The roles and responsibilities of planners in managing culturally diverse cities are beginning to be articulated in the literature. "Visioning,"as planners have used it in recent years, has the potential to help realize "multicultural planning" because of its intentions to involve broad public participation and represent diverse interests, thereby promoting equity and facilitating democracy. This exploratory study examines how the City of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada has involved ethnocultural groups through a visioning process. To date, four Vancouver communities containing a sizeable immigrant population have participated in preparing plans for their neighbourhood through the city's Community Visions Program. Information for this study was gathered through a critical review of planning-related documents and key informant interviews with staff and community participants (including those of visible minority background) in the Visions Program. Results from the data collection were grouped into main themes and triangulated for analysis. Results indicate that visioning, as it has been used in Vancouver, is capable of being a useful technique in carrying out multicultural planning. There is evidence that planners have learned a great deal from engaging in multicultural planning, as seen through the increased success of outreach in the latter two communities to undergo the Visions Program. This suggests that Vancouver's visioning exercise will improve simply by virtue of continued outreach. However, it is important to differentiate between the public consultation process and the resultant products in regard to policy and land use change. There appears to be more general satisfaction with the inclusive visioning process than with the end results. Empirical research suggests that if planners are serious about engaging in a multicultural planning process, they will need to guarantee some tangible results that can be seen in the community and that acknowledge and respect cultural diversity.

The roles and responsibilities of planners in managing culturally diverse cities are beginning to be articulated in the literature. "Visioning,"as planners have used it in recent years, has the potential to help realize "multicultural planning" because of its intentions to involve broad public participation and represent diverse interests, thereby promoting equity and facilitating democracy. This exploratory study examines how the City of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada has involved ethnocultural groups through a visioning process. To date, four Vancouver communities containing a sizeable immigrant population have participated in preparing plans for their neighbourhood through the city's Community Visions Program. Information for this study was gathered through a critical review of planning-related documents and key informant interviews with staff and community participants (including those of visible minority background) in the Visions Program. Results from the data collection were grouped into main themes and triangulated for analysis. Results indicate that visioning, as it has been used in Vancouver, is capable of being a useful technique in carrying out multicultural planning. There is evidence that planners have learned a great deal from engaging in multicultural planning, as seen through the increased success of outreach in the latter two communities to undergo the Visions Program. This suggests that Vancouver's visioning exercise will improve simply by virtue of continued outreach. However, it is important to differentiate between the public consultation process and the resultant products in regard to policy and land use change. There appears to be more general satisfaction with the inclusive visioning process than with the end results. Empirical research suggests that if planners are serious about engaging in a multicultural planning process, they will need to guarantee some tangible results that can be seen in the community and that acknowledge and respect cultural diversity.

Tidigare forskning menar att förmågan att vara empatisk mot andra ökar om man är lika i termer av etnicitet, kön, ålder och bakgrund. Huvudsyftet med studien var att studera skillnader i etnokulturell empati, det vill säga empati som riktar sig mot individer av annat etnicitet och kultur. Två separata studier gjordes, Studie 1 i USA (N=75), och Studie 2 i Sverige (N=92). Effekter av kön och ålder testades. Deltagarna var av blandade åldrar, kön och etniciteter. Mätinstrumentet som användes var The Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy (SEE). Resultatet från Studie 1 visar att en del av den etnokulturella empatin antas skilja sig åt beoende på kön då männen visade högre etnokulturella empativärden än kvinnorna. I båda studierna antas yngre påvisa delvis högre etnokulturella empativärden än äldre. Resultatet kan leda till nya diskussioner angående generaliseringen och stereotypiseringen huruvida kvinnor och äldre besitter högst empati i dagens samhälle.

