling of hunger in us, which happens on a subconscious level that we are unaware of. On the contrary, some emotional experiences happen more on a cognitive level (i.e. a person getting angry when they become aware that their rights have been violated). Differentiating between emotional responses that are conscious vs unconscious lends very important information for clinicians when treating disorders that encompasses an element of emotional dysregulation, a mechanism that is in within the client’s control.
           
Network Theory provides another explanation for understanding the connection between cognition and emotion which assumes that “initially only a handful of biologically relevant stimuli elicit unconditioned emotional responses and that the range of stimuli that evoke these emotional responses is progressively elaborated through conditioning procedures” (Houwer, J.D., 2010). This is to say that the majority of emotional responses experienced by humans occurs through the process of conditioning and learning. So while emotional responses linked to our biological adaptations to the environment may serve to protect us in life-threatening situations, those emotional responses can be manipulated through social learning and conditioning. This reality can be comforting for many clients who struggle with the challenge of regulating their emotions, regardless of their social context or historical background. Within the premise of Network Theory lies the notion of schemas (Houwer, J.D., 2010), which are cognitive networks formed through learning and conditioning over time. To illustrate this idea, consider a teen who is being raised in a single parent household, with an absentee father, living in a crime-ridden, poverty stricken neighborhood. Over time, the teen may have learned to institutively put up his defenses and become combative and argumentative, in an effort to protect himself, his mother, and his family. His unique experience of growing up in a neighborhood where murder and violent crime are rampant has caused him to develop various cognitive schematic networks in his brain surrounding safety and survival that aren’t necessarily healthy adaptive mechanisms in other social contexts (i.e. school). These schematic networks will directly impact his overall perception and ultimately his worldview. So subconsciously, he makes the mistake of generalizing the conditions of his current adverse environment to all environments, that forces him to wear a protective psychological guard with him everywhere he goes. The world, through his eyes, is unfair, dangerous, and unsafe. This negative cognitive schema directly impacts his emotional state, leading him to feel a need to always defend himself, become easily annoyed and angry, and become confrontational with others.
           
Cognition and affect are two inseparable systems that are constantly working together. What a person thinks inevitably affects how he or she feels. So it’s not unlikely for a kid who is experiencing parental neglect, poverty, and negativistic thinking to feel angry, isolated, and oppositional. It’s also not uncommon for a kid who is presenting with symptoms of ODD to endorse symptoms of other disorders, specifically ADHD, Mood Disorders, and PTSD (Boat, T.F., & Wu, J.T., 2015). The likelihood that a clinician will accurately assess and treat a person who has multiple diagnoses decreases as the number of presenting symptoms and provisional diagnoses increases. So the difficulty in being able to appropriately ascertain whether symptoms presented by a client are a function of his or her culture, environment, psychological state, or another diagnosis can present some serious challenges for clinicians working with children and adolescents with problematic behaviors. It’s much easier to narrow the etiological causes of these symptoms down to cognitive-affective factors that may help better explain the innerworkings of ODD. It takes the burden off of society and partially relieves the clinician of the responsibility to work from a cultural framework, therefore embodying more of a cognitive-affective, individualistic approach.

Current Treatments for ODD

The good news is that ODD is treatable and typically involves an interdisciplinary approach for optimum therapeutic outcomes. The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (2009) states that a combination of therapeutic approaches is necessary for the treatment of clients with ODD which include: parent training and family therapy, cognitive problem-solving skills training, social skills training, and medication (in severe circumstances). Cognitive problem-solving and social skills training typically involve a cognitive-affective component where the clients receive training on being able to identify and understand social cues (i.e. non-verbal communication, emotional expressions) and learn techniques and skills on ways they can better communicate and express their thoughts and feelings with others (American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2009). Cognitive problem-solving involves teaching the child/adolescent how to make appropriate choices in stressful situations, which allows them the chance to learn emotional regulation, whereby they come to a greater understanding of how their cognition influences their emotion and behavior and vice versa. Such techniques have been used in camp settings, group therapy, and in the context of individual and family therapy.

Proposal of Novel Treatment for ODD that address Cognitive Affective Component
           
A treatment model that involves a multi-disciplinary approach and takes into consideration psychological, biological, cultural, social, and environmental factors that contribute to the onset, development, and maintenance of ODD would likely be most effective in treating children and adolescents with ODD. Current treatments typically fail to take into consideration cultural and societal factors when assessing and treating clients which often lead to over-diagnosis, stigmatization, and worsening of the symptoms (Grimmett, M.A, 2016). Having a sensitivity to cultural influences not only informs diagnosis, but it informs the process of therapy as well. It shapes how the counselor perceives and treats the client, whereby strengthening the relationship between client and therapist, or creating a divide. A counselor who views a kid’s symptoms as a matter of choice and free will may be insensitive to what their client is experiencing, thus taking a harsher more punitive approach in treatment. However, a therapist who views the client as a product of his or her environment and understands the social, political, and environmental factors that help influence the development of maladaptive behaviors will be more cautious in his/her approach to working with the client and less likely to judge them by their inappropriate behaviors. This distinction points to one of the most important aspects of therapy – the therapeutic relationship – which lays the foundation for everything else that happens thereafter.

An understanding of the client’s problem through a socio-cultural lens is important to the success of therapy, but isn’t all encompassing. There still needs to be a level of responsibility taken on behalf of the individual client, so this is where the cognitive-affective component comes in to play. Utilizing an approach that has a healthy balance within the cognitive-affective-socio-cultural framework would be optimum for treating a client with ODD because they give the power back to the client, while at the same time, not undermining the significance that external factors beyond the client’s control play in leading them to come to a therapist’s office in the first place. Teaching a client about their emotions, makes them more cognitively aware and puts them in control of their own behavior. Being able to identify and recognize symptoms before they get out of control is also empowering for the client who has a history of reacting to social situations in an impulsive, aggressive manner. Creating a treatment protocol that teaches the client mindfulness, relaxation, and impulse control appears to be a likely effective approach in working with a client who has trouble regulating their emotions, which is typical for children who present with ODD. Psychoeducation has been used with a variety of client populations from various socio-economic statuses and educational levels, and can be effective when the curriculum is adapted to the client’s cognitive level and ability. Lastly, incorporating opportunities where youth can express themselves outside the context of therapy, and in the real-world, whether it is through art, music, dance, or sports can also be effective. Typically, when an individual attempts to assert their rights and power, when they feel powerless, they do it by resisting the “system,” which would include authority figures like teachers and law enforcement. So, in theory, it’s likely that children who come from oppressed families and communities are more likely to be engaged in behavior that makes them feel “powerful.” For teenagers, these behaviors typically are risky in nature and include drug use, promiscuity, breaking the law, and the list goes on. So directing them to positive outlets that support and encourage emotional expression would be beneficial and necessary.

It’s one thing to spend an hour a week with a child telling them the appropriate way to think, act, and behave; it’s another thing to be able to direct them to resources that provide opportunities for them to shine. More often than not, children enter therapy just to return to a bad environment that overpowers the effect four hours per month of therapy has done anyway. So the approach one takes in working with one client from one demographic, may be much different than the approach and techniques used with a client from another demographic, age, and socio-economic status. The important thing to take away from this is that behavior, to a certain extent, is within an individual’s control. Meeting the client where he or she is at through empathic listening and maintaining a non-judgmental attitude is the first step; broadening their understanding of the world and themselves, within the context of a cognitive affective approach, would be the next. Helping them create new healthy schemas in their brain that allows them to be more functional and adaptive in the world could serve them well; and the reality that the client’s environment (which they may or may not have control over) is always constantly shaping how they think, feel and behave should always be in the back of the therapist’s mind when working with a client who presents with ODD.
 
