What Do Culturally Sensitive Mental Health Services Mean?: The Case of Hispanics

• Published in: The American psychologist 1987-06, Vol.42 (6), p.565-570
• Main Authors: Rogler, Lloyd H, Malgady, Robert G, Costantino, Giuseppe, Blumenthal, Rena
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Child; Community Mental Health Services - trends; Cultural Characteristics; Culture; Culture (Anthropological); Health Care Delivery; Hispanic Americans - psychology; Human; Humans; Latinos/Latinas; Mental Disorders - therapy; Mental Health Services; United States
• ISSN: 0003-066X; 1935-990X
• DOI: 10.1037/0003-066X.42.6.565

Three broad approaches to the development of culturally sensitive therapy programs were uncovered in the mental health literature on Hispanic populations: first, rendering traditional treatments more accessible to Hispanics; second, selecting available therapeutic modalities according to the perceived features of Hispanic culture; and third, extracting elements from Hispanic culture to modify traditional treatments or to use them as an innovative treatment tool. The conceptual order introduced into the meaning of culturally sensitive mental health services proceeds with descriptive accounts of diverse therapeutic programs within each of the three approaches. The article raises a fundamental question as to how the relationship between culture and therapy is conceived by clinical practitioners and how it ought to be conceived: Must the content of all culturally sensitive therapies stand in isomorphic, mirror-like relationship to the client's culture? Research seeking to evaluate a culturally sensitive therapy modality for children examines this question and invites more appropriate formulations relating culture to therapy.