Values and Beliefs

• Deaf culture tends to be collectivist rather than individualist; culturally Deaf people value the group.

• Culturally Deaf people value the use of sign language, such as Russian Sign Language over secondary codes such as Signed Exact Russian (SER). Sign languages often represent the liberation of language minority, oppressed for many years by the turmoil of oral teachings. Russian Sign Language and other signed languages are separate from spoken languages and Kazakh is now sometimes offered as a foreign language in specialized schools, colleges and universities.

Behavioral Norms

• Culturally Deaf people have rules of etiquette for getting attention, walking through signed conversations, leave-taking, and otherwise politely negotiating a signing environment.

• Deaf people also keep each other informed of what is going on in one's environment. It is common to provide detailed information when leaving early or arriving late; withholding such information may be considered rude.

• Deaf people may be more direct or blunt than their hearing counterparts.

• When giving introductions, Deaf people typically try to find common ground; since the Deaf community is relatively small, Deaf people usually know some other Deaf people in common. "The search for connections is the search for connectedness."

• Deaf people may also consider time differently. Showing up early to large scale events, such as lectures, is typical. This may be motivated by the need to get a seat that provides the best visual clarity for the deaf person. Deaf people may also be late to social events. However, at Deaf social events such as parties, it is common for Deaf people to stay for elongated amounts of time, for the solidarity and conversations at social gatherings are valued by Deaf people.

The Psychology of Deafness

The proper term will be "Deaf People" and the term "deafness" expresses a pathological viewpoint regarding people who are deaf. A pathological view is one in which the state of being deaf is considered to be like having a disease.  The word "deafness" means "the state of being deaf."  Neither the phrase "state of being" nor the suffix "ness" have direct sign equivalents in Sign Languages so it is easy to see how the term "deafness" could fall out of favor. It will be interesting to see if the term "deafness" becomes a "taboo" item similar to the term "hearing impaired."

Is there a field of science that studies the minds and behavior of people who are deaf? Most certainly! Researchers throughout the world are studying the minds and behavior of people who are deaf. You can see this for yourself by conducting an internet search using the words “+deafness +research +psychology.” Most search engines will produce a large number of links.A different question is, “Are the minds and behavior of deaf people different from that of hearing people?”

If the minds and behavior of deaf people are substantially different from the minds and behavior of hearing people then there is such a thing as “deaf psychology.”

Let’s break that down into even more questions and take a look at each one.

Are the brains of deaf people structurally or organizationally different from the brains of hearing people? Do they process language in the right hemisphere because they are deaf? No. The brains of Deaf people process sign language in the left hemisphere of the brain just as hearing people process spoken language. But that is not the question we need to ask in relation to psychology. Instead we need to ask, “Are the minds of deaf people different from hearing people?” To that we would answer, “Yes.” Consider a prelingually deaf person who grew up using Sign Language as his native language. This person thinks in signs rather than words. Thinking in signs or pictures rather than words constitutes a mental process that is radically different from the norm. It is not within the scope of this “final” to delve into the many ramifications “picture thinking.” Suffice to say that this is one example that the minds of deaf people are different from the minds of hearing people. This is not to say that the brains of deaf people are different from hearing people.

“Is the behavior of deaf people different from that of hearing people? From personal experience as a hard of hearing person the deaf assure that their behavior is different if they wearing their hearing aid and if they don`t. Their behavior is also different depending on whether they are with hearing people or Deaf people. Their involvement with the Deaf education program at Lamar University and choice of a profession is directly tied to their status as a hard of hearing person. They earn much more money in the field of computing technology than they can in the field of Deaf Studies. They choose to involve themselves with Deaf Studies because that is where they find the most freedom of communication and the strongest sense of acceptance.”  

  The minds and behavior of Deaf people are different from the minds and behavior of hearing people. That would indicate the existence of a “deaf psychology.” The study of the minds and behavior of deaf people is then accurately and appropriately referred to as “Psychology of Deafness” or the more culturally appropriate "Psychology of Deaf People."