Ethnic and racial factors affecting the upbringing and psychological outlook of Latinos, common problems and issues facing them
Description:
"A esta hora conversamos", a radio program produced by the Longhorn Radio Network, includes interviews, music, and informational programs related to the Mexican American community and their concerns. Program summary: Alma Diaz and Dr. Gus Baron, a psychologist from the UT's Counseling and Psychiatric Center, discuss Chicano psychology, a subset of mainstream psychology focused on the social, ethnic, and racial factors that affect the mental wellbeing of the Chicano community. Dr. Barron first discusses the differences between mainstream psychology and Chicano psychology. He discusses how Chicano psychology is more of a social and political movement within the larger field of psychology and is meant to highlight how ethnic and cultural factors affect human behavior. Specifically, in regards to learned behaviors during a child's formative years. Dr. Barron then discusses the psychology of older Chicanos and the difficulties in studying older populations in general. The problems that older Chicanos face are exacerbated by their status as a cultural minority, but even more so as a linguistic minority. Many communities that were predominantly Spanish speaking have now become more culturally and linguistically diverse, making accessing support systems harder for non-bilingual Chicanos. Dr. Barron next discusses the history of the psychological studying of ethnic and cultural differences and how these studies have negatively impacted the ethnic minorities. Barron talks about how these studies focused heavily on IQ testing and other intelligence-based tests that paint ethnic and cultural factors as detrimental. Barron then discusses the debates surrounding SAT scores and how motivations and personality aspects compensate for low SAT scores amongst Chicano students in higher education. Dr. Barron also discusses how one's consciousness of their ethnic identity makes students more successful in higher education. Dr. Barron suggests that one's awareness of their ethnicity can lead to a higher motivation for success in higher education. Dr. Barron then talks about his recent chapter on comparisons between Chicana feminist and Anglo feminists, specifically regarding their role as mother. Dr. Barron discusses how Anglo and Chicano women view the value of the motherhood role with Chicano women highlighting the importance of the mother role and Anglo women downplaying it. Dr. Barron theorizes that these differences have to do with minority community's perception of birth control and abortion as a method of population control by white majority. Lastly, Dr. Barron discusses another book chapter that covers a study comparing minority students' concerns at two major university campuses. The same survey was handed out to students at the University of Texas and Colorado State University, and both groups identified lack of minority representation in faculty and staff along with financial concerns. Dr. Barron also discusses how survey responses differed depending on an individual's ethnic identification, with students who identified as Chicano having concerns that aligned with other minority groups with students who labeled themselves as Mexican-American or other similar terms having concerns that aligned with their Anglo-American classmates. Broadcast date: 1982-02-12.
Creator/Contributor:
Longhorn Radio Network (creator), Díaz, Alma (host), and Barón, Gus (interviewee)
Date Created/Date Issued:
2/12/1982
Owning Repository:
Benson Latin American Collection, LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections, The University of Texas at Austin