 
References

American Psychiatric Association. (2014). Desk Reference to the Diagnostic Criteria from DSM-
5. Washington, DC. American Psychiatric Publishing. pp 219-220

Boat, T.F., & Wu, J.T. (2015). Mental disorders and disabilities among low-income children.
Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press; chapter 7

Grimmett, M.A., Dunbar, A.S., Williams, T., Clark, C., Prioleau, B., & Miller, J.S. (2016). The
Process and Implications of Diagnosing Oppositional Defiant Disorder in African
American Males. The Professional Counselor, 6(2), 147-160. Doi: 10.15241/mg.6.2.147

Houwer, J.D. (2010). Cognition and emotion: reviews of current research and theories. New
York, NY: Psychology Press. pp 13, 18

Nock, M.K, Kazdin, A.E., Hirpi, E., & Kessler, R.C. (2007). Lifetime prevalence, correlates, and
persistence of oppositional defiant disorder: results from the National Comorbidity
Survey Replication. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48(7(, 703-713. doi:
10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01733.x

ODD – American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. (2009). Retrieved July 6, 2017,
from www.aacap.org

Pardini, D.A., Frick, P.J., & Moffitt, T. E. (2010). Building an evidence base for DSM-5
conceptualizations of oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder: Introduction to
the special section. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 119(4), 683-688. doi:
10.1037/a0021441

Copyright 2017 Danielle Leach All Rights Reserved

To many Americans, America is the land of equal opportunity, freedom, and liberty. They are born into a middle to upper-class household, attend a good public or private school, live in safe and clean neighborhoods, and never have to worry about being denied a job, forced to live in poverty, and risk being targeted and arrested because of the color of their skin. Since 2012, when Trayvon Martin was targeted, harassed, and brutally murdered by a White Hispanic neighbor for being Black and a threat to the community, there have been thousands of cases of racial violence, resulting in murder towards African-Americans by police officers. 258 of those homicides took place last year in 2016 (Craven, 2017). Meanwhile the White perpetrators are let free, often not having to pay the penalty for their crime. It has become apparent that we live under a system of White Supremacy aimed at keeping one group of people on the margins while putting measures in place to ensure the advancement and security of the other group that is in power. Within this social context creates an interesting dynamic within the African-American that has caught the attention of some researchers in the field of psychology on the notion of ethnic identity. What exactly does it mean to be an African-American and how was this identity developed and shaped over time? These are complex questions that this paper attempts to answer by taking a look at several studies done over the years on the African-American population.
           
In 1971, William E. Cross developed the Cross Racial Identity Scale, a measure designed to assess African-Americans identity salience which places them in one of five nigrescence profiles, including: Miseducation-Pro-Black, Conflicted-Self-Hatred, Multiculturalist, Low Race Salience, and Conflicted-Anti-White within African-Americans (Worrell, Vandiver, & Cross, 2004). The term “nigrescence,” refers to the degree to which a person identifies with and appreciates his or her own Blackness. From a health perspective, having an appreciation for one’s own race and cultural traditions serves a positive function in their development as a person and in relation to their role in their family, church, and community. In traditional African culture, to be Black is to be strong, smart, and beautiful. However, over time, the concept of Blackness has changed and the way people view what it means to Black has also drastically changed.
           
Slavery in America was one of the first institutions created for the purpose of demoralizing and dehumanizing Blacks by stripping away their identity, traditions, culture, and way of life. The identity they once knew would slowly vanish and be replaced with a new identity of slave and servant to a cruel White master. Before the slave identity emerged, Africans embodied a sense of pride in who they were. How they ended up in shackles still remains a mystery, and what interests many psychologists is how Black identity has been influenced by slavery and institutionalized racism, a byproduct of the System of White Supremacy.
           
The process of becoming an “African-American” is heavily shaped by what it means to be Black. To be Black in America holds with it many connotations which come as a result of many systems that work to perpetuate an image of what Black is. It’s difficult to discuss the culture of Blackness without talking about the color of black itself. The systematic racial oppression African-Americans experience is tied directly to the color of one’s skin. If the color of one’s skin is Black, their experience while living in America will be drastically different than if they were White, or if the tint of their skin was even red or yellow.  In US history, past and present, the color of one’s skin can determine many things – where you live; where you work; where you go to school; what kind of food you eat; the kind of car you drive; the amount of rights you have; how you can assert those rights; and overall, how you’re viewed by society and the law, which governs society. This experience of Blackness, inevitably will dictate the personal choices people of color make and more importantly their attitudes towards themselves, other Black people, and the world as a whole.
           
Knowing the context of how one’s racial and ethnic identity is shaped helps us understand the stages of identity development Blacks go through during their journey in life. According to Cross, Blacks go through five stages of identity development throughout their life, which include: Pre-encounter; Encounter; Immersion/Emersion; Internalization; Internalization-Commitment (Sue & Sue, 2013). These stages are not black and white, and often overlap. So a person can be experiencing more than one stage at a time or even revert back to an earlier stage, depending on external events in their environment and how they process those experiences (Pope-Davis, Liu, Ledesma-Jones, & Nevitt, 2000). This model for understanding ethnic identity in African-Americans is rooted in African-American’s perceptions and attitudes towards mainstream culture. So inherently, the more one becomes more accepting and acculturated to the dominant culture, the more likely they will be able to move from the pre-encounter phase where feelings of insecurity, low self-esteem and self-hatred exist towards the internalization-commitment phase, likened to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and self-actualization. In this phase, one is purported to be more in tune with his own culture while having a greater acceptance towards the dominant culture, being able to put aside any ill feelings of hatred towards one’s self and others. A person in the final phase of the Cross’ Racial Identity Development Model has presumably reached a state of acceptance and appreciation, not only for one’s own culture but also for the dominant culture in which one must learn to adapt to and function in (Sue & Sue, 2013).
           
The advantage of having such a model as the Cross Racial Identity Development Model and scale is that they both help us to understand some of the crises and issues African-Americans could be experiencing under the context of racial oppression. It paints a picture of some of the phases of life Blacks are going through as they try to navigate through life. It also gives us a possible prototype or solution that may work in solving some of the identity crises and racial conflicts many African-Americans may be experiencing as a result of slavery and systematic racial oppression. From past research on ethnic identity, using the CRIS, we have learned that blacks typically fall under one of the five stages and identities (Worrell, Vandiver, & Cross, 2004).  It’s not to say that there aren’t exceptions to the rule, but it does give us some insight as to what an African-American client may be experiencing when they’re sitting across from us in our office and are in deep distress. It helps us to consider the social context that has helped shaped their ethnic identity and psychological state of being. If we as clinicians can pinpoint the source of a problem, it gives us some insight on what tools we may need to use to fix it. In treating an African-American client, a therapist may not know where to begin because there could be a swarm of emotions or concerns that arise from various things that the client may or may not attribute to racism or systematic racial oppression. Some African-Americans take pride in being African-American while others despise the skin they are in and would do anything to trade it and become a difference race.
           
Regardless if an African-American client prefers to identify with the African culture or not, it is important when working with African-American clients to assess the client’s attitudes towards their race because it could explain the etiology behind the clinical issues that lead them to your office in the first place. If not for the purpose of effectively treating African-Americans, understanding ethnic identity development in the context of racial oppression is helpful to understanding the psychology of a group of people who are often ignored.
           
