Synonyms
Cultural identity
Introduction
Ethnicity, the concept of a group’s “peoplehood,” refers to a group’s common ancestry and history, through which people have evolved shared values and customs over the centuries. Based on a combination of race, religion, geography, political, and cultural history, ethnicity is retained, whether or not members realize their commonalities with one another. Its values are transmitted over generations by the family and reinforced by the surrounding community. Ethnicity is a powerful influence in determining identity. It patterns our thinking, feeling, and behavior in both obvious and subtle ways, although generally we are not aware of it. It plays a major role in determining how we eat, work, celebrate, make love, and die (McGoldrick et al. 2005).
Ethnicity is not, however, the only dimension of culture, and to understand it, we must pay attention to its intersection with race, social class, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, geography,...
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Preto, N.G., McGoldrick, M. (2019). Ethnicity in Couples and Families. In: Lebow, J.L., Chambers, A.L., Breunlin, D.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49425-8_475
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