Gupta, A., & Ferguson, J. (1992). Beyond ‘culture’: Space, identity, and the politics of difference. Cultural Anthropology, 7(1), 6–23.
This peer-reviewed article presents insights about the way cultural diversity brings reform to the way a society is conducted (Gupta & Ferguson, 1992, p. 23). It was particularly important regarding the explanation of how different aspects of cultural diversity affect operations in the culture and by extension, counseling.
Hill, C., & Lent, R. (2006). A narrative and meta-analytic review of helping skills training: Time to revive a dormant area of inquiry. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 43(2), 154–172.
This peer review article mainly discusses the areas of training that are available for counseling programs which may be done with the aim of improving the program’s effectiveness. From the research done as presented also in this article, there are cultures whose citizenry consider training and professionalism is a key factor that determines their acceptance of any program (Hill & Lent, 2006, pp. 156–157). It is important since it presents insights regarding training opportunities that exist for counseling practitioners to aid in bettering their service provision and hence effectiveness of their programs in different cultures.
Lakha, S., & Stevenson, M. (2001). Indian identity in multicultural Melbourne: Some preliminary observations. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 22(3), 245-262.
This review article is an anthropological and historical article tracing the foundational roots of the Indian population. The observations made by the authors show that the multicultural history of the Indian people is not only rich but well founded in common beliefs and ideologies key of which is religion (Lakha & Stevenson, 2001). This commonality makes operation of the society through leadership easy and convenient and therefore this article was relied upon in providing background understanding of the Indian identity through its multicultural origins.
Majumder, M. (2010). The human genetic history of South Asia: A review. Current Biology, 20(4), 184–187.
This is a history article and provides different cultures and customs of the Indian people and how they affect how the society is run (Majumder, 2010, p. 186). The researcher used insights from the article to draw up a comparative sketch of how these cultures affecting the practice of counseling both as regards its approach and concepts.
Orenstein, H., & Micklin, M. (1966). The Hindu Joint Family: The norms and the numbers. Pacific Affairs, 39(3/4), 314–325.
In this peer-reviewed journal article, Orenstein and Micklin, (1966) give a detailed history of the Hindu culture that forms a large part of the Indian culture regarding the religious practices, beliefs, traditions, and family setup (Orenstein & Micklin, 1966, p.123). This article was important due to the insights that it provided regarding background information that was important in understanding the Indian culture.
Patty, J. W. (1995). Archeology, anthropology, and the culture concept. American Anthropologist, 97(4), 687–6874.
This peer-reviewed journal discusses the issue of culture and how it can be tailored in a manner that is responsive to the needs of its people (Patty, 1995, p. 689). It is quite important as it discusses critical aspects of a culture such as religion and value systems and how they affect operations within it.
Reich, D., Thangaraj, T., Patterson, N., Price, A. L., & Singh, L. (2009). Reconstructing Indian population history. Nature, 461(7263), 489–94.
In this peer-reviewed journal article, the authors explain in considerable detail why different cultural concepts in India are devised and how they affect the society, and how it is conducted (Reich, Thangaraj, Patterson, Price, & Singh, 2009, p. 489). This reference provided background information regarding how counseling can be largely tied to specific cultural elements and how such an approach would affect its experience and effectiveness.
Ryan, R. M., Chirkov, V. I., Little, T. D., Sheldon, K., Timoshina, E. & Deci, E. L. (1999). The American Dream in Russia: Extrinsic aspirations and well-being in two cultures. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25(12), 1509-1524.
This journal article presents study cases where the American culture has permeated other regions of the world, especially Russia and how it carries with it a distinct nature that defines its peculiarity (Ryan et al., 1999, p. 1512–1513). The concepts of the diversity of the US culture that are shared in this article are important as they are address different elements of a culture that are important when it comes to determining how they affect the practice of counseling.
Sahoo, N., Singh, A., Himabindu, G., Banerjee, J., Sitalaximi, T., Gaikwad, S…. Kashyap, V. K. (2006). A prehistory of Indian Y-chromosomes: Evaluating demic diffusion scenarios. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 103(4), 843–848.
