ABSTRACT
Over the past 25 years, the United States has undergone a dramatic change in the composition of its population. It is estimated that by the year 2000, approximately one third of the population will consist of racial and ethnic minorities (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1995). As society becomes more diverse, so do the issues of acculturation and adjustment. When the non-Euro-American culture is similar to the dominant culture, the adverse impact of the cultural differences is subtle. However, if there is a signifi cant discrepancy between a person's culture and the dominant culture, the impact on the individual can be emotionally, physically, and economi cally debilitating. Emotional debilitation can manifest itself within the nonadjusted person as clinical depression, extreme anxiety, severe adjust ment problems, relationship difficulties, and substance abuse. Physical debilitation can manifest itself as psychosomatic complaints, gastrointes tinal difficulties, headaches, or fatigue. Finally, economic debilitation can be expressed as any significant change in the person's financial or social status that is less than what he or she had been accustomed within his or her dominant community. When such a significant change occurs with one's economic stability, it is not unusual for the individual to experience symptoms of emotional and/or physiological instability. Unfortunately, the necessary systemic changes that are essential to handle the diverse emotional needs of African Americans within the mental health system
have been neither comprehensive nor widespread throughout the various communities (Wade & Bernstein, 1991). Although the incidences of mental health problems have increased significantly during the past 20 years within the African-American community, mental health budgets have been slashed, services have been curtailed, and staffs have been reduced to the point where they are barely able to meet the most severe needs of their constituents.
