Historically, my research interests have focused on three interrelated areas: general and cultural factors influencing stress and coping processes, evaluation of the effectiveness of diversity-related programs, and multicultural education. My research in the first area has centered on examining general and cultural factors influencing rape survivors, post-assault recovery process and African American students' psychosocial and educational adjustment to predominantly white universities. I am particularly interested in understanding common experiences that transcend race, ethnicity, and class background in adjusting to stressful events, as well as teasing out the more culture-specific factors related to this adjustment.
Interfacing with each of my three research areas is a consideration of racial identity, racism, and, more recently, color-blind racial ideology. Over the past 3 years, I have refocused my research to the area color-blind racial attitudes or the denial, distortion, and minimization of the existence of racism. As part of this effort, my research team and I have constructed and validated a scale to assess color-blindness. Findings in this new line of research are providing support for emerging theoretical articulations, such that greater denial of the existence of racism on a structural level have been related to: (a) greater levels of racial and gender intolerance among students and community members and (b) lower levels of self-reported and observed multicultural therapy competencies among counselors. For White college students, adopting a color-blind racial perspective also has been related to greater racial prejudice against Blacks and increased fear and distrust of racial and ethnic minorities. For Blacks, ignoring the influence of racism in the lives of people of color have been related to increased levels of internalized oppression and victim-blaming ideology. Relatedly, I am interested in uncovering critical incidents in the development of racial ideologies of high school and college students. I'm interested in exploring how some students are oblivious to racism and others have developed a critical awareness of racial oppression. Moreover, I want to explore if students' and systems' ideologies influence inter- and intraracial interactions.
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College of Education
Counseling Psychology
http://education.illinois.edu/frp/edpsy/hneville
Faculty Research Profiles: Helen Neville
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Professor (Counseling Chair)
Counseling Psychology
Educational Psychology
Educational Psychology
188U Education Building
1310 S. 6th St. MC 708
Champaign, IL 61820USA
Section Links
- Research Biography
- Degrees
- Key Professional Appointments
- Activities & Honors
- Grants
- Selected Publications
Research Biography
Degrees
- Ph.D., Counseling Psychology (APA Accredited), University of California, Santa Barbara, 1993
- M.A., Clinical/Community Psychology, California State University, Northridge, 1988
- B.A., Psychology, California State University, Northridge, 1986
Key Professional Appointments
- Provost Fellow, Office of the Provost, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2010--
- Professor, Educational Psychology & African American Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007--
- Associate Professor, Educational Psychology and the Afro-American Studies and Research Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2001--
- Chair, Counselling Psychology, Educational Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign--
- Associate Professor, Educational and Counseling Psychology and the Black Studies Program., University of Missouri-Columbia, 1999-2001
- Co-Director, Center for Multicultural Research, Training, and Consultation, University of Missouri-Columbia, 1999-2001
- Assistant Professor, Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, University of Missouri-Columbia., 1998-1999
- Assistant Professor, Black Studies Program and Department of Psychology, University of Missouri-Columbia, 1993-1998
Activities & Honors
- Committee Member, Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs, American Psychological Association, 2011-2013
- Rockefeller Foundation Residency, Bellagio Center, Rockefeller Foundation, 2010
- Council of Representatives, Council Representative, Society of Counseling Psychology (DIV 17 representative), American Psychological Association, 2008-2013
- Executive Committee, Society of Counseling Psychology, American Psychological Association, 2008-2010
- Distinguished Senior Scholar, College of Education, 2008-2009
- Associate Editor, Journal of Black Psychology, 2007-2009
- Fellow of the Society of Counseling Psychology, Fellow of the Society of Counseling Psychology, American Psychological Association, 2005- present
- Editorial Board Member, Journal of Counseling Psychology, 2004-2009
- Editorial Board Member, Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 2004-2008
- 2007 National Multicultural Summit and Conference Coordinator, American Psychological Association, 2004-2007
- Editorial Board Member, Journal of Black Psychology, 2004-2007
- Member, Section of Ethnic and Racial Diversity Awards Committee, Society of Counseling Psychology, American Psychological Association, 2004-2006
- Associate Editor, The Counseling Psychologist, 2002-2007
Grants
- Principal Investigator, Measuring and Contextualizing Color-blind Racial Ideology among Racially Diverse High School and College Students, Campus Research Board, 2002
Selected Publications
- Neville, H. A., Huntt, M. B., & Chapa, J. (2010) (Eds.). Implementing diversity: Contemporary challenges and best practices at predominantly white universities. Illinois: Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society.
- Whittaker, V. A., & Neville, H. A. (2010). Examining the relation between racial identity attitude clusters and psychological health outcomes in African American college students. Journal of Black Psychology, 36, 483-409.
- Oh, E., Chung, C., Neville, H. A., Anderson, C., & Landrum-Brown, J. (2010), Beliefs about affirmative action: A test of the group self-interest and racism beliefs models. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 3, 163-176.
- Koditschek, T., Cha-Jua, S. K., & Neville, H. A. (Eds.). (2009). Race struggles. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press.
- Neville, H. A. (2009). Rationalizing the racial order: Racial color-blindness as a legitimizing ideology. In T. Koditschek, S. K. Cha-Jua, & H. A. Neville (Eds.), Race struggles (pp. 115-133). Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press.