Cross Model of Identity Development highlights that African-Americans typically start from a position of shame, low self-esteem, and self-hatred before encountering some tragic racial event that causes them to question the status quo and the dominant culture. Following the encounter, they go to a period of Emersion/Immersion where they battle between trying to fit their own culture into the context of the dominant culture (Worrell, Vandiver, & Cross, 2004).  This perhaps can be a very challenging stage to conquer and overcome because of the reality that the African-American is steadily battling between accepting the dominant culture and becoming an American, meanwhile fighting to hold on to their traditional values of their African culture (Sue & Sue, 2013). Being an African-American woman myself, I can attest that this experience can be the most challenging and usually is an ongoing battle that one has to face throughout the entirety of his or her life.
           
The final stages, Internalization and Internalization-Commitment are where the African-American has developed a greater sense of cultural identity and maturity that fits within the context of the American system of White Supremacy, whereby making a commitment to bring about change to social injustices imparted on their race by the dominant culture by joining forces with people from other cultures who are also oppressed and fighting injustices (Sue & Sue, 2013). To reach this stage of identity development, one has worked through their own negative attitudes and feelings towards the system of White Supremacy and is no longer negatively impacted by injustices of the dominant culture, where they feel shame and self-hatred, but however are motivated to come to an acceptance of themselves within the dominant culture to join with other ethnic groups to bring about social change.
           
Some of the criticisms African-Americans face with acculturating to the dominant culture and reaching a level of mature ethnic identity development, stem from how they are consequently perceived by other members of their group who are less acculturated to the dominant culture and are still in the pre-encounter or encounter stages. Typically, as an African-American becomes more acculturated to the dominant culture, inadvertedly, he or she becomes less immersed into their own culture. Often times, to advance within the American system and in corporate America, African-Americans are met with the challenge of sacrificing their own cultural values and traditions to meet the expectations and demands of the dominant culture. This experience is shared by many other minorities from other ethnic groups across America, especially among immigrants who move to America in search of a better life. They more than often find themselves having to give up their traditional values of family and collectivism to advance through the ranks in an individualistic, every man for himself, capitalist society. So forming an ethnic identity that works in the best interest of the African-American, his group members, and a racially biased White Supremist society can be very tough.
           
Developing a healthy identity for an African-American is a matter of accepting one’s own culture and values despite the negative connotations associated with the term “Black.” Perhaps this is why African-Americans have experienced so many different types of identities and have worn so many different names. First we were Africans; then we became niggers; then we were Negroes; Coloreds; Afro-Americans, African-Americans and now we’re back to being called “Black.” It’s interesting to see the disparity in preference by African-Americans in what they prefer to be called. Through personal observation, I’ve witnessed there are some Blacks who will give you the evil eye for calling them African-Americans because they refuse to be associated with Africa, being that they were born in America and not the land of their ancestors. To other African-Americans, dropping the “African” is a sign of self-hatred and a form of disowning one’s heritage and ethnic identity. There is no general consensus on what we should call ourselves, as some still prefer to “keep it real” and call each other “niggas.” The term that was once used to shame and ostracize a group of people has been redefined and repurposed into a term that is a sign of endearment and love. So you will hear many African-Americans refer to their brothers and sisters and friends and family members as “my nigga”.
           
There are some adaptive and maladaptive aspects of accepting one’s ethnic identity that are worth mentioning. If an African-American comes to an acceptance of their identity to the point of having self-pride, it can be seen as anti-White (Worrell, Vandiver, & Cross, 2004) or an act of nationalism, which in today’s society is being perceived as a terrorist act by some political groups. But embracing one’s identity and coming to an acceptance of self is vital to one’s mental, emotional, and physical health. So identity formation and acceptance for the African-American can be a very fine line to walk, literally and figuratively.
           
Considering Cross’ model for Racial Identity Development, it’s apparent that the stages of identity development for African-Americans are inconstant and vary over time. Consistent with the Baltes’ concept of normative history and age-graded life events and tasks (Baltes, 1987), it’s also evident that Cross wanted to make the claim that there are some life experiences that African-Americans are expected to go through. According to Cross, these experiences or stages are likely to occur across the span of a Black person’s life, beginning as early as infancy and childhood where the child is being shaped and directly influenced by their family and parent’s emulation of culture and response to the system of racial oppression (Yip, Seaton, & Sellers, 2006). We know that much of what a child knows is learned behavior, that is nurtured through their environment and interaction with their parents, families, teachers, and immediate surroundings. So ethnic identity is shaped early on before a child ever comes to an understanding of what color and racism even are. According to Cross and Fhagen-Smith, the racial identity development in African-Americans is characterized by repeated exposure to encounters that challenge their racial and ethnic identities (Yip, Seaton, & Sellers, 2006).
           
These special encounters experienced by most African-Americans are what set this race apart from other races because it forces them to question their own identity as a person, based merely on the color of their skin. A painstaking look back into history shows us a time when Blacks were considered 3/5 of a human being. Even after the abolishment of slavery, Blacks were treated less than human with the implementation of  Black Codes that restricted their access to many resources that were afforded to Whites. Fast forward over 150 years, and we find ourselves with an African-American president of the United States of America. Having a positive representation of Blacks in the media with the election of President Barack Obama has served to empower many African-Americans, giving us a greater appreciation for our race and ethnic identity. Meanwhile, during his presidency, there was an influx of racially motivated killings of innocent Black men, women, and children by White police officers that sent the Black community back to a stage of fear, shame, and self-hatred.
           
Ultimately, the Cross Racial Identity Development Model is helpful for understanding African-American identity on an individual level, and even greater, on a social level. Just as we can observe an individual pass through these stages of identity development throughout his/her life, we can observe the Black community as a whole and watch their progression through the stages of the Cross Racial Identity Development Model. Collectively, many of us have already encountered instances of racism, that have moved us to do something about the injustices we are faced with. We eventually reach a state of self-acceptance and pride where we feel a sense of control, power, and freedom to exert our Blackness and express our identities without fear of repercussion, then something tragic happens that makes mainstream news that sets us back to a stage of anger, bitterness, self-hatred and insecurity.

Conclusively, it’s important to remember the unique way in which some groups of people form identities over time and develop. Not everyone fits the neat cookie-cutter model for development as described in most lifespan development models, such as Levinson’s Stages of Life or Erickson’s Stages of Life Development. It’s interesting to see how external and internal factors can play a significant role in shaping one’s identity and as clinicians, we must keep this in mind when working with clients from various ethnic minority groups.
 
 
References
 
Baltes, P. B. (1987). Theoretical propositions of life-span developmental psychology: On the
dynamics between growth and decline. Developmental Psychology, 23(5), 611-626.
doi:10.1037//0012-1649.23.5.611

Craven, J. (2017, January 01). More Than 250 Black People Were Killed by Police In 2016
[Updated]. Retrieved June 21, 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-
people-killed-by-police-america_us_577da633e4b0c590f7e7fb17

Pope-Davis, D. B., Liu, W. M., Ledesma-Jones, S., & Nevitt, J. (2000). African American
Acculturation and Black Racial Identity: A Preliminary Investigation. Journal of
Multicultural Counseling and Development, 28(2), 98-112. doi:10.1002/j.2161-
1912.2000.tb00610.x

Sue, D. W., & Sue, D. (2013). Counseling the culturally diverse: theory and practice. Hoboken,
NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Worrell, F. C., Vandiver, B. J., & Cross, W. E. (2004). The cross racial identity scale: technical
manual. Berkeley, CA: F.C. Worrell.

