2015 Association for Women in Psychology Conference

Media coverage of Michael Brown’s murder and Ferguson protests have brought into the national spotlight issues that have affected communities of color, particularly black communities, for decades. Although various activist organizations have joined in solidarity with this movement (Bosman, 2014), mainstream media attention is waning and the U.S. government has taken a passive approach (Horwitz & Kindy, 2014; Trott, 2014). As students in counseling psychology, we have found ourselves wondering what the role of psychologists (and future psychologists) can and should be in this movement. Within our own graduate program, a discussion group has evolved out of these events, but deciding how to take action beyond discussion has proven more difficult to accomplish. Racial justice is long overdue--over 150 years since the abolition of slavery, and we are still waiting. Considering the conference theme, we seek to explore what restorative justice might look like in in the case of communities like Ferguson. In areas with a long history of institutional power being used to exploit and oppress, where might the community even begin to restore justice? How can psychologists be most helpful to the social movements already in progress to combat these injustices? What about graduate students? Certainly, research on white privilege and racial prejudice has been one major contribution of the field and should not be discounted. For example, Eberhardt, Goff, Purdie and Davies (2004) found that white males processed weapon imagery faster when primed with black male faces compared to the no-prime control and processed these same images slower when primed with white faces compared to the no-prime control. Although published in 2004, the research remains pertinent today and has clear implications for legislation surrounding events like Michael Brown’s murder. But what is our responsibility to more immediate action when innocent people are dying?

Mandated reporting in psychotherapy is a frequently used intervention. Though the intent of the practice is to be therapeutic in its aim to protect children from inadequate or harmful care, the consequences of its execution can contradict its intent. This presentation will examine these contradictions and the ways in which dynamics of oppression, re-traumatization, and colonization are being expressed through mandated reporting laws. Using post colonial race theory, along with relational and social justice perspectives I will discuss the perpetuation and maintenance of a pervasive culture of oppression, where families of color are intruded upon, separated, and demeaned, in a disabling dynamic of powerlessness. The relationships between corporal punishment and discipline, and between families of color and institutional intervention will be observed through a historical lens. The instillation of fear and exhibition of power for purposes of control and capital are tactics that are still preserved in more subtle and nuanced way. This has been observed in my work in school-based and outpatient community mental health settings with primarily African American children and their mothers. Fear and distrust of the “system” (i.e. Therapists power/privilege to report abuse, threat of removal of children form home, the) in the context of therapy displayed by child clients and their mothers often complicates and slows an already vulnerable process of entering and remaining open through treatment. Consideration of the entire family system receives little attention or clinical thought, when reporting situations arise. Emphasis will be given to finding space to think about the impacts of this practice, while considering alternatives and/or modifications to approaching and implementing this intervention, with an interest in portraying and offering a less threatening, more therapeutic stance for families.

Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Oscar Grant, Sean Bell, Amadou Diallo, Trayvon Martin, and Jordan Davis are all Black men who were murdered unjustly either by the police or by a racially motivated white male. There names have made national headlines, and many Black communities and individuals have mobilized to call for justice in their honor, and in the honor and protection of all Black boys and men. The many protest and communal actions that have ensued are evidence of great acts of resistance and social justice mobilizing that proudly state “Black lives matter!”, however, when Black women—especially Black trans women—are slaughtered daily and by the dozens, these same acts of communal mobilizing and vigils of honor are non-existent. President Obama and many other political officials and scholars have righteously given support and condolences in the murders of the aforementioned slain men, yet, little to no consolation, acknowledgement, nor support have been given to Tarika Wilson, Aiyana Jones, Shantel Davis, Rekia Boyd, Islan Nettles, Chanelle Pickett, Nireah Johnson, Erica Keels, Dana A. Larkin, Duana Johnson, Brandy Martell, and Yazmin Sanchez, all Black females—both cis and transgender—who have been unjustly murdered and forgotten. This structured discussion is guided by a Black feminist framework (Collins, 1991) and also by W.E.B. DuBois’ double consciousness (1903). As Black feminist thought seeks to move the stories and experiences of Black women from margin to center, and Black women are simultaneously doubly conscious of the plights of Black men. Thus, our goal is not to create a hierarchy of oppression, but instead, to restore justice and equality to Black women. Moreover, the aim of this talk is to begin to think about how we as feminist psychologist can assist in restoration of justice and voice to Black women.

