Cultural insensitivity leads to unfair penalties

By Bridget Murray
Monitor staff

The U.S. legal system continues to misun- derstand, misinter- pret and unfairly target ethnic and cultural minorities, particularly in cases involving families, according to speakers at a symposium on social justice at APA's 1999 Annual Convention, Aug. 20 - 24, in Boston.

And psychologists--with their insight into how culture affects human behavior--can sensitize courts and one another to diverse family norms across cultures, said speakers during the Aug. 20 presentation "Promotion of social justice--addressing minority issues in psychology and law."

Promoting understanding of cultural differences is crucial, the speakers said, because a large number of child abuse and neglect cases involve allegations against minorities.

"Cultural and ethnic minorities are mostly the ones that are 'done to' in the justice system, and are not largely the 'doers,'" said Judith McKenna, PhD, JD, the symposium chair. "As long as that is true, the doers--judges, law enforcement and others--must be brought to understand the people who are coming before them."

McKenna, a senior research associate with the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, D.C., noted that several psychologists have taken up the mantle of increasing the courts' understanding of cultural diversity. Among them are Julia M. Ramos-Grenier, PhD, and Patricia W. McClanahan, who spoke at the session about bridging the gap in understanding between the legal system and the Hispanic and American-Indian communities.

Understanding Latino families

Court officials, child protection agencies--even psychologists--often misunderstanding cultural differences in child-rearing, said Ramos-Grenier, who evaluates minority families in child abuse and neglect cases through her agency, Grenier Consulting Associates in Collinsville, Conn. In such cases, common in culturally diverse urban areas, psychologist may interview the involved parents and children to help courts decide whether parents have behaved abusively and to determine their children's placement.

And in some of those evaluations, psychologists' unfamiliarity with Hispanic parents leads to unfair decisions, said Ramos-Grenier. In some Hispanic cultures, parents may have been socialized not to express anger directly. Sometimes a child's action may cause that repressed anger to erupt. When that happens, parents may need training in managing anger and disciplining youngsters, more so than a prison sentence and denied access to their children often the case under American child-protection standards.

Misunderstandings also stem from different definitions of good parenting. For example, in a recent case Ramos-Grenier reviewed, an American mother accused her Spanish ex-husband of abusing their young son by insisting that the boy finish eating his food during evening meals. The child responded each night by throwing up. The psychologist evaluating the boy on the mother's behalf said the father's insistence was abusive and was causing post-traumatic stress reactions in the boy.

Ramos-Grenier, on the other hand, evaluated the boy on the father's behalf and found differently: The father's demands that the child eat met Spanish cultural expectations for good parenting, since thinness in a son in that culture would indicate parental neglect. Ramos-Grenier said that the other psychologist's ruling, which could have resulted in denying the father access to the child, bordered on cultural malpractice.

Understanding American-Indian communities

Psychological assessments of American Indians require psychologists to be aware of different cultural norms, said Patricia White McClanahan, of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and Emory University, who has researched and written on the psychology and cultural values of Native Americans.

To work effectively with Native Americans, psychologists must first earn their trust, said McClanahan, who is part Cherokee and Creek. For example, psychologists should know about the Indian desire for harmony between humans, plants and animals, as well as for wellness in mind, body and spirit.

Also important, she said, is that psychologists grasp the Indian commitment to family and community advancement, as opposed to the individual advancement that prevails in majority culture. Indians believe in strengthening their communities, not their egos, she said.

McClanahan also advised psychologists to keep their questions respectful when interviewing and evaluating American Indians for the courts. Probing questions can be viewed as rude, said McClanahan. She offered some examples of appropriate ways to ask questions for legal evaluations: "What is your tribe or nation?"; "Are you an enrolled member of it?"; "Do you speak your native language and what is your level of fluency?"; "Do you follow your tribe's traditional teaching in daily life, and how?"

Don't press people for details about tribal practices, she advised. Rituals often are sacred.

General guidelines

Turning to the issue of assessment standards for evaluating ethnic and cultural minorities in legal cases, speakers noted that APA's Ethics Code offers general guidance but no specifics. (However a 1990 document prepared by APA's Office of Ethnic Minority Affairs does. Called, "APA Guidelines for Providers of Psychological Services to Ethnic, Linguistic, and Culturally Diverse Populations," it's available online at www.apa.org/pi/publicat.html#oema.) Ramos-Grenier suggested some further guidelines: