The diversification of psychology - A multicultural revolution

The National Multicultural Conference and Summit was held ill January 1999 in Newport Beach, California, Hosted by Divisions 17 (Counseling Psychology ), 35 (Society for the Psychology of Women), and 45 (Society for the Psycho logical Study of Ethnic Minority Issues), the event drew support from many American Psychological Association (APA) divisions and other major organiza tions and sponsors, Approximately 550 psychologists and graduate students a ttended the conference, which was intended to (a) examine state-of-the-art issues in ethnic minority psychology, (b) identify barriers to becoming a m ulticultural profession, and (c) forge alliances for political action and a dvocacy. The summit participants unanimously endorsed resolutions aimed at implementing cultural competence in all psychological endeavors. Multicultu ral themes arising from the summit included the diversification of the Unit ed States; the facilitation of difficult dialogues on race, gender, and sex ual orientation; spirituality as a basic dimension of the human condition; the invisibility of monoculturalism and Whiteness; and the teaching of mult iculturalism and diversity, APA was strongly encouraged to take the lend in seeing that multicultural competence becomes a defining feature of psychol ogical practice, education and training, and research.