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Literature Review 1
Literature Review 1
Mary Winford
LITERATURE REVIEW AND SOAP NOTE 2
Julie is a 30-year-old African American woman who discussed how her upbringing and
journey through school impacted her identity and self-esteem. She feels her experiences have
helped her grow in understanding her cultural identity, but she still needs help understanding her
cultural identity and struggles with self-esteem from being constantly put down by her father and
others. She hated the black parts of herself and is now finally starting to love herself, but needs
help overcoming her insecurities. She has also dealt with adversity and racism among her peers.
Research suggests that CBT is helpful in increasing self-esteem and helping with identity
development. Low self-esteem means to have a negative view of yourself. Julie mentioned her
hair being a problem and originally assuming that it was difficult to make friends with other
races because of her looks and not because they were prejudice. It is suggested that low self-
esteem often comes from early, negative life experiences (Morton, Roach, Reid, Steward, &
Hallam, 2012). Racial Identity and self-esteem are strongly correlated with each other which
could also explain why those are both Julie’s main issues. Research suggests that for African
Americans, identity development and self-esteem are connected to racial preferences and racial
identity. It is difficult to differentiate the feelings one feelings about themselves and the feelings
about their racial group. African Americans with low self-esteem are more likely to have mental
health problems. Those with high self-esteem are quicker to recover when facing adversity
compared to those with low self-esteem. An increase in racial identity development over 1 year
was associated with a decrease in depressive symptoms even if self-esteem was controlled. Self-
esteem is considered one of the most important factors in an adolescent’s mental health and
research is suggesting that identity may be just as important. Therefore, it could have been really
harmful to Julie’s mental health when she was receiving hurtful comments while in school. She
LITERATURE REVIEW AND SOAP NOTE 3
also had trouble accepting her cultural identity and was shameful of it which could also be
one’s socially constructed racial label, a sense of shared activities, beliefs about the social
construction of one’s racial group. (Mandara, Gaylord-Harden, Richards, & Ragsdale, 2009).
significance that the individuals’ place on race when defining themselves and interpreting what it
means to be African American (Nevlett, Smalls, Ford, Nguyen, & Sellers, 2009).
Knowledge of one’s racial group history and cultural norms, beliefs about the social position of
one’s racial group, and feelings of pride about one’s racial group. In the perspective of cognitive
development, racial identity is developed when the person is able to cognitively make sense of
the many social messages about race that they face. Messages about race are generally socialized
by the parents, teachers, media, and peers. This can explain why her grandfather’s negative
comments about the black people in her neighborhood affected her. The media seemed to have
an impact on Julies views as well. Ecological systems theory suggests that normal development
for African American adolescents often involves exposure to environments that devalue their
racial group. Exposure to these types of environments can be damaging to the self-esteem and
mental health of African American adolescents. Developing a positive view of one’s racial group
can be a protective adaptive coping response against those types of environments and protects
against the psychosocial consequences of discrimination. Media exposure is really high among
African Americans and many African Americans are exposed to media that is high in negative
stereotypical portrayals. Often, if society views a group negatively than the members of that may
LITERATURE REVIEW AND SOAP NOTE 4
also view themselves negatively though, having a positive racial identity prevents an individual
from caring about the media’s portrayals. A research study showed that Multigroup ethic identity
measure was positively correlated with their level of coping and that support of stereotypical
beliefs about African Americans was positively correlated lower self-esteem among African
Americans in high school. A study found the development of positive feelings about one’s racial
group is related to reducing mental health problems. Theorists have suggested that racial identity
has an association with mental health because it may be helpful to African Americans with the
avoidance of internalizing negative stereotypes. It may also offer protection against the effects of
discrimination. A positive racial identity may help African Americans feel that the practices of
Adolescence is often the developmental period of when the negotiation of racial identity
becomes a focus. It is during this time period that physical maturation, dating experiences, and
increased autonomy cause one to experience many new situations and experiences that may
increase the notability of race. This may cause adolescents to think about the importance and
meaning of race. This increased awareness makes it possible for African Americans to actively
look into the meaning and significance of being African American. One of the most significant
social contexts that plays an important role in how African Americans make sense of the
importance and meaning of race is the African American family. Both the explicit and implicit
messages about race, help African Americans to develop a positive racial identity. Especially
when facing adversity or racial bias. Racial socialization is defined as transmitting the world
views of parents in regard to race and ethnicity in either an unintended, overt, deliberate, or
subtle way. It can be a way to promote positive racial identity and prepare children to strive
against racism. Some parents may consider race to be an important factor in raising their
LITERATURE REVIEW AND SOAP NOTE 5
children. It may be the central factor in how their children are raised, some may only discuss
racial issues when they are brought up by their children, but there are some parents that may