Yip, T., Seaton, E. K., & Sellers, R. M. (2006). African American Racial Identity Across the
Lifespan: Identity Status, Identity Content, and Depressive Symptoms. Child
Development, 77(5), 1504-1517. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00950.x

Photo retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/13/one-drop-rule-black-identity-photos-yaba-blay_n_4775100.html

Copyright 2017 Danielle Leach All Rights Reserved

​I can recall many times where I witnessed a very interesting interplay between the processes of cognition and affect. I was working as a residential counselor at a lockdown facility where children were sent by the judge to live until a proper foster care placement was found. The group of boys I was working with were between the ages 5-17, mostly around the age of 12-13. The program I worked for used a behavioral point system to measure the children’s progress while in treatment. If they completed certain tasks as expected (i.e. following daily routine and schedule as instructed, completing tasks on time), they could earn points that would put them on a higher level. Each level came with more privileges. Some of the boys would be very good at following the rules and staying on task while others were very defiant and found it very difficult to do what was expected of them. A simple instruction as, “Have a seat at the table for breakfast,” would often trigger negative emotions in the boys, causing them to act out in disruptive and oftentimes, aggressive ways.  They would refuse to do what was asked or expected, which sometimes appeared to be purposefully done with a conscious intent to break the rules.

My experience in working with those group of kids taught me that all behavior isn’t a matter of choice; some behavior is a matter of chance. If any of us were given the same circumstance, put in the same environment, we would react in the same way as well. Essentially, it boils down to the way in which the human body and brain work. When we are in a situation where our mind perceives danger or fear, it causes the rest of the body to act accordingly. Many of the boys on the unit where I worked were diagnosed with PTSD and had a very low trigger threshold. Almost any stimulus from the environment, whether it was a direct instruction from a staff member or the smell of eggs and bacon cooking in the kitchen, was a trigger for those boys and would set them off. During the time when they were presenting with PTSD symptoms, they would become angry and violent, wanting to assert their power in the situation, and attempt to gain some sense of control. They had difficulty regulating their emotions, so a perceptual cognitive trigger that is first conceived in the mind sends a signal to the rest of the body, putting it in a state of flight or fight. In the staff’s mind, they saw the child as being rude and disobedient; but if we were to take a look at this scenario through a cognitive-affective lens, we could see that it was the children’s inherent perceptions that were influenced by their emotional state, which in turn reinforced their cognitive state. They would perceive staff’s attempt to get them to stay on task and follow directions as a threat to their ability to exert free will and make their own decisions. When you have a history of rape and abandonment where your power is constantly snatched away from you, being told what to do, when to do it, and how to do it, becomes a trigger and even more of a bigger threat to one’s safety and security. Feeling a lack of control creates a sense of insecurity and danger which feeds into feelings of fear and endangerment, thus causing a repetitive self-sabotaging cycle.

Looking back, it appears that offering the children rewards and punishments wasn’t enough to warrant on task behavior. The program was lacking a very important component – well-trained staff in the areas of cognitive and clinical psychology. Many of my coworkers had no formal education or training in psychology, therefore they lacked a basic understanding of the child’s behavior and how their own behavior contributed to the dynamic of the problem. The idea that the children’s behavior could be explained by an inability to regulate their emotions and perceptions never crossed their minds or was a topic of discussion. It was all about punishing the child when they disobeyed because seemingly, they knew what the rules were and would purposely attempt to break them. In reality, the issue was much deeper than that and the staff lacked the necessary and proper experience and training to effectively assess what was happening inside the kid to efficiently intervene to treat them. The end result of the child’s acting out behavior often would result in a physical restraint followed by a shot of Ativan injected into the child’s buttox by the nurse. So the instances of problematic behaviors quadrupled over time because it was a repetitious cycle that fed into itself. My hypothesis is that proper staff training on being able to recognize the signs and symptoms of various disorders and effectively treat them, would drastically reduce the number of physical restraints, which often feed into the problem.

Proper training in symptom identification and regulation on a cognitive-affective level is necessary. In past years, many child-serving treatment centers have only focused on the behavioral aspect, not taking into account the cognitive and affective processes that underpin problematic behavior. There’s very little talk about external/internal triggers that ignite these kinds of emotionally exaggerated responses in kids who are diagnosed with conduct and oppositional defiant disorder. For many clinicians, the child’s behavior is rooted in individual choice and should be controlled with strict behavioral consequences if the child lacks the ability to control it himself. Because our emotions are closely tied to our cognitions, attitudes, and perceptions, it’s very difficult to teach someone to regulate his/her emotions without teaching them a certain degree of mindfulness and cognition regulation. Even for many adults, regulating our thoughts and feelings can be a challenge; so imagine the difficulty a child who wasn’t afforded a normal development could be experiencing in having to somehow develop those skills at a later time in life with no proper guidance or emotional support. The way in which they react to situations they perceive as a threat has served an adaptive function in their life as a means to keep them alive and protected from potential sexual predators and life-threatening situations.

LOS ANGELES, CA| March 27 Copyright Danielle Leach All Rights Reserved

Before entering the California African-American Museum, I felt very enthusiastic about seeing and learning about what the new exhibit had to offer. It had been a while since I'd visited the museum. The last time I went, there wasn't much there - at least not anything that really captured my interest. So for this visit, I expected it to be different. I preferred to take a self-guided tour so I could go at my own pace and experience it all to myself. I didn't want a guide over my shoulder regurgitating information and adding his/her opinion. Overall, I wanted my visit to be unique, personal, and private. So I spontaneously decided after waking up one morning that that would be the day I'd go visit the African-American Museum. Before the day of my visit, I had built up a lot of anticipation and excitement, knowing that I was in for an alarming treat. I didn't eat breakfast because it had slipped my mind. I was so excited about the new exhibit I was about to behold, I figured it could wait. I also looked at this as a time to fast so that I would have a heightened experience. I had made it an adventure.

When I first entered the museum, I stopped at the front desk to get some information on the new exhibits. The staff handed me a couple of brochures, one including a description of the new exhibit. I was excited - so excited that I ended up taking a detour and viewed the other exhibits before finally coming around to the most important one, which was the reason why I was there in the first place. In my mind, I was saving the best for last.

When I finally came around to the exhibit highlighting Black oppression, my heart dropped. I entered from the right entrance of the exhibit where I was met with an LAPD police car. Seeing the car and the flashing lights evoked in me a feeling of danger - as if something bad was going to happen. In this case, something bad had already happened. I immediately became immersed in a foray of newspaper clippings, police footage, video playback of news coverage, and somber stories that served as a stark reminder of the social climate that was present in the history of Los Angeles and that still exists til the present day. I felt like I had just stepped foot onto a memorial that commemorated the deaths of innocent African-Americans. It reminded me of what I felt when I visited the 911 Memorial and Museum in New York City. It's an experience you will never forget that leaves you with more questions than answers. That's exactly how I felt. I was torn and overwhelmed with emotion. I didn't know if I should be happy and appreciative of the museum for having an exhibit that teaches us about historical life-altering events or feel disgusted that I was witnessing the cruel slaughter, mistreatment, and injustices towards my people.

