Am J Psychiatry 1980; 137:306-309
Copyright © 1980 by American Psychiatric Association
Time orientation and psychotherapy in the ghetto
E Lager and I Zwerling
The ghetto resident's concern with immediate real and psychological
survival leads to what Kluckhohn called a present-time cultural value
orientation, in contrast to the middle-class time orientation, which values
preparation for the future. The authors view several aspects of the
psychotherapy of ghetto patients in the light of this difference:
evaluating patients for long-term psychotherapy, understanding
precipitating factors, and understanding the nature and urgency of
patients' communications. The authors have observed behaviors as
expressions of impulse rather than of culturally determined expectations
that are projected onto the therapist.
