The Relationship Between Racism and Racial Identity Among White Americans: A Replication and Extension

The purpose of this investigation was to assess the influence of White racial identity attitudes on racism. A total of 234 White undergraduate students participated in this investigation. The students completed the White Racial Identity Attitude Scale (Helms & Carter, 1990) and the New Racism Scale (Jacobson, 1985). Consistent with findings in previous research, White racial identity attitudes were predictive of racism. We also found gender and age differences in White racial identity attitudes. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the role of counselors in addressing racial awareness on college campuses.     

Racial/Ethnic Identity,Gender‐Role Attitudes,and Multicultural Counseling Competence: The Role of Multicultural Counseling Training

Researchers and practitioners have been pursuing how to enhance counselors' multicultural counseling competencies (MCC). With a sample of 460 counselors, the author examined whether multicultural training changed the relationship between (a) racial/ethnic identity and MCC and (b) gender‐role attitudes and MCC. The author found significant interaction effects of (a) racial/ethnic identity and multicultural training and (b) gender‐role attitudes and multicultural training on multicultural knowledge but not on multicultural awareness.     

Race/Ethnicity and Multicultural Competence Among School Counselors: Multicultural Training,Racial/Ethnic Identity,and Color‐Blind Racial Attitudes

This study tested a model that links race/ethnicity, multicultural training, racial/ethnic identity (REI), color‐blind racial attitudes (CoBRA), and multicultural counseling competence (MCC) among school counselors. The author examined whether multicultural training significantly moderated the association between race/ethnicity and MCC. School counselors’ REI was found to mediate this moderated association. A 3‐way interaction among race/ethnicity, training, and CoBRA revealed that White and racial/ethnic minority school counselors had the lowest MCC scores when they had limited training and higher CoBRA.     

African American students' ratings of Caucasian and African American counselors varying in racial consciousness

African American college students (63 female, 30 male) rated vignettes of counselors varying in racial consciousness (high vs. low) and race (African American vs. Caucasian). Participants then completed a counselor rating scale and the Racial Identity Attitude Scale (Short Form; T. A. Parham & J. E. Helms, 1981). African American counselors were rated more favorably than White counselors, and high racially conscious counselors were rated more favorably than low racially conscious counselors. The African American counselor with high racial consciousness was rated the most favorably. Several significant correlations were found between participants' racial identity attitudes and their ratings of counselors. Implications for the training of both African American and White counselors are considered.     

Racism and White Counselor Training: Influence of White Racial Identity Theory and Research

White counselors currently and in the future are projected to constitute the majority of counseling practitioners. In a racist and culturally diverse society, White counseling students need to learn to effectively counsel racially diverse clients. In this article, the inclusion of awareness, knowledge, and skills around racism and racial identity development is discussed as critical to counselor training programs with White counseling students. Intentional and strategic efforts to assist White counseling students recognize their personal racial identity and privileges of racism are presented as tools to assist the counseling profession to reduce the perpetuation of racist attitudes and racism.     

The Relationships Among Counselor-Trainees' Gender,Cognitive Development,and White Racial Identity: Implications for Counselor Training

In a study of 82 White counselor trainees enrolled in 3 graduate programs, gender and the lowest stage of cognitive development were found to significantly contribute to the variance in lower levels of the White racial identity. Male trainees who tended to think in dichotomous terms and look to authority to provide the correct answers tended to report attitudes about race reflected in lower levels of White racial identity. Significant relationships were not found between higher stages of cognitive development and higher levels of White racial identity. Implications for training are presented and discussed.     

The Relationship Between Racism and Racial ldentity Among White Americans: An Exploratory Investigation

This research explored the relationship between White racial identity attitudes and racism. Participants were 100 White students from a large midwestern university who were asked to complete the New Racism Scale and the White Racial Identity Inventory. Multiple regression analyses found that White racial identity attitudes were predictive of racism. The study, however, also found gender differences in White racial identity. Results of the study are discussed in terms of implications for developing racial awareness on college campuses.     