Just when we are at a time in life where we're supposed to be getting better with racism by electing a Black president and creating affirmative action and social programs that benefit people of color, we are yet reminded of the never-ending system of racial oppression fueled by White Supremacy that just doesn't seem to go away. So as I walked through the exhibit and explored the gruesome pictures and stories on the wall, my mind began to wonder. I began to make a connection between what happened in Los Angeles in the 1960s during the Watts Riots, the 1990s with the LA Uprising, and what has been happening across this country and across the world to Black people. After standing in the exhibit for so long, it all started to feel like a song, with the tune being racism against Blacks. When a tune is played over and over again in your mind, you begin to get used to it. Even if it's a tune you don't like, if you listen to it long enough, it will become second nature, like the air you breathe. So at times, I perceive these racial events as a rhythmic tune that I listen to sometimes but for the most part, have learned to tune out and ignore. Although the beating of Rodney King and the video of Latasha Harlins getting shot by the Korean in the back in the convenient store is painful and shocking to watch for the first time, the way in which I see it and its impact on me will change over time. After watching and hearing these kinds of atrocities over and over again, one grows numb and becomes immune to it. It's like the process of desensitization. When you expose a particular stimulus to a person over and over again, the negative feelings - fear, anxiety, anger- will eventually subside and will no longer be the typical response.

As I continued to explore the exhibit, learning about Eula Love (whose name they spelled incorrectly as Eulia in the exhibit) and the housing discrimination that led to thousands of African-Americans being cast out of certain neighborhoods, I began to get curious as to what other people's reactions were to what they were seeing. To an extent, it was impossible to avoid because I could hear commentary from others who were in complete awe of what they were witnessing and seeing. I had already spent nearly an hour there already so I was no longer in surprise or disgust. I just felt numb.

Leaving the exhibit, the thought that taunted my mind was why? Why the need for racial oppression in a country that states, “We are all created equal?” One could argue that racial oppression serves a functional purpose – to keep one group of people poor and the other one rich. But to me, it seems to be much deeper than acquisition of money and power. It’s about genetic survival and annihilation. It seems that our survival is a threat to their own. So it is their life agenda and purpose to attack and kill a whole group of people so that they can survive. If it was about money and power, the White race has already claimed that and African-Americans aren’t in a hurry to get money or concerned with gaining economic or political power. We’re just trying to survive. We’ve already submitted to their will and given them 400 years of slavery that we still have yet to be repaid from, yet we are still under attack. So to make the argument that social oppression is created for the sole purpose of gaining or maintaining economic and political power, one escapes the responsibility of having to face the true underlining reality.

Late Dr. Frances Cress Welsing, a psychiatrist and scholar wrote a very thought-provoking book, The Isis Papers that provides a unique and thoughtful explanation of why Whites feel the need to kill off an entire race of Black people. She states:

“The facts of our true identity are that we, as Black people, are
persons whose dominant genetic and historic roots extend to
Africa, ‘the land of the Blacks.’ Africa was the birthplace of
Human kind and that for many hundreds of centuries thereafter
Africans, meaning Black people, were in the forefront of all
human progress. BLACK WOMEN AND BLACK MEN ARE
THE PARENTS OF THE ENTIRE FAMILY OF PEOPLE –
black, brown, red, yellow and white varieties.”
 
The reality of this statement is what sends non-people of color over the edge. To admit that Blacks are the first race and that all life originated from this race is a conversation that many people don’t want to have. It’s perhaps because every race wants to be different and unique. It’s very difficult for a White person to admit that before there was a Europe, Asia, or America, there was Africa and this is where all human life originated from. This has been a proven fact for many years that has been taught in many US history textbooks across America but somehow, people have chosen to forget. Therefore, new theories were birthed, like the Big Bang Theory, which suggest that people came from one big burst of an atom in the universe. Supposedly, from that atom, human life, with many different colors, languages, and cultures came to be all at once. With so many theories on human life and existence, people will believe what is beneficial to them.

The theory of evolution is beneficial for Whites because in theory, if they’re going to accept that all life came from one source – Africa, then it must have originated from a monkey. They would rather admit they came from monkeys than Black people! So looking back, when I reflect on my visit to the museum and racial oppression in America and abroad, it takes me to a deeper state of thinking. It always forces me to investigate the root cause of the problem and understand why. The root cause of the plight of the Black community doesn’t begin with slavery. It begins in the minds of those who are thirsty for control, power, and survival. To make the claim that Whites originated from Blacks is to give back power to the Black community.
​
Exhibits like the LA Uprising and the Watts Riots are great reminders of where we’ve come and the work that we still need to undo. Restoring the Black community is a matter of undoing the psychological effects of systematic racial oppression and White Supremacy. It’s confronting the process by which these systems work and survive. That would mean having to address it on all levels – within the church, the educational system, the healthcare system, and in government. When it comes to confronting systematic racial oppression, it’s like a customer trying to change the rules to a 500 year old institution or organization that has been in place for so many years. The people within the organization have become so accustomed to the rules and the way the organization has been ran to the point where confronting or violating the status quo would pose a threat to change or destroy it. When you have rules in place that benefit a group of people and have been doing for so long, the beneficiaries sole means of survival becomes centered on trying to protect those rules and standards that have been put into place. It doesn’t matter if it comes at a cost to someone else’s life, especially in a world that values and promotes individualism and the ideology of “every man for himself.”

As a psychologist in training, getting reminded of the system of racial oppression that was designed to keep myself and people who look like me held back motivates me to work even harder. Although one could argue that I’ve been “given” opportunities to further my education by going to school and getting higher education degrees, I cannot turn a blind eye to the racism and discrimination I’ve experienced from colleagues, professors, and administrators during my journey. Being treated differently than my classmates because I am Black is not an experience I expected going into graduate school, but it’s something I’ve had to endure. It brings me back to the analogy I mentioned earlier. The more you hear the tune, the more you learn to tune it out. So eventually, I learned to just ignore the difference in treatment and accept it for what it is. I’ve taken the assertive approach on several occasions by confronting the perpetrator but to only be given an unfair justification – much like what we saw in the outcome of Natasha Rollins case. There always seems to be a justification for the mistreatment and killing of African-Americans but never a solid explanation as to why.

As a professional psychologist, my clinical work is going to be centered on working with African-Americans in helping them to shape positive identities surrounding their race and culture. For so long, we’ve been ostracized, called “niggers,” made fun of, and cast out of society. Even if it’s not done to us directly and we witness it happen to others of our race in the media, it still serves as a warning sign that danger is impending. It also serves to break down our psyche and make us feel inferior. These feelings of inferiority can have a major impact on our daily functioning and interpersonal relationships. As a therapist, I hope to be a positive change agent and work to curve that effect.

Being an African-American woman means that I have to work twice as hard in all aspects of life. Not so much to prove anything to myself – but to prove to others around me that I am a good enough citizen in this society. Going to school and graduating with a bachelor’s degree in psychology wasn’t enough, and neither was earning a master’s degree in counseling. If I want to be respected in society and in corporate America, I would need to get a PhD and become a doctor. Then I got accepted into a PhD program and realized that this monster I tried to escape from is still there to haunt me. I’ve come to accept that no matter how much education or success I have, or no matter where I go in this world, I will not be able to escape the uncompromising permanent effects of the system of White Supremacy.
 