M.A., Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatwersrand, 2011 / Posttraumatic growth has been an ongoing area of interest in the field of positive psychology. In recent years posttraumatic growth has been linked with the presence of posttraumatic stress symptomatology. The existence of posttraumatic growth has been validated in a number of cultures. There are certain domains that have been implicated in the construction of the phenomenon which taps into different aspects of people’s lives like relating to others, personal strength, new possibilities and appreciation of life. Particular interest has risen with regard to whether this phenomenon develops as a function of ethnic and cultural influences. This study aimed to investigate whether there are differences in posttraumatic growth and posttraumatic stress symptoms as a function of ethnocultural identity. This was investigated by the use of self-report measures of MEIM (Phinney, 1992), Traumatic Stress Schedule (Norris, 1990), Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996) and the Impact of Events Scale Revised (Weiss & Marmar, 1997). The sample consisted of 80 students from the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, at the University of Witwatersrand. Results of the multivariate analysis showed that ethnocultural identity interacts with ethnicity to moderate posttraumatic stress symptoms. Specifically, findings suggested that Black South African and Indian students who identified with their ethnocultural heritage, reported fewer PTSD symptoms. Whereas the converse was true for White South Africans and Black Africans from other countries. The more they adopted ethnoculturally informed beliefs, the more likely they were to report symptoms of PTSD. There were no significant findings regarding ethnocultural identity in relation to posttraumatic growth. Implications for further research and clinical intervention are discussed.

Viena iš pagrindinių visuomenės vertybių yra tautinis identitetas, kultūrinių vertybių puoselėjimas. Viena svarbiausių institucijų padedanti išsaugoti tautos kultūrinį palikimą – tai mokykla. Darbe nagrinėjama etninės kultūros raiška Prienų rajono mokyklose. Jame pristatomas autorės 2008 m. kovo mėn. atliktas anketinis tyrimas, kuriame dalyvavo dešimt Kauno apskrities Prienų rajono mokyklų. Iš viso 126 respondentai (39 pradinių klasių mokiniai ir 21 pedagogas). Etnokultūriniu aspektu Prienų rajono mokyklos buvo tyrinėjamos pirmą kartą. Tai pagrindžia temos aktualumą ir poreikį išanalizuoti etninės kultūros būklę Prienų rajono ugdymo įstaigose. Tyrimo metu atkreiptas dėmesys į etninės kultūros formų įvairovę ugdymo institucijose, kokiais būdais mokiniams perduodamos etnokultūrinio ugdymo tendencijos. Ryškiausi etnokultūrinės raidos aspektai matomi tose mokyklose, kurios yra pasirinkusios etnokultūrinio ugdymo kryptį. Jau pradiniame ugdyme padedami pamatai etnokultūriniam ugdymui. Mokiniai išmoksta vertinti tautos tradicijas, anksti susiformuoja vertybines nuostatas. Būdai, kuriais dažniausiai pasireiškia etnokultūrinis ugdymas yra etnokultūrinių temų, veiklų ir kitų etnokultūrinių reiškinių integravimas į bendrojo lavinimo dalykus. Remiantis anketavimo rezultatais, dažniausiai pasitaikančios etninio ugdymo formos šiose mokyklose – tai etninės kultūros sklaida per lietuvių liaudies dainų, šokių, papročių bei įvairių tradicinių amatų mokymą. Remiantis tyrimo rezultatais... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / One of the most important values of society is national identity, foster of cultural values. The main institution what helps save cultural heritage is school. In this mental work is analysis abaut ethnic culture in Prienai region schools. Was done questionnaire form of research (March, 2008). In the research took part 10 schools of Prienai region – 105 respondents (39 students of primary classes and 21 teacher). The research in Prienai region school in done for the first time. That it is very important to analyse ethnic cultural condition in Prienai region training institutions. There was turned attention to ethnic cultural forms variety in training institutions and looked for dispositions of giving students ethnocultural training. On that ground results the main forms of ethnic training in school – ethnic culture forms – Lithuanian folk songs, dances, custons and handicrafts. There are a lot of schools where is directions of ethnocultural training. The foundation of ethnocultural training is used in primary training students are taught respect national traditions and form values. Disposition of ethnic culture training is ethnic subjects and activities integration to main training subjects. On that ground results students interest in ethnic culture layer – mythology. Students at schools where is developed ethnic activity have got a need to learn folk songs, dances, customs, rituals, mythology. In the schools where is not developed ethnic activity, students formed negative... [to full text]

