Sociocultural Issues Series
- Multicultural Awareness
- Sociocultural Issues in Psychology
Understanding how diverse social and cultural contexts influence the work of the psychologist is a critical component of becoming clinically competent. The Wright Institute emphasizes educating clinical psychologists to be multiculturally sensitive, and proficient to practice with diverse populations. The Wright Institute approach to learning in this area, like the entire doctoral program, is developmental and integrative. Students use awareness of themselves, and critical thinking to gain an increasingly sophisticated understanding of how culture and personal biases affect the clinical endeavor.
There are two required courses, as well as advanced electives in this series. Multicultural education is organized according to attitudes, knowledge, and skills. The first two of these dimensions are addressed in the two required courses; skills are honed in Case Conferences, and the advanced electives. In addition, the Wright Institute aims to integrate sociocultural issues into course offerings across the entire curriculum.
In the multicultural awareness course, groundwork is laid for students to explore aspects of their cultural identities, understand the impact of worldview on clinical practice, and learn about systems of oppression. Students meet in small groups to provide a safe place for reflective learning.
In the sociocultural issues in psychology course, students explore the social and cultural bases of behavior in our diverse society. Sociocultural issues are examined from a wide range of perspectives, including interpersonal perception and attitude formation, stereotypes, sex roles, social influence and group processes, cultural and ethnic influences, and organizational and systems theory.