This paper describes a program that links a community mental health center and a rural education cooperative for the provision of psychological services to children experiencing emotional/behavioral problems. The program description provides background information and lists reasons for selecting a flexible problem-solving consultee-centered format…

This paper describes the Developing Interculturally Skilled Counselors (DISC) project, a three year training program designed to assess and articulate the need for cross-cultural counseling skills. A review of existing inservice or pre-service training programs is presented that suggests these programs are narrow in their approaches and…

Such factors as values, traditions, customs, institutions, language, kinship systems, beliefs and skills are highly pertinent to the providing of mental health services. The report reveals allegations of serious abuse of cultural relevancy in serving Native Americans, questions what Native American mental health is and how it differs from…

Although researchers have investigated the chronological age-subjective age discrepancy in several ways, they have, for the most part, ignored where and how older persons live. The lifestyles of elderly Los Angeles residents (N=308), i.e., institutionalized, socially active in the community, or socially inactive in the community, were taken into…

This paper reports on the findings of an evaluation of a health and social services comprehensive care model project for the elderly residing in low-income urban public housing. The text contains a brief discussion of the previous research, the results of the present study, and comments on the applicability of previous research to the sample…

A conceptual model is presented to examine the hypothesis that androgyny is advantageous to the psychological well-being of both females and males in American society. A format for the multi-dimensional assessment of both sex-role components and indices of well-being is proposed, and possibilities for exploring the interface between these sets of…

Recently, Indian people from the United States and Canada recommended coping-skills training for American Indians, to help in handling stress, becoming self-determined, being assertive, problem solving, and redesigning social roles and support systems. Some 30 tribal groups and agencies participated in a cultural adaptation of an assertive…

The effective social worker or family counselor delivering health care services to the American Indian community will focus on the strengths rather than the weaknesses of the community and will recognize and use existing natural helping systems. The American Indian family network, for example, is unique in Western society and contains a variety of…

There has been a resurgence of interest in human ecosystems, attributable to the growth of community mental health centers and public sector funding. The first of two papers discusses human ecology models based on this resurgence. Implications for future development of the mental health area are presented with the challenge to integrate…

Analyses of the service needs of various disabled groups indicate that the techniques of community psychology are relevant for developmentally disabled persons. Objective needs assessment contributes to effective community psychological interventions by providing valuable input to decisions on systems analysis, program design, evaluation,…

The involvement of behaviorists in primary prevention for mental health programs has been limited, to date. Using behavioral researchers offers several advantages, including the need to emphasize prediction and a priori control of maladaptive behavior, increased cost effectiveness, and increased monies for research. Common obstacles to the…

Social service providers were surveyed in an attempt to obtain an estimate of current social service utilization patterns. A survey was mailed to the director of each major social service agency in the community and filled out in conjunction with a map of the catchment area. Respondents were asked first to outline those areas on the map which they…

The objective of this study is to measure achievement motivation in terms of psychological masculinity and femininity rather than in terms of biological gender. The terms, psychological masculinity and femininity, refer to sets of characteristics desirable for both sexes. Masculine characteristics include independence, self-confidence,…

Disability research and program evaluation have generally been viewed with suspicion in Indian country because research designs, procedures, instruments, and interpretation and dissemination of outcomes have often ignored potential cultural conflicts. This paper explores a national evaluation in eight tribal communities that established systems of…

This brief paper presents initial findings midway through the first year of implementing a school-based model of providing mental health services to children and families living in urban, low-income communities and provided by community-based mental health providers. The model emphasizes the central role of ecological factors in childhood conduct…