  
Reference
 
Welsing, F. C. (1991) The Isis Papers. Chicago: Third World Press

When I first read, “Internalized Racism: One More Piece of the Puzzle” by Suzette L Speight, I felt that it was the most depressing thing I’ve read in a very long time. In the article, she talks about the negative short-term and long-term psychological consequences of racism and analyzes ways in which African-Americans are oppressed. She refers to these as conditions which can help psychologists understand the various functions of racism. They include exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, systemic violence, and cultural imperialism, which she describes as the “conduit through which subordinate groups come to internalize their oppression” by accepting the racial oppression as the norm. In describing the first four conditions, it felt easy as an African-American to digest the well-known types of racial oppression as it points the finger back to the main culprit and perpetrator – the system of White Supremacy. Although exploitation, marginalization and systemic violence are all very terrifying facets of the African-American experience, they are what we as African-Americans have been accustomed to and have lived with all of our lives while on American soil. We’re used to seeing Blacks exploited on television, marginalized, beaten, killed, disempowered, and taken advantage of. We have become used to this system of White Supremacy and racial oppression almost to the point that those external factors don’t have an impact on us hardly anymore – at least not on a level that moves us to bring about real lasting change.
           
Of course, you have your occasional police shootings of unarmed Black men and women followed by protests and riots in an effort to bring about justice, but aside from that, Blacks have become complacent in this harsh reality and comfortable with the way things are. Few Blacks are taking a stand against being exploited, marginalized, or subjected to feelings of powerlessness and inferiority as we do when an innocent Black man, woman, or child is killed. Perhaps it could be because we have grown blind to these other forms of racial oppression and have come to accept things for the way they are. How many Black individuals or organizations are making a big deal about African-Americans living in poverty and being denied access to equal opportunities? Well there was a time during the Civil Rights era where we felt a need to come together and fight for equality and against racial oppression and discrimination, but given the context we live in now, where African-Americans are going to college, becoming doctors, owning businesses, and taking luxurious vacations, many Blacks feel that there isn’t a need to scream and cry, “unequal opportunities or racial discrimination or oppression” – when on the surface everything appears to be fair for everyone no matter one’s race or ethnic background.
           
This false assumption brings us back to the topic of the article, Internalized Racism. The more we try to deny and escape this truth, the bigger a problem it gets. Ironically, as an African-American woman who is driven to bring about change within the African-American community, I can admit that it was very difficult for me to digest the last condition of Internalized Racism that Suzette talks about in her article. Why? Because it points the finger back at us. It says that although there’s a system designed to keep us oppressed, exploited, powerless, and hopeless, there still remains a percentage of responsibility and blame that rests on the shoulders of every African-American who has become a victim of this system. It’s a catch 22. On one hand, we are victims, and on the other hand, we are told that our victimization is what’s keeping us oppressed. The author of this article talks about psychological outcomes of the oppression and how the wounds of oppression could possibly stem from two main sources – the first being shame and the second being acceptance of the oppression. In reading her explanation, I could not resist feeling even more depressed and hopeless concerning the situation. Here’s why.
           
As counselors and psychologists, we understand that the feeling of shame is only a response to an adverse situation – in this case racial oppression. We also know that accepting the status quo is a form of adaptation to the dominant structure. So for many African-Americans, it’s not that we agree with this system of White Supremacy, we have come to realize that in order to survive and make it in America, one must learn to adapt very quickly to the way things are. Foreign immigrants looking to live and work in America, learn this harsh truth very quickly when they first step foot on American soil.
           
So to bring people’s attention to a form of racial oppression that acknowledges the main source but attributes partial responsibility to the victim in describing their painful experience as a factor of their own internalization of negative stereotypes and beliefs about their own identity by accepting the dominant group’s system of oppression, exploitation, and degradation creates an added layer of stress for the African-American looking to escape the problem. Essentially, this notion says, yes you’re a victim, now it’s your responsibility to let go of that victim mentality and do something about it. On one hand, this way of conceptualizing the problem can be alleviating and empowering in knowing that part of the power still rests in the hands and minds of Blacks who are oppressed; but meanwhile it makes Blacks feel burdened, implying that in order for things to change, we need to change. It assumes that if we all let go of these negative internalized beliefs and did not further perpetuate the system, then things would somehow get better and the system of White Supremacy and racial oppression will go away. I am the first to say that is so far from the truth it’s ridiculous. When we trace the origin of racism, when Blacks were snatched away from their homeland and forced into cattle slavery, we can see that Blacks did not have these internalized beliefs of inferiority – they were forcefed to our ancestors who became slaves and then passed down through many generations. Conscious African-Americans know that we did not always have this warped sense of inferiority, shame, and self-hatred when we were a powerful dynasty in Africa during ancient times. It wasn’t until one group of people felt a need to invade our territory, enslave us, and rob us of our dignity that we were broken down and made into ¾ of a human being.
           
However, in conceptualizing the origins of racism and dissecting how we got to this point, I am forced to face the reality that part of the problem is our acceptance of the problem. It’s hard to admit, but it is. As African-Americans, we go on and on, pointing the finger back at the racists culprits of White Supremacy without ever taking a step back to take an honest look at the role we play in manufacturing and sustaining the system. So in race relation discussions, you see this game of hot potato where each group tosses this hot potato of responsibility back to the other team to avoid having to handle the heated pressure of fixing the problem.  In looking back, I can appreciate this article for what it’s worth because it provides a good snapshot of an ugly picture no one wants to look at. It teaches us that there is no one group or person responsible for the problem of racial oppression, but that we all play an equal part in keeping it alive. Therefore, we all should step up and play an equal part in eradicating this system of White Supremacy. The only thing stopping us is the comfortability we all have with the way things are. 

Copyright November 2016 Danielle Leach All Rights Reserved

I find it very interesting the way in which racism has been defined and talked about in our country. Some see it as some vile and inhumane act perpetrated by one race against another while others see it as a necessary role or function of American society. In the media, we’ve seen countless instances where a White male cop pulls over an African-American driver in a traffic stop and approaches the driver’s car with a drawn loaded gun in his hand. Even more recently, there have been several cases surfaced in the news where the driver of the car was a Black female. No matter the gender of the person, I always thought it was strange the way cops treated African-Americans. There could be just as much crime and illegal activity occurring in predominantly White neighborhoods, yet the presence of police in Black neighborhoods far exceeds that of a majority White community.

As these instances of police brutality towards Black members of the community increase across our nation, it makes you think back to a time in our country during the 60s, 70s, and 80s when police brutality in the Black community was at an all-time high. There would be innocent children and men being beaten, shot, and killed followed by a sequence of peaceful protests just for the police to come in with their high powered water hoses and toxic bombs to shut things down. An organization that is supposed to serve and protect the Black community has manifested into a gang whose mission is to kill and destroy the Black community. When you take a bird’s eye look at the state of our nation, it becomes apparent that these random police shootings are a direct effect of the system of White Supremacy that has nurtured and promoted negative attitudes within mainstream America against people of color. Its roots have been traced back to the system of slavery where Blacks were taken, stripped of their natural identity, denied human rights, and treated worse than animals. The racial oppression we witness and experience today stems from a strategic system that has been enforced for hundreds of years.

During the period of slavery in the United States, racial oppression served a very important role – to keep Whites in power and to keep Blacks (or Negroes as they were called at the time) disempowered. The slave masters used many techniques to keep their slaves in line; the most dehumanizing of them all was beating them when they disobeyed or broke the rules. The beatings were so gruesome and frightening to the point where Blacks attempted to escape the harsh treatment of their masters by running away. If they were caught, they suffered beatings and sometimes death by hanging. The slaves were given one main job, which was to pick cotton and work the land. During this time, agricultural farming was how they worked, lived, and survived, so to the slave masters, having someone to work the land and tend to the crops was necessary to their existence. The system of slavery served a purpose greater than just to oppress a group of people. It was the mechanism by which America was established and developed. It’s often said that the pilgrims couldn’t find any other people who were as strong as the Africans to work the land so they chose us. So through a hopeful lens, one can view racial oppression as a byproduct of White Supremacy, as opposed to it being a cause of it.
           
