Lecture based on Peter Bell's video, The Thin Line: Recognizing cultural differences in black clients Produced by the

Institute on Black Chemical Abuse Black people in America can be viewed as members of four distinct groups: 1. 2. 3. 4. The Acculturated The Bi-Cultural The Subculturally Identified The Traditionally Unacculturated

1. The acculturated black person has made conscious and unconscious decisions to give up black culture in order to assimilate (an aspect of racial self-hate). They feel more comfortable in a white environment. The key for intervention with these clients: Show them their use is a threat to their status in white society. 2. The bicultural black person may have a good sense of their own racial identification, but are comfortable in a white world. May feel torn, wonder if they "really belong" anywhere. Seldom have good functioning in an integrated environment; they may not know which role to play in this setting. Often they act like a white person during the week, at work, and play like a black person on the weekends. In treatment: They act like an acculturated black person-in other words, like someone they're not. Only half of the person is treated. 3. The subculturally identified person may be mistrustful of acculturated and bicultural persons. They are resistant to conventional treatment. There are two groups in this category: A. Subcultural Afro-centric The "New Intellectuals". The have the lowest rates of abuse of any of the black groups. Their human needs are met in a black context and survival needs are met in a black/white context. They see blacks as a colonized people. They are easier for a white therapist to deal with-they are too angry at acculturated black people, but can "exempt" the white therapist. B. The subculturally deviant (criminally identified). 4. The traditionally unacculturated. These are black people who have little exposure to white culture. They speak a rural black dialect. Their culture is centered around the black church. They resent how acculturated black people view them. They often live in close proximity to the subculturally identified but are uncomfortable with their anger. People move in and out of these groups, both situationally and over a lifespan. How members of these groups are viewed by both black & white culture: The acculturated and bicultural are viewed as "the good ones". The subculturally identified and the traditional: "the bad ones". During the 1960's, this was reversed in the black community only. White America retained the former view. Our goal as a counselor: Not to change the client's group identification but help them identify what group they're in and understand and deal with the pain and the issues associated with any of them. Bell believes that black people have developed a higher pain tolerance as a survival skill but this leads to a higher acceptance of dysfunctional behavior and to a "lower bottom" for the black client.

2 In order to talk about cultural pain, the client in treatment must: 1. Educate the group and the therapist to the existence of that pain. 2. Then, they must fight to legitimize it as a treatment issue. THAT IS AN UNREASONABLE EXPECTATION FOR A CLIENT. There is also a "conspiracy of silence" between the white counselor and the black client. The white counselor, even if they are aware of racial issues as legitimate treatment issues, may feel inadequate to deal with them or may be afraid they will do it "wrong". The black client, like any other, resists dealing with painful issues, especially those that may make them stand out in the treatment group. Dealing with the issue may also reduce the client's ability to manipulate and can take away a good distracting issue. BLACK HUMOR & PLAY Humor works as a social intoxicant that loosens inhibitions. This can leave the black person in a dilemma when they are in a mixed group. They may be afraid that they will have to challenge a white person for racist remarks or jokes. It may seem safer not to play at all. The recovering black client faces the question: How do I play? In treatment, the black client is often asked to give up the way they socialize and play-it is seen as "streety". AA is an alternative culture; it creates a we-they dichotomy that furthers intimacy within the group. Black humor and play is qualitatively different than white. Its basis is in the "dozens"-based on put-downs designed to prepare the black person for life in the outside world. Usually starts with derogation of the individuals relatives. It is viewed as an intellectual test or game. It can also be very negative and shaming. COLOR CONSCIOUSNESS Black people usually possess a color consciousness, which whites do not. They usually see themselves as a " black person;" the white thinks of him/herself as "a person." THIS IS A FUNDAMENTAL EMPATHETIC GAP BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE PEOPLE. Bell: "When I'm stopped by a cop, the question always crosses my mind whether he's stopping me because I'm black. Never mind that I was going 90 miles an hour. When a white person is very nice to me, I always wonder if they're using me to validate their self-perception. Most minority people are very conscious that whites, by and large, give us this power." "If I took four white members of this audience to Harlem today, you would develop color consciousness and start acting like 'white people' and probably you four would be in one of the four categories. That would affect how you think and communicate with the people around you." The reason race is not talked about in treatment today is that by and large whites have no frame of reference for the question. CULTURAL DEFENSE SYSTEMS Defense systems are learned as survival skills in a hostile society. In treatment they stifle growth. CULTURAL SEDUCTION The black person's knowledge that many white therapists give them the power to validate their self-perception-

3 for example, "I'm an effective cross-cultural therapist." CULTURAL INTIMIDATION The black clients' knowledge that most whites are scared by his/her anger and associate it with crime and violence. (This can become a defense system in counseling). White counselors often want to do anything to be seen as non-racist, including being ineffective in the counseling situation. So they don't take the risks they need to take with the client. To the white counselor, the client may say, "What do you know about being black?" And to the black counselor, they may try the plea "Give me some slack, brother-I know you work with these whites but you're still one of us, aren't you?" THE FINE LINE: Treading the line between recognizing race / identity as a valid treatment issue and not letting it be an excuse for avoiding or manipulating treatment. The "fine line" for the effective counselor, quote from Bell: "You may have some issues about being black; I give permission and encouragement to talk about them but won't allow the client to use them as an excuse.