Sentences that come directly from the article are in quotation marks. CSUN students, faculty, and staff can access most articles through the University Library using CSUN credentials. Please use the library’s interlibrary loan services if an article of interest is not available.

 

Adams, G., & Salter, P. S. (2011). A critical race psychology is not yet born. Connecticut Law Review, 43(5), 1355–1378.

• This paper outlines “conceptual elements of a Critical Race Psychology, including a critical approach to methodology, identity consciousness in research, and an understanding of race as an epistemological position.” The authors also describe empirical examples of research within psychological science that attempts to identify and counteract colorblind ignorance of racism.

 

Atkin, A. L., & Yoo, H. C. (2019). Familial racial-ethnic socialization of multiracial American youth: A systematic review of the literature with MultiCrit. Developmental Review, 53, Article 100869. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2019.100869

• The authors review the qualitative and quantitative research across disciplines regarding how caregivers engage in racial-ethnic socialization with multiracial American youth to transmit knowledge about race, ethnicity, and culture. They critique the use of monoracially framed theoretical models for understanding multiracial experiences and suggest using a Critical Multiracial Theory (MultiCrit) perspective. MultiCrit—a theory derived from CRT—situates the understanding of multiracial experiences in the context of the racially oppressive structures that affect multiracial realities.

 

Balderas, C. N., Delgado-Romero, E. A., & Singh, A. A. (2016). Sin papeles: Latino parent–child conversations about undocumented legal status. Journal of Latina/o Psychology, 4(3), 158–172. https://doi.org/10.1037/lat0000060

• Undocumented Latinx parents (N = 12) were asked during focus group interviews about whether and how they communicated with their children about their own legal status. CRT and specifically Latina/o Critical Race Theory were used as lenses to engage informants and interpret the data. Findings reveal 3 key themes: (a) external circumstances prompt parent–child conversations about legal status, (b) emotional difficulties of parent–child conversations about legal status, and (c) parents attempt to protect children emotionally through silence about their legal status.

 

DeCuir-Gunby, J. T. (2020). Using critical race mixed methodology to explore the experiences of African Americans in education. Educational Psychologist, 55(4), 244–255. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2020.1793762

• DeCuir-Gunby explicates her own racialized positionality and CRT inquiry worldview. She also explains her use of critical race mixed methodology (CRMM), the combining of CRT and mixed methods. DeCuir-Gunby provides implications for conducting CRMM in educational psychology.

 

Few, A. L. (2007). Integrating Black consciousness and critical race feminism into family studies research. Journal of Family Issues, 28(4), 452–473. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513x06297330

• The author “examines the advantages and challenges of using Black feminist theory and critical race feminist theory to study the lives of Black women and families in family studies…. She suggests ways for colleagues to embrace an explicit integration of Black consciousness and critical race feminist perspectives in family studies.”

 

Kawano, T., & Chang, M. (2019). Applying critical consciousness to dance/movement therapy pedagogy and the politics of the body. American Journal of Dance Therapy, 41(2), 234–255. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10465-019-09315-5

• Drawing from critical race feminist theory and critical pedagogy, the authors “offer an embodied dialectical approach to exploring the power dynamics that exist within the field of Dance/movement therapy (DMT) education and training in the US.” They raise case examples of “heteropatriarchal European-American epistemology in DMT and offer counternarratives and frameworks for humanizing the admissions process, curriculum, and the facilitation of classes and/or supervision of practica and internship.”

 

Landor, A., & Barr, A. (2018). Politics of respectability, colorism, and the terms of social exchange in family research. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 10(2), 330–347. https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12264

• The articles consider the utility of social exchange theory when centering the material and cultural realities of people and families of color. The authors draw on CRT and intersectionality scholarship “to argue that this work challenges some of the core assumptions of social exchange theory (while reifying others) and offers novel avenues of inquiry and expanded foci for family researchers employing a social exchange framework.”

 

Landor, A. M., & McNeil Smith, S. (2019). Skin-tone trauma: Historical and contemporary influences on the health and interpersonal outcomes of African Americans. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14(5), 797–815. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691619851781

• Like race and racism, skin tone and experiences of colorism may also result in traumatic stress. This article “proposes a new conceptual model of skin-tone trauma. The model depicts how historical and contemporary underpinnings of colorism lead to colorist incidents that may directly and indirectly, by eliciting traumatic stress reactions, lead to negative effects on the health and interpersonal relationships of African Americans.”

 

Lawless, J. J., Brooks, S., & Julye, S. (2006). Textual representations of diversity in COAMFTE accredited doctoral programs. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 32(1), 3–15. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.2006.tb01584.x

• This study utilizes “qualitative content analysis methodology in combination with CRT to examine how Commission On Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE) accredited doctoral programs represented cultural text on their World Wide Web pages. Findings indicate that many COAMFTE‐accredited doctoral programs re‐present programmatic information about diversity that appear to be incongruent with cultural sensitivity. These apparent incongruities are highlighted by the codification, inconsistent, and isolated use of cultural text.”