On the other hand, one can view racial oppression quite differently and see Whites who support the system of slavery and White Supremacy as evil, heartless human beings. Because Blacks have forgiven the former slave masters for what they did to our ancestors and have accepted the fact that maybe, just maybe slavery served its purpose and was rightly abolished, but yet there still seems to be many traces of discrimination and oppression fueled by racism and values of White Supremacy. According to the law and what’s written on the books, slavery is illegal and does not exist, therefore we live in a post-racial society. Meanwhile, Blacks are still experiencing the residual effects of a system of slavery that was abolished over 100 years ago. Some would like to refer to this pain and suffering as Post Traumatic Slavery Disorder, which would hold some weight if we weren’t constantly reliving it day-to-day and we lived in a post-racial, post slavery society. The reality is, what we are experiencing today is only a modern day form of slavery where Blacks are being targeted and mistreated because of a system of White Supremacy. If you were to talk to Blacks who lived during the period right after the abolishment of slavery and talk to Blacks living today, you would learn that much of their experience is still the same. Blacks are still being racially profiled, arrested, and thrown into jail; Blacks are still being pre-judged and looked down upon by Whites; Blacks are still viewed as inferior, weak, uneducated, and powerless by mainstream society; Black children still struggle with getting a proper education in school; Black women and men still are discriminated against in the workforce and are held back from getting certain jobs. I know this, because I am a victim of it and see it happening every day.
           
Despite laws and rules written to make America a country that’s equal and free, the reality of what Blacks are experiencing is the complete opposite. It makes you wonder, with so many years since slavery being abolished and things are still the same way they were, what kind of changes have been really made to eliminate racism? And are the efforts and changes that have been made being offset by other practices to further keep Blacks oppressed? So that you have a group of Americans who are truly against the system of White Supremacy and racial oppression working to bring about healing for this country and unite the races, while there still exists an overarching system of White Supremacy maintained by proponents of racism. It reminds me of the game of tug of war where you have a team of people on one end trying to pull the rope from the team on the other side. The team that usually wins is the side with the most people or the most manpower.
So essentially, what we have in America is a game of tug of war – a team of conservatives who are in favor of keeping their power, therefore being proponents of the system of White Supremacy versus the other team who is fighting to gain power, meanwhile trying so hard to pull the rope from this other group who is much more stronger and powerful. If one group wins the game of tug-of-war, it’s at the expense of the other group who gives up their power by letting go of the rope. Many African-Americans have let go of the rope and given up on trying to regain the power that we once had as a race when were were living in Africa as kings and queens. Many African-Americans have accepted the system and are comfortable with the way things are. Some of us don’t see that there is a problem of racial oppression that exists, as many of us claim to not be oppressed – though they have been victims of racism and discrimination and are indirectly and directly impacted by the system of White Supremacy. Many African-Americans hold views, beliefs, and values that further perpetuate their oppression and the system of White Supremacy by buying into it, sometimes at no fault of their ow; it’s how they have learned to survive.

Many African-Americans will revere Caucasians as smart, educated, and strong, meanwhile turn to another fellow African-American and call them a “Dumb Nigga.” Some African-Americans are offended when a White person calls them a racial slur, but will glory in the idea of being called a “real nigga” or a “bad bitch” by another Black person. Many of us don’t see ourselves as intelligent, strong, and powerful, so when you do see a Black person “make it out of the hood” and go on to become successful, it’s almost always assumed that they got there by luck or by affiliation with White people, instead of by their own strength, intelligence, and power.

There have been instances where I’ve experienced racial oppression and also have been the culprit of it towards my own peers and family through microaggressions and talking in a condescending fashion. It’s much easier to point towards another person of a different race who is being racist towards us, and much more difficult to acknowledge moments when our own beliefs, attitudes, and values are racist in nature. It’s also very difficult to accurately attribute my experiences of feeling depressed and oppressed as a byproduct of racism when I have been conditioned to believe that we live in a post-racist society and have encountered experiences that were inconsistent or contradictory to the system of White Supremacy (i.e. being a successful entrepreneur and having the ability to network with people from different racial backgrounds to achieve my goals and dreams). For the sake of keeping one’s sanity, turning a blind eye to the racial injustices in America is much easier than looking it dead in the face.

Moving forward, it’s important to take a look at racism and see whether negative experiences Black people encounter are a function of racial oppression, individual choice, or common human experience. Because race is such a salient factor in our society, it’s very easy to point every problem that exists back to racial inequality and the system of slavery and White Supremacy. While we know that negative stereotypes, attitudes and beliefs concerning Black people do exist within the minds of both White and Black people alike, and that those beliefs permeate through all facets of our society, including government, education, health care, parenting, media, and religion, it is equally important to be mindful of one’s own racial biases and prejudices that serve to maintain this system of White Supremacy.

For me, I’ve made an effort to be conscious of my own identity and change the way in which I see myself. It’s often said, “It doesn’t matter how others see you, it only matters how you see yourself.” I prefer to believe that it does matter how others see you, but more importantly, how you see yourself. When I came to an acceptance of who I was as a Black woman and what that meant in a White racial society, I knew that I was on the right track to restoring my sense of self. So many African-Americans have become alienated and separated from their true selves. We’ve become acculturated into mainstream culture and have adopted a different way of thinking about ourselves that is different than who we were before we were brought to America. We have been made to think of ourselves as inferior because inferiority is what we’ve been taught and a state of mind we have been conditioned to live in. As long as we are not too loud, too outspoken, and too intelligent, we are safe in the presence of White people. But the moment we become educated, verbally expressive, and resistant to the status quo, we become even a bigger threat. So it’s like, we’re damned if we do and we’re damned if we don’t. I would rather be damned for being the person I was born to be than damned for being anything less. 

Copyright June 7 2016 Danielle Leach All Rights Reserved

When I was first introduced to the DSM-IV TR back in 2004, I felt very excited about my career path as a therapist turned clinical psychologist, knowing that there was a manual that existed that described every mental illness imaginable. I thought it was very crafty and genius that a bunch of researchers, doctors, and scientists from various disciplines could come together and exchange ideas that would lead to a general consensus concerning an individual’s mental state of being.  The idea that there was a classification system that had already been tried and tested over many years used by other clinicians in the field was reassuring and motivating because it would soon become the book that I would be trained to use in the months to come.
           
While in my master’s program at the University of North Florida, I was trained on how to assess and diagnose clients using the DSM-IV TR and when I moved to New York City in 2014 to complete my master’s degree, my training continued with the new upgrade, the DSM 5. So I have experience in using the DSM IV-TR with the axes classification as well as applicable experience with the new version of the DSM 5 that has adopted the new ICD 10 codes. In working with the DSM 5 that has the ICD 10 codes, I’ve found that there is not much difference given that the population I was working with (adults with dual diagnoses) at the time did not change. However, I do see where there would be some differential diagnoses across the two different versions when assessing women and children (for Depression and Autism) respectively.
           
In assessing women who present with symptoms of depression and/or anxiety, it is important to rule out Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder, as many of the symptoms that are present in the Depression and Anxiety Disorders overlap with PDD. When assessing autism in children, improvements in the DSM have made it possible for children who present with milder symptoms to receive a diagnosis that is lower on the spectrum. The same can be said for almost any other diagnosis as the new DSM 5 edition has given clinicians the opportunity to rule out other serious disorders such as Schizophrenia by appropriating labels that are less stigmatizing in nature (i.e. Depression with psychotic features).
           
