Culturally Sensitive Treatment of Anger

Clinical Case Studies 8(5) 383 402
The Author(s) 2009 Reprints and permission: http://www. sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/1534650109345004 http://ccs.sagepub.com
Culturally Sensitive Treatment of Anger in African American Women: A Single Case Study
A. Antonio Gonzlez-Prendes and Shirley A. Thomas
Abstract
Culturally sensitive clinical practice challenges practitioners to recognize the cultural significance and importance of clients behaviors and belief systems. This article reports a case study of the treatment of anger in an African American woman. Presented within a framework of cognitive- behavioral theory, the case illuminates three important issues that influence experience and expression of anger in African American women: the influence of gender role socialization on the mode of anger expression; the experience of powerlessness, rooted in historical and contemporary discriminatory and oppressive realities; and culture-related messages that create unrealistic expectations of strength. The article addresses conceptualization, assessment, treatment processes, and clinical strategies, as well as limitations of a single case study, implications for practice and recommendations for future research.
Keywords
African American women, anger treatment, cultural sensitivity, cognitive-behavioral
1 Theoretical and Research Basis Culturally sensitive treatment approaches must be able to conceptualize, recognize, and evaluate the clients belief system and behaviors within the context of the clients gender, race and culture, among other factors. This is particularly important when working with individuals from minori- ties and other traditionally disempowered groups, whose beliefs and behaviors run the risk of being pathologized when taken out of the context of their cultures and measured against the standards of the dominant group. This article presents and discusses, within the framework of a case study, central elements of a culturally sensitive approach to the treatment of anger problems in an African American woman. The conceptual model for the treatment approach suggests that, if anger in African American women is to be understood accurately, it must be viewed through the twin prisms of gender and race (Thomas