The Impact of Feminist Attitudes on the Relation between Racial Awareness and Racial Identity

This study examined the role of liberal and inclusive feminist attitudes in the development of a positive racial identity in a sample of White female undergraduates in the Midwestern United States. Participants (N?=?90) provided self-report data on their racial awareness, liberal and inclusive feminist attitudes, racial identity and demographic information. The main research question was how and to what extent liberal and inclusive feminism influence the relationship between racial awareness and racial identity. Building on conceptual scholarship on identity theory and the intersectionality, results indicated that the relation between racial awareness and racial identity was partially mediated by inclusive feminist attitudes but not by liberal feminist attitudes. The results suggest that a specific type of feminism, which takes into account the experience of race, plays a significant role in our understanding of how White women develop a positive White identity. Results highlight the intersection of race and gender in college student development and have potential implications for administrative responses to student adjustment in increasingly diverse college environments.     

The Relationship of the Racial Identity Attitudes of Black Men to Perceptions of “Parallel” Counseling Dyads

The perceptions that Black men (N = 52) have of “parallel” dyads involving a Black male client and a White male counselor were examined in a vicarious participation analogue design. As defined by Helms (1984b), parallel dyad involves a client and counselor who share similar racial identity attitudes (i.e., attitudes about themselves relative to Blacks and Whites as reference groups). Multiple regression analyses were used to investigate whether racial identity attitudes predicted participants' reactions to the session and their perceptions of the counselors' cross-cultural competence and credibility. The results of the study indicated that racial identity attitudes significantly predicted participants' immediate reactions to the counselor. We used Helms's (1984b) interaction model to discuss the results and their implications for counseling practice and research.     

The Unbearable Lightness of Being White

In this article I explore the relationship between feelings of superiority, White privilege, White guilt, and a denied White racial identity and how these dynamics are enacted in therapy between White therapist and client. I discuss the concepts of White privilege, White guilt, color-blind racial ideology, and the invisibility of Whiteness and their importance in understanding problems in White identity development. Throughout this discussion I draw implications for clinical practice and training. I conclude by suggesting a process for identifying the dynamics of privilege and power in cross-cultural interactions through the use of self-reflection.     

At the Crossroads: Racial and Womanist Identity Development in Black and White Women

This study explored the hypothesis that womanist identity and racial identity development are related. The racial identiy and womanist identity attitudes of 214 women were measured using the Black Racial Identity Attitude Scale, the White Racial Identity Attitude Scales (WRIAS), and the Womanist Identity Attitude Scale. Canonical correlation analysis was used to determine the nature of relationships among racial identity and womanist identity attitudes. Results showed that for Black women there was a significant relation between racial identity and womanist identity attitudes. Specifically, Internalization attitudes on the WRIAS were positively related to Level II (Encounter) and Level IV (Internalization) attitudes on the Womanist Identity Attitude Scale. Despite a larger number of White participants, no such relationship emerged for White women. Implications for theory, research, and counseling are discussed.     

Mental Health Practitioners: The Relationship Between White Racial Identity Attitudes and Self‐Reported Multicultural Counseling Competencies

This study documents the relationship between White racial identity development and multicultural counseling competency (MCC) as reported by mental health practitioners. Initial results were generally consistent with J. E. Helms's (1990) construction of White racial identity attitude development theory. More sophisticated statuses of White racial identity development generally correlated with higher levels of perceived MCC. Overall, there was a significant difference in MCC reported between men and women. Among counselors, conflicting relationships were observed between some racial identity statuses and multicultural competencies (skills, relationship).     

White Racial Identity Attitudes and the Ego Defense Mechanisms Used by White Counselor Trainees in Racially Provocative Counseling Situations

This exploratory study examined the relationship between racial identity attitudes and the use of ego defense mechanisms by White counselor trainees during cross‐racial counseling and supervision dyads. The sample consisted of 145 White counselor trainees enrolled in both master's and doctoral programs at 2 small private universities located in the northeastern United States. Results indicated that White counselor trainees at less mature statuses of racial identity attitudes relied on more primitive ego defenses to manage the anxiety experienced during racially provocative counseling and supervision dyads. Implications for counseling and counselor training are discussed in the context of the study's findings.     

