Psychological Diversity
Psychological diversity helps capture the full range of human experiences and behaviors. It is crucial to include questions of diversity in psychological research and practice because different racial and cultural identities shape individuals' worldviews and, in turn, their psychological skills. It is also important for psychologists to represent a multicultural worldview to provide the most comprehensive and adequate interventions possible.
The American Psychological Association (APA) has identified several issues related to psychological diversity.
According to APA there are still issues concerning psychological diversity. These are mainly due to the problems faced by people with a multicultural background during their studies and afterwards, which in turn leads to the psychology profession not representing the population at a national level.
Even though these observations are made regarding the American labor market, we believe that similar issues exist in Sweden.
APA's recommendations regarding cultural diversity
APA's guidelines regarding cultural diversity (APA Multicultural Guidelines, 2017) are a set of recommendations for psychologists regarding knowledge and understanding of identity and how it manifests within the psychological context.
The guidelines reflect current trends in the literature that consider contextual factors and intersectionality among reference group identities, including culture, language, gender, race, ethnicity, ability, status, sexual orientation, age, gender identity, socioeconomic status, religion, and spirituality.
The guidelines provide a framework for psychologists to conduct their work in an evidence-based manner while considering diversity and cultural differences. The framework pertains to areas such as research, teaching, supervision, consultation, assessment, interpretation, diagnosis, dissemination, and evaluation of effectiveness.
Sweden can do better
The framework primarily aims to support psychological practice in clinical work, consultations, education, research, and supervision. These guidelines also constitute the first four levels of "the Layered Ecological Model of the Multicultural Guidelines," which is the theoretical model recommended by APA for psychologists working with diversity. This model is based on Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory.
We argue that the current process for international psychologists regarding integration, inclusion in the job market, or obtaining Swedish licensure does not contribute to academic and psychological diversity in Sweden to the extent that it should.
