Suchergebnisse

Three models�the pathology, structural-functional, and emergent�have been used to address the issue of stability in black families. It is presently argued that the lack of consensus in their conclusions is due to the impact of differing, underlying, and only implicitly stated, assumptions and values held by the researchers. In support of this thesis, a brief discussion of the role of values and assumptions in social scientific research is followed by a review and evaluation of research reported by advocates of each model. This examination suggested that the primary dimensions on which value differences exist are : (a) the extent to which black families should be assessed by standards developed in mainstream culture; (b) the relative importance of assessing stability in terms of socioeconomic status as opposed to socioemotional constructs; and (c) the role of African heritage in the lives of modern black American families. It is suggested that future researchers explicitly acknowledge their assumptions and values on these dimensions, use an ethnographic/parti- cipant observation methodology, and adopt a developmental perspective. Finally, the social policy implications for black families of this debate among social scientists are discussed.

This study describes the development of the Worldview Analysis Scale (WAS), an instrument designed to assess the way in which people perceive, think, feel, and experience the world. Four studies were conducted to describe the scale development of the WAS and to assess its psychometric properties. Eight hundred sixteen African, African American, European, European American, and multiethnic participants served as the validation sample. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses provided evidence for seven subscales: materialistic universe, spiritual immortality, communalism, indigenous values, tangible realism, knowledge of self, and spiritualism. MANOVA analyses found evidence for cultural differences in worldview at the ethnic level of analysis. Results indicated favorable reliability, validity, and factor structure indices for the WAS. Applications of the WAS in culturally competent research, training, and psychotherapy are discussed.