 

Marchand, A. D., Vassar, R. R., Diemer, M. A., & Rowley, S. J. (2019). Integrating race, racism, and critical consciousness in Black parents’ engagement with schools. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 11(3), 367–384. https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12344

• This article uses CRT to understand the ways that racism influences Black parents' experiences in schools. The authors propose a novel form of parent involvement—critical parent engagement. It is defined as “parents' recognition of issues related to race and racism in schools that informs the actions they take to ensure their children's academic success.”

 

Mayor, C. (2012). Playing with race: A theoretical framework and approach for creative arts therapists. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 39(3), 214–219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2011.12.008

• This article suggests that “the existing writing often problematically includes essentialist discourse, color-blind statements, unqualified suggestions that the arts transcend difference, or ‘how to’ instructions for working with particular racialized groups.” Drawing on CRT and performance studies, “this article offers theory for understanding race as roles that are produced and performed, embodied and created in the encounter.” Engaging with these roles may “disrupt rigid notions of race, provide an ethical component of the therapeutic relationship, and work towards social change.”

 

McDowell, T., & Jeris, L. (2004). Talking about race using critical race theory: Recent trends in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 30(1), 81–94. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-0606.2004.tb01224.x

• This study uses CRT as an interpretive lens to critique recent race related articles in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. Analyzing 127 articles, the authors found that only topics related to couples and divorce occurred more frequently than race and social justice. Within the articles on race, evidence suggests that issues of race and racism are emerging as key informants of MFT practice.

 

McGee, E. O., & Stovall, D. (2015). Reimagining critical race theory in education: Mental health, healing, and the pathway to liberatory praxis. Educational Theory, 65(5), 491–511. https://doi.org/10.1111/edth.12129

• This article seeks to connect oppressive social systems to the psyche of the oppressed in a way that is relevant to Black students. The authors challenge the current research trend that attributes “the survival of black students at traditionally white institutions primarily to grit, perseverance, and mental toughness, noting that research on the aforementioned qualities often fails to properly acknowledge multiple forms of suffering.”

 

McMorris, G. (1999). Critical race theory, cognitive psychology, and the social meaning of race: Why individualism will not solve racism. UMKC Law Review, 67(4), 695–730.

• McMorris discusses “cognitive psychology theory and its explanation for the development and retention of stereotypes,” how stereotypes are used to make decisions about others and situations, and the difficulty of altering stereotypes. The author “asserts the incompatibility of Individualism with these cognitive processes, and explains how the critics of CRT have failed to account for developing understandings in psychology of race identity.”

 

Quiros, L., Varghese, R., & Vanidestine, T. (2020). Disrupting the single story: Challenging dominant trauma narratives through a critical race lens. Traumatology, 26(2), 160–168. https://doi.org/10.1037/trm0000223

• The authors position CRT as a useful vehicle to link trauma work to discussions of race and racism. They address a gap in the trauma literature that does not take up racial oppression as a form of “trauma” and disrupt the trauma narrative by centering race, racism and Whiteness.

 

Sajnani, N. (2013). The body politic: The relevance of an intersectional framework for therapeutic performance research in drama therapy. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 40(4), 382–385. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2013.05.001

• “Bringing feminism into conversation with drama therapy, this article explores the relevance of an intersectional framework for therapeutic performance research. The author analyzes the relationship between intersectionality, health, and performance ethnography and then discusses a past performance from an intersectional lens to highlight the potential psychological, social, and political health benefits of performance research.”

 

Salter, P., & Adams, G. (2013). Toward a critical race psychology. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7(11), 781–793. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12068

• The authors draw upon CRT perspectives to articulate five core ideas for a Critical Race Psychology (CRP). They propose a CRP that “consider race not as one domain (among many) for psychological investigation but instead as a conceptual lens through which to analyze all of psychological science.”

 

Smith Lee, J. R., & Robinson, M. A. (2019). “That’s my number one fear in life. It’s the police”: Examining young Black men’s exposures to trauma and loss resulting from police violence and police killings. Journal of Black Psychology, 45(3), 143–184. https://doi.org/10.1177/0095798419865152

• Informed by CRT and stress and coping theory, the authors used a modified grounded theory approach to conduct and analyze life history interviews with 40 young Black men (aged 18-24 years) in Baltimore, Maryland. Findings reveal a nuanced understanding of the patterning and mental health consequences of police violence for young Black men.