Two-Headed Coins or Kandinskys: White Racial Identification

Racial identity means different things to members of different racial and ethnic groups in the United States. However, while the study of race and politics is often the study of White racial attitudes ( Dawson & Cohen, 2003 ), research on racial identity almost always refers to non-White identity. This article addresses this hole in the literature by examining the extent and effects of White identity. We compare White identification and Black identification using National Election Studies data (1972–2000) and examine the relationships between racial identity and racial and political attitudes. This study adds a missing case to the study of racial identity, tests how well the theories about the concept travel across cases, and highlights the need for more frequent studies of the racial identity of all groups.     

Relations Among Racial Identity Attitudes,Perceived Stressors,and Coping Styles in African American College Students

This study expanded on previous research with African American college students at predominantly White institutions by examining the theoretically relevant but unexplored relations among racial identity attitudes and (a) both general and culture-specific stressors and (b) problem-focused coping styles. Ninety African American college students at a predominantly White university completed the Black Racial Identity Attitudes Scale, Black Student Stress Inventory, Problem Solving Inventory, and Problem-Focused Style of Coping Scale. A series of multivariate regression analyses revealed that specific racial identity attitudes were statistically significant predictors of both general and culture-specific stressors. In addition, one racial identity attitude status (immersion/emersion) was a unique predictor of general perceived stressors and problem solving. Results suggest the importance of racial identity schemata as a critical factor in predicting stress and coping responses of African American students at predominantly White institutions. The findings also underscore the utility in distinguishing between general and culture-specific stressors, which traditionally have been ignored in the psychological literature.     

Altering White Racial Identity and Interracial Comfort Through Multicultural Training

The authors examined the impact of multicultural training on the development of White racial identity and interracial comfort. Findings indicated that an integrative multicultural training program resulted in significant increases along 3 dimensions of White racial consciousness and in the levels of interracial comfort. This work extends related efforts to study White racial identity as an important parameter of multicultural training and counseling. In addition, psychometric data and factor structures are provided for the White Racial Consciousness Development Scale (Claney & Parker, 1989) and the Interracial Comfort Index (Claney & Parker, 1989).     

White Racial Identity and Expectations About Counseling

Although there have been several studies that have explored people's expectations about counseling, to date there has been no such exploration from a racial-cultural perspective. This study sought to explore the relationship between White racial identity attitudes and expectations about counseling. Although the results showed that men and women differ in their expectations about counseling and in their levels of White racial identity attitudes, the findings of the study indicated that there was no significant relationship between White racial identity attitudes and counseling expectations. The results of the study are examined in relation to previous findings in the field and directions for future study are considered.     

White Counselor Trainees' Racial Identity and Working Alliance Perceptions

Racial identity has been theorized to significantly affect cross-racial counseling relationships (Helms, 1984, 1995). This study examined the direct impact of White racial identity of 124 counselor trainees on working alliance formation in a same-racial and cross-racial vicarious counseling analogue. Regardless of the race of the client, disintegration and reintegration attitudes negatively affected working alliance ratings, and pseudoindependent and autonomy attitudes positively affected working alliance ratings. Implications for counseling, supervision, training, and research are discussed.     

The Counseling Process as Defined by Relationship Types: A Test of Helms's Interactional Model

Helms (1984) presented a model to explain the influence of Black and White racial identity development on counseling interactions. The purpose of this study was to examine her hypothesis that specific combinations of racial identity attitudes contribute to qualitatively different counseling process and outcome or relationship types.     

Relationships Among Multicultural Training,Moral Development,and Racial Identity Development of White Counseling Students

Sixty‐eight counselor education students responded to the Defining Issues Test (J. Rest, 1986) and the White Racial Identity Attitude Scale (J. E. Helms & R. T. Carter, 1990) to determine relationships among multicultural training and moral and racial identity development. Results of this exploratory study indicate that multicultural training can be helpful in changing modes of information processing related to racial attitudes but does not seem to promote the cognitive complexity needed for moral development. The discussion includes a recommendation for students to discuss ethical dilemmas and participate in active problem solving specific to multicultural issues.