Social Class and Classism in the Helping Professions - 9781412972505

Examining theory and research on the impact of class and classism on mental health, this text is intended as a supplement for graduate and advanced undergraduate courses in counseling, psychology, and research in the helping professions. The author presents an original framework, the Social Class Worldview Model, for understanding each person's reaction to experiences of classism. The book describes the impact of social class and classism on healthy psychological development, and also describes the negative psychological effects of greed, materialism and affluence on wealthier people. Material on research explores problems inherent in the study of economic inequality, such as problems in social class measurement. More practically oriented chapters give suggestions for integrating concepts of classism into education and supervision. Each chapter opens with the author's personal reflections and ends with ideas for using the information presented in the chapter. Liu is professor and program coordinator of counseling psychology at the University of Iowa. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)