Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Treatment for symptoms arising from exposure to adverse race-related events is critical to culturally competent healthcare delivery to ethnic minorities, particularly in light of recent findings demonstrating significant relationships between adverse race-related events and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and general psychiatric distress. This article offers a developmental model consisting of stages by which psychological symptoms develop in response to race-related stressors in the military. This article also describes a model of group treatment for ethnic minority veterans related to psychological symptoms arising from exposure to race-related stressors. Both models were used in a race-related support group for Pacific Islander Vietnam veterans diagnosed with PTSD. A combined approach of group intervention, psychosocial education, identity reframing, cognitive differentiation, and cognitive restructuring, which included `depersonalizing discrimination' and rejection of faulty beliefs, appear to offer an effective approach to treating psychological sequelae arising from adverse race-related events. This article offers an intervention model that is linked to a developmental model of race-related stressors for Asian American Pacific Islander minority personnel in the military.

Keywords

Chamorro ethnic minority veterans group treatment Pacific Islanders post-traumatic stress disorders race-related stressors

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Allen, S.N. , & Bloom, S.L. (1994). Group and family treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder . Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 17, 425—437 .

American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association .

Blauner, R. (1972). Racial oppression in America. New York: Harper and Row .

Chemtob, C.M. (1996). Culture, trauma, and posttraumatic stress disorder . In F. LehMac & C. Nadelson (Eds.), International review of psychiatry (Vol. II, pp. 257—292). Washington, DC: APA Press .

Elligan, D. , & Utsey, S. (1999). Utility of an African-centered support group for African American men confronting societal racism and oppression. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 2, 156—165 .

Fahnestock, R. (2002). Asian veterans: Small group counseling attempt proves successful. Vet Center Voice , p. 12.

Foy, D.W. , Glynn, S.M. , Schnurr, P.P. , Jankowski, M.K. , Wattenberg, M.S. , Weiss, D.S. , et al. (2000). Group therapy. In E. B. Foa , T. M. Keane , & M. J. Friedman (Eds.), Effective treatments for PTSD (pp.155-175). New York: Guildford Press .

Hall, G.C. , & Nakayama, C. (2001). Psychotherapy research with ethnic minorities: Empirical, ethical, and conceptual issues . Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 69, 502—510 .

Hamada, R. , Chemtob, C.M. , Sautner, R. , & Sato, R. (1988). Ethnic identity and Vietnam: A Japanese-American Vietnam veteran with PTSD . Hawaii Medical Journal, 47, 100—109 .

10.

Harrell, S.P. (2000). A multidimensional conceptualization of racism-related stress: Implications for the well-being of people of color . American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 70, 42—57 .

11.

Hart, A.J. , Whalen, P.J. , Shin, L.M. , McInerney, S.C. , Fischer, H. , & Rauch, S.L. (2000). Differential response in the human amygdala to racial outgroup vs. ingroup face stimuli . Neuroreport, 22, 2351—2355 .

12.

Janoff-Bulman, R. (1992). Shattered assumptions: Toward a new psychology of trauma. New York: Free Press .

13.

Kiang, P. (1991). About face: Recognizing Asian and Pacific American Vietnam veterans in Asian American Studies . Amerasia Journal , 17, 22—40 .

14.

Klonoff, E.A. , Landrine, H. , & Ullman, J.B. (1999). Racial discrimination and psychiatric symptoms among Blacks. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology , 5, 329—339 .

15.

Leventman, S. , & Camacho, P. (1980). The `gook' syndrome. The Vietnam War as a racial encounter. In C. R. Figley & S. Leventman (Eds.), Strangers at home (pp. 55—70). New York: Praeger .

16.

Lifton, R.J. (1973). Home from the war. New York : Basic Books .

17.

Loo, C.M. (1994). Race-related trauma and PTSD: The Asian American Vietnam veteran . Journal of Traumatic Stress, 7, 1—20 .

18.

Loo, C.M. (2001). Report on the Asian American Vietnam Veteran Race-Related Study (AVRS). Honolulu, HI: National Center for PTSD, Pacific Islands Division and Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Pacific Islands Health Care System .

19.

Loo, C.M. , Fairbank, J.A. , & Chemtob, C.M. (2005). Adverse race-related events as a risk factor for posttraumatic stress disorder in Asian American Vietnam veterans . Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 193, 455—463 .

20.

Loo, C.M. , Fairbank, J.A. , Scurfield, R.M. , Ruch, L.O. , King, D.W. , Adams, L. , & Chemtob, C.M. (2001). Measuring exposure to racism: Development and validation of a Race-Related Stressor Scale (RRSS) for Asian American Vietnam veterans . Psychological Assessment, 13, 503—520 .

21.

Loo C.M. , & Kiang, P. (2003). Race-related stressors and psychological trauma: Contributions of Asian American Vietnam veterans. In L. Zhau (Ed.), Asian Americans: Vulnerable populations, model interventions, and clarifying agendas (pp. 19—43). Boston: Jones Bartlett .

22.

Loo, C. , Singh, K. , Scurfield, R. , & Kilauano, B. (1998). Race-related stress among Asian American veterans: A model to enhance diagnosis and treatment. Cultural Diversity and Mental Health, 4, 75—90 .

23.

Moore, S.A. , Zoellner, L. , & Bittinger, J.N. (2004). Cognitive restructuring and exposure therapy: Toward an optimal integration. In S. Taylor (Ed.), Advances in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder: Cognitive-behavioral perspectives (pp. 129—149). New York: Springer .

24.

Ochsner, K.N. , & Lieberman, M.D. (2001). The emergence of social cognitive neuroscience . American Psychologist, 56, 717—734 .

25.

Parson, E.R. (1984a). The `gook'-identification and posttraumatic stress disorder in black Vietnam veterans. Black Psychiatrist American Quarterly, 13, 14—18 .

26.

Parson, E.R. (1984b). The reparation of the self: Clinical and theoretical dimensions in the treatment of Vietnam combat veterans . Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 14, 4—52 .

27.

Parson, E.R. (1985). Ethnicity and traumatic stress: the intersecting point in psychotherapy. In C. R. Figley (Ed.), Trauma and its wake: The study and treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (pp. 314—337). New York: Brunner/Mazel .

28.

Parson, E.R. (1990). Post-traumatic psychocultural therapy (PtpsyCT): Integration of trauma and shattering social labels of the self . Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 20, 237—258 .

29.

Penk, W.E. , & Allen, I.M. (1991). Clinical assessment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among American minorities who served in Vietnam . Journal of Traumatic Stress, 4, 41—66 .

30.

Shatan, S.H. (1978). Stress disorders among Vietnam veterans: The emotional context of combat continues. In C. R. Figley (Ed.), Stress disorders among Vietnam veterans (pp. 43—52). New York: Brunner/Mazel .

31.

Stuber, J. , Galea, S. , Ahern, J. , Blaney, S. , & Fuller, C. (2003). The association between multiple domains of discrimination and self-assessed health: A multilevel analysis of Latinos and blacks in four low-income New York City neighborhoods . Health Services Research , 38, 1735—1759 .

32.

Sue, S. ( 1998). In search of cultural competence in psychotherapy and counseling . American Psychologist, 53, 440—448 .

33.

Sue, S. ( 1999). Science, ethnicity, and bias: Where have we gone wrong? American Psychologist, 54, 1070—1077 .

Group Treatment for Race-related Stresses among Minority Vietnam Veterans

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References