This peer-reviewed journal article provides detailed information regarding the setting of the Indian culture. Of particular interest, the authors of this article discuss in a chronological manner the way the Indian culture has been transformed over time indicating that greatest changes have been seen in the family unit, religious setting further indicating that these two elements of the culture are the most distinctive of the culture (Sahoo et al., 2006, p. 847). From this, the researcher was able to draw inferences of the importance of tying counseling practices in the Indian culture to religion and family settings in order to ensure effectiveness in its experience.
Skidmore, J.M. (2011). Restless Americans: The significance of movement in American history (with a nod to F. J. Turner). The Journal of American Culture, 34(2), 161 – 17.
This peer-reviewed article is about migration of the American people; something that has characterized the US culture for long given the large immigration that the country continues to experience over time (Skidmore, 2011, p. 165). Skidmore (2011) presents detailed patterns in which the American people have moved explaining that the movements were largely influenced by culture. In this regard therefore, this source is important because of its discussion of immigration culture of the US which offers a basis of how counseling can be best suited to meet the needs of a culture that is largely characterized with movements and transitions like this one.
Spengler, P. M., White, M. J., Ægisdóttir, S., Maugherman, A. S., Anderson, L. A., Cook, R. S…. Rush, J. D. (2009). The meta-analysis of Clinical judgment project: Effects of experience in judgment accuracy. The Counseling Psychologist, 37, 350–399.
In this peer-reviewed journal, the authors try to relate different aspects of other disciplines such as technology, judicial and religious systems, and how they can be used in counseling to improve the counseling experience for both practitioners and clients. An area of particular importance is their study of how religion as a discipline and its concepts have successfully been incorporated in the counseling programs in India and China with encouraging results which means that with greater interdependence exists between religion and counseling in countries that mainly dominated with a single religious ideology (Spengler et al., 2009, p. 356).
Swift, J.K., & Callahan, J.L. (2008). A delay discounting measure of great expectations and the effectiveness of psychotherapy client decision making. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 39, 581–588.
The authors of this peer-reviewed journal give different qualification requirements for professional counseling which is important in creating a basis of understanding of what is required in order for a counselor to be effective in their work (Swift & Callahan, 2008, p. 586). They further list different governing authorities that organizations that certify counselors indicating what is required for different levels of specialties in the counseling field in different countries (Swift & Callahan, 2008, p. 582). The insights shared in this reference material, the researcher was well equipped with the relevant qualifications that are universally accepted for practicing counselors in order to see whether level of training and certification was a factor affecting the counseling experience in different cultures.
Vogel, D.L., Wade, N.G., & Hackler, A.H. (2007). Perceived public stigma and the willingness to seek counseling: The mediating roles of self-stigma and attitudes towards counseling. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 54, 40–50.
This review article talks about possible effects that cause seeking of counseling by Americans deterred and gives some the reasons why the situation is so key of which is stigmatization. In the article, the authors observe that generally people that have previously been prejudiced say on racial grounds for instance, are generally reluctant to seek counseling interventions, especially from practitioners that are not of their own race (Vogel, Wade & Hackler, 2007, p. 43). Given that the issue of inequality especially on racial grounds is quite a key factor in the US culture; this article provided important insights of how this factor affects the counseling practice.
Westefeld, J.S. (2009). Supervision of psychotherapy: Models, issues, and recommendations. The Counseling Psychologist, 37, 296–316.
This peer-reviewed journal presents different platforms on which review and recommendations of counseling can be predicated as the practice is studied by the author in an international sense (Westefeld, 2009). According to the Westefeld (2009), internationalization of counseling is a modern concept in counseling that is aimed at considering different cultural elements of different communities in an attempt to come up with a universal counseling program that appeals to a greater global populace making counseling more effective and sufficient (Westefeld, 2009, p. 298). This research source is important because of its presentation of the various elements of culture that affect the counseling program around the world.
Williams, D. R. (1999). Race, socioeconomic status, and health: The added effects of racism and discrimination. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci., 896, 173–88.
This review article is about racial discrimination in the US and how it affects people socially, economically, and health-wise. Williams (1999) observes that since the US population comprises of many different cultures due to the large immigration of the 18th century, racial discrimination remains a huge challenge that affects service provision, access to national resources, and opportunities (Williams, 1999, p. 176). This article was very instrumental in outlining how this challenge affects health interventions where communities discriminated against such as the African Americans are skeptical about reception of quality service among which is counseling as an alternative medical intervention.