The benefit of having a classification system such as the DSM is that it helps streamlines the process and makes communication between clinicians and other helping professionals much easier. When a client in Delaware is assigned a diagnosis of 309.81 and is treated for several weeks but then picks up and moves to Nevada, a psychologist, doctor, nurse, or therapist would know exactly what the diagnosis is and be able to form a case conceptualization of the client based on his previous diagnosis and treatment record. Another benefit that a diagnosis serves to aid in the therapeutic process is that it gives the client a sense of control and power, being able to identify what’s causing him/her distress and then put a name on it. When a client knows that what he/she has been experiencing is a common occurrence in society, it lessens the opportunity for them to feel isolated and increases the chances that they will be able to get the help and support that they need.
           
On the contrary, knowing can be just as harmful as not knowing. When a client is assigned a label, it creates the opportunity for him/her to use the label as a crutch. When I was working as a counselor at a residential treatment facility in Florida with a group of sexually reactive young boys, I remember hearing one of them tell a staff member, “I’m bipolar and I can’t control my moods.” It made me question the efficacy of the diagnostic system and take a closer look at its harrowing effects. I witnessed day-by-day, kids getting fed schedule 1 drugs in the name of treatment, which appeared to only have temporary soothing effects for the moment, but with prolonged use have been proven to have some serious adverse psychological and health effects.
           
​So as a clinician who embodies a more holistic approach to mental health, the challenge for me would be incorporating the DSM into a practice that empowers the client and supports an environment of true healing and change as opposed to the traditional protocol that many licensed clinicians find themselves accustomed to in the diagnosis to medication management pipeline. My philosophy is that there is no one-size fits all approach to treating clients of various cultural identities; every individual deserves to be custom treated from the inside out. 

​Copyright 2016. Danielle Leach All Rights Reserved

Gender stereotypes are derived from gender roles or expectations that we construct as a society and culture about what a man and woman should or shouldn't do. It's the summation of what it means to be male and female, implemented through social learning and cultural shaping. From a very early age, girls are taught that they should sit with their legs crossed; young girls are taught that it's ok to cry and to express yourself; young women are taught that it's better to be seen and not heard. In childhood, boys are taught to play with action figure toys and trucks. As boys grow into teenagers, they are pushed into playing sports like football, basketball, and soccer. When teen boys become men, they are encouraged to explore their sexuality by having sex with multiple women. Such social learning is what separates the two species and make us unique.

On the same token, gender differences can also account for the disparity between men and women on factors such as income, advancement in the workplace, prison incarceration, and involvement in politics. Although many efforts have been made to level the playing field for women and men through the women's rights movement, statistics show that on average, men still make more money than women, hold more upper level positions in corporate America than women, have a greater involvement in politics than women, and are unfortunately more frequently incarcerated than women.

But what would the world be without gender stereotypes? It would merely consist of a species of people who are not defined, segregated, or typecast by their gender. Our society would be one big salad bowl of cultures where men and women are united and don't experience conflict on the basis of a social construct such as gender. Since men and women would be considered equal, there would be no need for gender discrimination, sexism, or gender equality. This change would most likely eliminate or reduce the occurrences of domestic violence related criminal cases within the judicial system. Unfortunately, we don't live in a utopian society. And as it stands, gender stereotypes are here to stay.

As an undergrad, I remember taking a Race, Class, and Gender course at Florida State University where we learned about the influence of race, class, and gender on individuals and on our society as a whole. Before someone learns someone's name, they are already making an assumption about that person based on the way they look, which is mainly a function of that person's race, class, and gender. Within our society, there are many stereotypes that exist concerning these three social constructs. For example, women are viewed as emotional creatures who are nurturing, sensitive, and weak, while men are viewed as competent, strong, and goal-oriented. Racism in our country is influenced by racial stereotypes, such as Blacks are ignorant, lazy, and poor, Whites are smart, rich, and happy, Chinese are hard-working and good fighters, Asians are good at math and science, Mexicans are poor and will work for cheap, and Hispanics are loud, violent, and argumentative. When these stereotypes are perpetrated across the media within television, radio, magazines, and movies, it heightens people's perceptions, thus reinforcing such beliefs and perpetuating the cycle of racism.
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When we succumb to a society that has certain expectations concerning how men and women are to behave, yet promotes the opposite by telling people it's ok to be an individual and express themselves however they choose, we end up with a culture fixated on gender issues. Men are wanting to dress up and become women, while women want to shave their heads, wear jeans and boots, and work in jobs like construction, an industry that is typically dominated by men. Meanwhile, there's a whole group of people who presume to be perfect who sit back in the stands and are either entertained by this transgender/transsexual frenzy, or deeply disturbed and turned off. Those who are offended or bothered by transgender/transexual individuals are usually the ones creating the problems, stigmatizing the act, thus making those in the LGBT feel inadequate and undervalued.

What I find to be most interesting about the whole topic of Gender Issues, is the role that genetics and biology play. The general consensus would say that homosexuality and other behaviors practiced within the LGBT community are strictly learned behaviors – that is to say that individuals who practice homosexuality choose to because of their own sexual preference and are not influenced by genetics. Yet what the research shows is the complete opposite. Which brings up the question, can a person really be born gay or with a homosexual predisposition? When taking into account prenatal differentiation and how the internal and genital structures form during prenatal development, I am led to believe that we all have a natural propensity to “swing the other way.” Perhaps, it's only social learning and cultural shaping of gender roles that guide and direct us to form romantic relationships with the opposite sex for the purpose of procreation. If religion and these social norms, rules, and expectations weren't shoved down our throats and never existed, how many of us would still be heterosexual? That is to say if homosexuality wasn't stigmatized and was socially accepted by everyone, including the church, how many of us would still choose to deny our homosexual urges and choose to be with the opposite sex?

Atypical prenatal differentiation and abnormal levels of sex hormones resulting in improper brain differentiation can significantly impact an individual's development and sexuality, thus causing them to display what is considered to be abnormal attitudes and behaviors regarding sexual preferences. For example, a fetally androgenized female who is born with 46 chromosomes, yet possess ambiguous external genitalia may prefer to undergo a sex change and hormone therapy to become a male because she experiences a significant level of dissatisfaction with the female gender. The same can be said for a male who is born with DHT deficiency and possess undescended testes at birth. Men who DHT deficiencies are typically sterile and do not have the ability to produce children, usually assume the traditional male identity at puberty.

Whether a person's homosexuality is influenced by nature or nurture, it is highly important for us as counselors to display a positive, non-judgmental attitude and unconditional positive regard towards our clients who come to therapy with gender or sex-related issues. I also think that as counselors, we should take an active role in advocating for LGBT youth and adults across media platforms by spreading messages that do not promote or reinforce the typical sex-related gender stereotypes as seen across the media and that were displayed in the Youtube video, Reinforcing Gender Stereotypes. Promoting messages that go against common gender stereotypes, such as ads that show women engaging in non-domestic activities like mowing the lawn, changing the oil, or playing sports; and ads that show men engaging in activities that are usually portrayed by women, such as feeding and taking care of the baby, cooking, and teaching a classroom of students. Taking such steps towards advocating for change, will not only benefit the LGBT, but could also benefit society at large because it breaks the old traditional way of thinking and introduces a new approach to understanding gender and human sexuality that hasn't been fully accepted or understood before.  

Copyright 2015 Danielle Leach All Rights Reserved