Time orientation and psychotherapy in the ghetto

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.