There are many messages portrayed in racial socialization; self-worth message promote
individual feelings of worth, negative messages increases negative stereotypes from society
about African Americans, and egalitarian messages place importance on coexistence and
interracial equality. Some studies discuss socialization behaviors such as buying African art or
literature which conveys implicit messages about race. When understanding racial identity, it is
their race. Private regard is the extent an individual feel positively or negatively about their race
and race membership. Public’s regard is the extent an individual feels other view their race as
beliefs, attitudes about how African Americans should act. Some may have a nationalist ideology
which places importance on the uniqueness of being black, some may have a oppressed minority
ideology which focuses on the similarities of African Americans and other oppressed groups,
some may have an assimilation ideology that focuses on the similarities of African Americans
and the rest of Americans, and some may have a humanist philosophy that places importance on
Some of the most important approaches to understanding ethnic and racial identity
focuses on how African Americans develop attitudes and beliefs about their racial or ethnic
identity. Some theory suggests than an individual’s identity can be viewed by looking at statuses
such as: a diffused status where the individual have not explored the meaning of their ethnicity or
committed to a particular identity meaning, a foreclosures status where the individuals have
LITERATURE REVIEW AND SOAP NOTE 6
committed to a definition of their ethnicity means to them related to how others have influenced
them such as their parents, a moratorium stays where the individuals are actively exploring the
meaning of their identities and have not committed to a particular meaning, and achieved status
which are individuals who have actively explored and committed to a specific definition (Yip,
Many African Americans will face racial discrimination and some ways of coping with
adversity would be using resistance and advocacy. Resistance is when an individual confronts
the perpetrators of discrimination while coping by advocation and educating others and oneself
in order to increase the awareness of discrimination for oneself and other people. It can fight
discrimination at both micro and macro levels (Szymanski & Lewis, 2015).
LITERATURE REVIEW AND SOAP NOTE 7
References:
Mandara, J., Gaylord‐Harden, N. K., Richards, M. H., & Ragsdale, B. L. (2009). The Effects of
8624.2009.01360.x
Morton, L., Roach, L., Reid, H., & Stewart, S. H. (2012). An evaluation of a CBT group for
women with low self-esteem. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 40(2), 221-5.
Doi:http://dx.doi.org.go.libproxy.wakehealth.edu/10.1017/S1352465811000294
Neblett, E.W., Smalls, C.P., Ford, K.R. et al. Racial Socialization and Racial Identity: African
9359-7
Szymanski, D. M., & Lewis, J. A. (2016). Gendered Racism, Coping, Identity Centrality, and
Yip, T., Seaton, E. K., & Sellers, R. M. (2006). African American Racial Identity Across the
Soap Note
2/27/2020. 5 pm. (S) Describes herself as a African American female. States that race has
impacted how she views the world since the day she was born. She was raised in a single-parent
African American household. She lived with her maternal grandfather who acted as a surrogate
father. She reports feeling that her real father is very distant, constantly putting her down. She
reports that her mother’s excuses for her father’s negative comments were worse than the
negative comments. She reports that her earliest dreams of being a career woman were colored
how she thought white people did things. She reports being teased about her hair and asking her
mother why her dad couldn’t have been so she could have good hair. She reports that her father
wasn’t faithful to her mother which made her wonder if only white families had faithful
husbands, and if it was her fate to raise her children alone and bear them outside of marriage. She
questioned why she is not considered beautiful. She shared that she tried to sound white and
wanted to be anything but black. She reports identifying with the white culture and hating
everything about being black. She reports that making friends with other people who were not
black was harder when she got to college. She reports that white males taunted her, calling her
the n word. She reports that her roommate’s boyfriend made racial comments and the women on
the floor were awful making comments about her hair. She reports that her English teacher said
she considered going into public speaking because she cannot write and that her people were not
known for their writing ability. She reports that her breaking point was when her dorm believed
she was in on the robbery that happened in their dorm because she was black. She reports she
then hated whites and participated in more African American Activities. She reports successfully
getting more blacks to join the dorm and beginning to see the dorm as a great place. She reports
being a changed woman after college and became open to a multicultural world, being confident
LITERATURE REVIEW AND SOAP NOTE 9
in who she was as a Black woman. She reports feeling hurt and angry and determined not to let
whites get close to her. (O) 30 years old. African American female with curly black hair. Has a
slight valley girl/British accent. Is quiet when discussing her identification with white culture and
when discussing hurtful comments from others. Gets louder when talking about how she started
enjoying her time at the dorm and when discussing feeling more connected to her culture.
Displays confidence when talking about identifying with American culture. (A) Dominant story
involves achieving an understanding of one's identity, understanding racism and oppression, and
letting the perceptions of others determine how she sees herself. She goes through a journey of
self-discovery while encountering many difficult situations involving racism, oppression, and
self-oppression. She began to mistrust white people, but a white coworker helped her grow and
start to develop. (P) Intervention used in 1st session: Cognitive behavioral therapy. Emphasis on
cultural identity development and self love in order to negate insecurities and build self-esteem.