The aim of this thesis is to investigate empathy for persons from ethnical groups different than one’s own, an ability called ethnocultural empathy. A scale measuring ethnocultural empathy was translated and validated for a Swedish context and tested in a student sample, a majority of which were healthcare students. Three studies were performed. In study I, the validity and reliability of a Swedish translation of the Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy (SEE) was investigated (N=326). The purpose of study II was to investigate the association between basic empathy as measured by the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Davis, 1983) and ethnocultural empathy as measured by the Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy (Wang et al., 2003). In study III, differences in basic empathy as well as in ethnocultural empathy were explored in a sample of 365 undergraduate students at the beginning and end of four Master programmes in health care education (Medicine, Psychology, Nursing and Social Work). The main results from the present thesis indicate that the central tendency, distribution of scores, intercorrelations, and factor structure in the Swedish version of SEE were well-matched and mainly similar to the American version. A significant strong correlation between basic and ethnocultural empathy was found, suggesting that the two constructs overlap substantially. The results of study III revealed that students from all programmes in health care had fairly high scores on both empathy scales. There were, however, significant differences between the study programmes. Overall, the studies show that ethnocultural empathy is a measurable construct but that it overlaps with basic empathy and further testing of the construct is needed. Implications of the findings for the measurement of empathy are discussed. / Avhandlingens övergripande syfte var att undersöka empati hos personer och grupper som har en annan etnisk bakgrund än den egna, en förmåga som kallas etnokulturell empati. Denna förmåga handlar om kunskap och acceptans av andra etniska individer och gruppers kulturella uttryck. Det amerikanska instrument som anses mäta etnokulturell empati översattes och validerades till svenska språk och förhållanden. Därefter testades instrumentet hos studenter på hälsovårdutbildningar i tre studier. I studie I undersöktes instrumentets validitet och reliabilitet i ett urval av 326 respondenter. I studie II undersöktes sambandet mellan grundempati, som anses mätas med instrumentet Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), och etnokulturell empati som anses mätas med Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy (SEE). Studie III undersökte skillnader i grundempati och etnokulturell empati hos 365 studenter inom fyra program (Läkare, psykolog, sjuksköterska och socionom) i början och i slutet av deras studier. De huvudsakliga fynden i denna avhandling visade att faktorstrukturen och inter-korrelationerna i den svenska versionen av SEE i stor utsträckning liknade den amerikanska versionen. Dock detta inte bekräftades i konformatoriska faktoranalysen (CFA). Resultatet i studie II visade på ett starkt samband mellan grundempati och etnokulturell empati, vilket tyder på att dessa två konstruktioner av empati kraftigt överlappar varandra. I studie III visade resultatet att alla studenter från hälsovårdsutbildningarna hade höga nivåer av grund- och etnokulturell empati. Emellertid fanns signifikanta skillnader mellan programmen. Psykolog- och socionomstudenter hade högre nivåer av både grund empati och etnokulturell empati. Det övergripande resultat från avhandlingen visade att det går att mäta etnokulturell empati, men den nuvarande konstruktionen överlappar med grund empati. Ytterligare studier behövs för att förbättra instrumentet.

abstract: Latino children are more than twice as likely to live in poverty than their non-Latino, White peers (Kids Count Data Center, 2017), yet limited work has aimed to understand neighborhood influences on pathways of mental health among Latino children. Substantial work documents the deleterious effects of living in a disadvantaged neighborhood on mental health outcomes throughout the lifespan (Leventhal & Brooks-Gunn, 2000). Parental and familial variables may explain neighborhood influences on children’s mental health during the first few years of life (May, Azar, & Matthews, 2018). The current study evaluated the influence of three neighborhood indicators (concentrated disadvantage, residential instability, and the percentage of residents identifying as Hispanic/Latino) on maternal postpartum depressive symptoms and child behavior problems at 3 and 4.5 years via mediation and moderated mediation models among a sample of 322 low-income, Mexican American mother-child dyads. Contrary to hypotheses and existing literature, concentrated disadvantage and residential instability were not predictive of maternal or child mental health outcomes. The percentage of residents identifying as Hispanic/Latino emerged as a protective neighborhood factor for both mothers and children. The neighborhood ethnocultural context may be especially relevant to understanding pathways of mental health specific to Mexican American families. More research is needed to understand specific parental and familial mechanisms underlying this protective effect. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2019