 

Sonn, C. C., & Quayle, A. F. (2013). Developing praxis: Mobilising critical race theory in community cultural development. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 23(5), 435–448. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2145

• The authors explore community arts projects from a community psychology orientation, which is committed to developing opportunities for inclusion and also exposing the workings of power in everyday settings. They discuss the efforts aimed at understanding racism, which have included engaging with CRT and Whiteness studies within the context of Indigenous and non‐Indigenous partnerships for change.

 

Stansbury, K. L., Marshall, G. L., Hall, J., Simpson, G. M., & Bullock, K. (2018). Community engagement with African American clergy: Faith-based model for culturally competent practice. Aging & Mental Health, 22(11), 1510–1515. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2017.1364343

• This qualitative study examines African American Baptist clergy's (N = 18) pastoral care to older congregants with mental disorders. CRT was the guiding framework. The primary emergent theme “shepherding the flock” was used to organize a model of pastoral care.

 

Trahan, D. P., Jr., & Lemberger, M. E. (2014). Critical race theory as a decisional framework for the ethical counseling of African American clients. Counseling and Values, 59(1), 112–124. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-007X.2014.00045.x

• The authors introduce CRT “as a decisional framework for ethical counseling, with a focus on racial disparities when working particularly with African American clients.” The authors provide a fictional case example that explains how this framework can be implemented when conducting cross‐cultural counseling with African American clients.

 

Varghese, F. P., Israel, T., Seymour, G., Herbst, R. B., Suarez, L. G., & Hargons, C. (2019). Injustice in the justice system: Reforming inequities for true “justice for all.” Counseling Psychologist, 47(5), 682–740. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000019892329

• The authors discuss three major aspects of the justice system—laws and the courts, law enforcement, and detention and corrections—as well as injustice in these three areas. They use CRT and counseling psychology perspectives “to develop a framework to provide counseling psychologists with practical strategies to transform inequities. Such strategies include advocating to change unjust laws, filling the research gap for effective and humane practices, developing evidence-based programs, and providing leadership and training.”

 

Volpe, V. V., Dawson, D. N., Rahal, D., Wiley, K. C., & Vesslee, S. (2019). Bringing psychological science to bear on racial health disparities: The promise of centering Black health through a critical race framework. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 5(4), 302–314. https://doi.org/10.1037/tps0000205

• The authors argue that “the traditionally ahistorical, acontextual, risk-based, and individual approach of psychological science may hamper its ability to reduce racial health disparities.” They discuss ways in which a CRT framework may “further strengthen psychological science’s ability to orient toward equitable practices in the reduction and prevention of racial health disparities.”

 

Walck, D. (2017). Enhancing clients’ perspectives and the therapeutic process by expanding our view of cultural wealth. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 39(4), 395–404. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-017-9305-z

• This article addresses the use of cultural capital to influence therapeutic practices with culturally diverse clients. Using cultural wealth from a CRT perspective highlights unacknowledged forms of cultural capital of diverse groups. Utilizing this perspective “impacts counsellors’ positioning within the therapeutic relationship, shapes the discourse within therapy, and can enhance clients’ autonomous motivation within the therapeutic process.”

 

Walsdorf, A. A., Jordan, L. S., McGeorge, C. R., & Caughy, M. O. (2020). White supremacy and the web of family science: Implications of the missing spider. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 12(1), 64–79. https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12364

• The authors “use the metaphor of spider and web to suggest that family science theorizing is missing an integral piece of the puzzle—the designer of the contexts that have become the field's object of study and intervention.” They propose a metaphorical spider of insidious influence: White supremacy. Pairing understandings garnered from decades of critical theorizing with a review of the family science literature, they hypothesize about the web of causation and interrogate this culprit.

 

Wang, S. C., Raja, A. H., & Azhar, S. (2020). “A lot of us have a very difficult time reconciling what being Muslim is”: A phenomenological study on the meaning of being Muslim American. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 26(3), 338–346. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000297

• Guided by CRT and Social Identity Theory, this study explores how 11 Muslim American late adolescents/emerging adults make sense of their Muslim American identities. “Islamophobia contextualized their meaning-making process by perpetuating group homogeneity as the problem and solution. Clinical and research implications highlight the need to recognize intersectionality and systemic oppression as part of the identity negotiation. Pressures from within and outside of the community converged to impede participants’ feelings of cultural belongingness and identity exploration.”

 

Williams, W. S. (2020). Black woman at work: A narrative both personal and political. Women & Therapy, 43(1-2), 125–143. https://doi.org/10.1080/02703149.2019.1684679

• Williams shares narratives of family, research inquiry into relational aggression in academia, and her own experiences as a Black woman in the academy. She uses the work of Black feminists and thinkers critical of race and White supremacy in the U.S. to contextualize her personal narrative. She also articulates drawbacks and pathways to leadership for women in general and Black women in particular.