Carla Desi-Ann Hunter

Dr. Hunter's line of research is consistent with a focus in ethnic minority psychology and explores identity and well-being in persons of African descent who reside in the U.S. Two key assumptions which inform her research are (1) the U.S. racial history has created a unique racial context with specific racial hierarchies and (2) racial minority status in the U.S. may hold psychological implications for persons of African descent with respect to observed ethnic group health disparities. Her research explores individual factors (resiliency and counter productive) such as racial and ethnic identity and cultural worldviews and its association with outcomes such as perceptions of racial discrimination and race-related stressors in African Americans and British Caribbean Americans. The inclusion of British Caribbean Americans (and Black immigrants in general) is unique and important because Black immigrants' migration into the U.S. racial context provides a unique opportunity to investigate identity and acculturation in a racial group that migrates to the U.S. without the psychological and social label "racial minority". It is her hope that this line of research will be utilized to inform culturally competent and culturally relevant service delivery thereby decreasing treatment and mental health disparities for persons of African descent who reside in the U.S.