abstract: Increasing counselor trainees’ self-efficacy for multicultural counseling competence (MCC) is an essential part of their professional development to serve racially and ethnically diverse clients effectively. The present study examined the impact of multicultural training and the effects of a brief mindfulness intervention, compared to a control condition, on counselor trainees’ self-reported ethnocultural empathy and MCC. Data obtained from a sample of masters (n = 63) and doctoral (n = 23) counselor trainees were analyzed through a series of linear multiple hierarchical regression analyses. Consistent with previous research, results revealed that multicultural training significantly predicted scores of self-reported multicultural counseling knowledge and empathic feeling. The mindfulness intervention significantly predicted self-reported multicultural counseling knowledge. There was a significant interaction between condition (i.e., mindfulness intervention or control) and previous multicultural training when examining ethnocultural empathy’s empathic feeling and expression subscale. Specifically, trainees with lower levels of multicultural training who received the mindfulness intervention scored higher on empathic feeling compared to those in the control condition, while at higher levels of multicultural training there were no differences across condition. Implications for future research and counselor training are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Mindfulness Intervention / Control Condition / Masters Thesis Counseling 2018

Within leisure studies, research has focused on the role of ethnocultural specific leisure activities and ethnocultural maintenance among minority groups. According to Stodolska (2000), traditional leisure activities can help facilitate the retention of desired cultural elements. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine dance teachers’ perception of the relationship between participation in ethnic cultural dance, ethnic cultural maintenance, sense of place and belongingness in a multicultural society. A phenomenological approach was used to analyze open ended interviews with participants. Purposive sampling was used to select participants based on the following parameters: participants were required to be a current or former teacher or teaching assistant of the Romiosyni Dance Group [RDG], in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and, were required to have had their role for at least one year during the past 10 years. In total 16 interviews were conducted. The findings from this study suggest that ethnic dance taught in the RDG in Halifax, Nova Scotia, positively impacts ethnocultural identity and ethnocultural maintenance for members of the group. Furthermore, it seems that the ethnocultural leisure activity of ethnic dance plays a vital role in creating a sense of place and belongingness in a multicultural society and promoting multiculturalism in the city of Halifax. Finally, participants identified that the RDG played a more significant role in providing opportunities for ethnocultural maintenance when compared to other ethnocultural leisure services in the Greek Community of Halifax.

This study examined how multicultural readings included in the introduction to psychology curriculum were linked to an increase in students’ multicultural interest and sensitivity. Specifically, this study investigated the impact of reading and discussing multicultural articles on students’ ethnocultural empathy, universality-diverse orientation, and openness to diversity. Second purpose of the study was to examine possible individual differences associated with response to the intervention. Participants in the current study were undergraduate students enrolled in five sections of the introduction to psychology class, which were randomly assigned as control and experimental groups. The multicultural readings are four original research articles that examine topics in psychology from a cross-cultural and multi-cultural perspective. Measures of dependent variables used in the study were: Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy (Wang et al., 2003), Personality Style Inventory for Adolescents (Lounsbury et al., 2003), Experiences in Close Relationships Short Form (Wei, Russell, Mallinckrodt, & Vogel, 2007), Miville–Guzman Universality– Diversity Scale-Short form (Fuertes, Miville, Mohr, Sedlacek,& Gretchen, 2000), Openness to Diversity Scale (Pascarella, Edison, Nora, Hagedon, & Terenzini, 1996), and Balanced Inventory of Desired Responding (Paulhus, 1984). A one-way Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to test the hypothesis that the experimental group, after being exposed to the multicultural readings would show a greater increase in multicultural variables. The study’s main hypothesis was not supported, because the group X time treatment interaction was not significant. Exploratory analyses of personality traits as covariates suggested that only one variable, Attachment Avoidance, was associated with one multicultural outcome, namely, extent of change in SEE-Acceptance of Cultural Differences.