On Dynamic Contexts and Unstable Categories: Steps Toward a Cultural-Clinical Psychology

This chapter discusses the lead author’s research program at the intersection of cultural psychology and clinical psychology from 1997 to 2017, emphasizing work conducted with one or more of the co-authors—former graduate students who are now independent researchers. After a brief consideration of formative research experiences, the chapter begins with research on the dynamic contexts of migrants undergoing acculturation. Much of this work challenges essentialized cultural groups, although it also tends to rely on standard measures of psychosocial adjustment. In contrast, the next part of the chapter covers research on the unstable categories of psychopathology observed when cultural variation is taken seriously. Much of this work challenges essentialized diagnostic categories, although it also tends to rely on standard group comparisons. The chapter’s final major section describes the development of cultural-clinical psychology, proposing a research agenda that would combine dynamic views of culture and psychopathology with implications for clinical practice.