In this Major Contribution, we focus on the mental and psychological health issues relevant to Mexican Americans or Chicanas/os, and we identify and introduce some important contemporary areas of research that reflect the unifying theme of Current Directions in Chicana/o Psychology. These areas include counseling, assessment, and service-delivery issues; the content and influence of stereotypes; and the role of ethnic identity in the psychological health of Chicana/o people. To provide an ecological context for the series of articles that follow, identifying labels/terminology, demographics, cultural characteristics, and political barriers descriptive of Chicanas/os are addressed. Our hope is that the series of articles composing this issue serves to raise the awareness of mental health professionals about issues facing Chicanas/os and to provide guidelines for future counseling intervention and research.
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