Restorative justice approaches to sexual assault and intimate partner violence move us away from a primarily punitive criminal justice model toward a more holistic focus on survivors, the community, and society. This structured discussion seeks to engage participants in conversations about the many ways that a restorative justice model could be applied to sexual assault and intimate partner violence in the US and abroad. Four guiding questions will be used to promote discussion: 1) What does restorative justice mean in the context of sexual assault and intimate partner violence?; 2) How do restorative justice approaches align with survivor-centric, trauma-informed models of intervention?; 3) What are the implications of a restorative justice approach for prevention efforts?; and 4) How can we ensure that prevention and intervention efforts are culturally informed and appropriate? Three speakers will lead the discussion by sharing lessons learned from their own work in the field. The first speaker will describe culturally responsive approaches to therapy and intervention for survivors of sexual assault and sex trafficking. The second speaker will consider the benefits of a public health perspective for framing prevention and intervention efforts for sexual assault and intimate partner violence. The third speaker will offer insights into community-based intervention, prevention, and research models to address sexual assault and intimate partner violence. Throughout the discussion, participants will be encouraged to address the root causes of violence; consider survivor-centric, trauma-informed, and culturally appropriate models of prevention and intervention; and discuss the myriad ways that we, as feminists, can be involved in restoring justice for those affected by sexual assault and intimate partner violence both at home and abroad.

The idea for this discussion comes out of an experience we have had in the sex ed classroom with girls of color. We would like this discussion to focus on the negotiations, difficulties, and vulnerabilities present in the sex ed classroom when girls of color are asked to talk about sex and around difficult topics such as consent and coercion. Some of the contradictions that we would like to discuss is the pull for girls to see themselves as strong, proud, and in control of their own decisions, a position supported by growing autonomy in adolescence, and thus deny weakness and vulnerability. Also, this position may need to be reinforced by girls when they pick up on messages from the culture about being at risk (for pregnancy) and/or hyper-sexual (a stereotype). In teaching the sex ed class, we were struck with how difficult it was for the girls to discuss sexual risks and dangers relating to consent and coercion. We observed that this vulnerability (that all girls share) may need to be denied by two other kinds of talk: 1) that boys are equally in danger; and 2) that girls of color need to be “respectable”, in their own words, so if they act in a way that shows they don’t respect themselves, they get what is coming to them. We understand vulnerability to be multiply determined and to be experienced consciously as well as unconsciously. We also understand the students to be constructing who they are and what they feel through multiple identity positions within the specific context of their school, country, ethnicity, race, and gender. Isom’s (2012) qualitative work with youth of color showed femaleness constructed as “strong, multitudinous and varied, yet sexualized by a male gaze and silent in the face of it”.

“Graduate school in psychology was worst than rape! Because at least when I was raped, there were services and support groups. I had to endure the pain of being Black and female in graduate school alone…”—Dr. Aaronette White Before her passing, Dr. White was an associate professor of social psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is perhaps better known for her work on rape and feminism, and the above quote was something that she maintained fiercely about some of her experiences in academia as a Black female psychologist. In using Dr. White’s quote as a springboard to undertake this discussion, we realize that there is much that we do not know about the often painful experiences of Black female psychologists in the academy. The discipline of psychology is still largely seen as predominantly White and male with rigid constructs and frameworks that often exclude African Americans in general, but particularly, Black female researchers. This becomes a social justice issue because Black women are being eliminated and excluded in psychology. However, we as feminist psychologists can assist in improving conditions for Black women in psychology by giving voice to these problems and working to end racism and sexism in psychology as a discipline. This project evolved out a Black feminist framework (Collins, 1991) and employs the theoretical frameworks of intersectionality (Combahee River Collective, 1982; Crenshaw, 1993), and critical psychology (Parker, 1999). This structured discussion aims to explore the experiences of Black women—and all women of color in the academy—from doctoral candidacy through professor emeritus.