2015 Association for Women in Psychology Conference

When providing psychological services to Latinas, clinicians must be prepared to address a broad range of identities and experiences. Latinas are not a monolithic group and mental health practitioners need to deliver interventions that are responsive to a multiplicity of factors including nationality, geographic location, social class, immigration status, level of acculturation, education, and exposure to discrimination and exploitation. It is paramount that psychologists turn their attention to intragroup differences among Latinas in order to respond effectively to the needs of the many subgroups represented in this population. In this symposium, the presenters will share their experiences and the results of their research studies on culturally responsive practice with Latinas, both in the U.S. and internationally. Throughout the program, implications for research, feminist clinical practice, training, and social justice will be explored. The first presentation will discuss how the experiences of clinicians in New Mexico and Texas may translate into promising practices in the provision of psychological services to undocumented immigrant women from Mexico across the U.S. The next presentation will highlight the role of technology in a multi-year international Participatory Action Research collaboration between U.S.-based researchers and members of Fundación Ana Margarita in Medellín, Colombia who are also survivors of commercial sexual exploitation. The final presentation will introduce a new protocol for a support group for first-year Latina undergraduates focusing on positive identity development, effective methods for handling the transition to college life, the experience of discrimination, and the development of coping strategies to address academic concerns.

While bisexuality has been a topic of much discussion in the arena of popular culture, this orientation is seen as a controversial and often misunderstood concept (Klesse, 2011). Outside of popular culture, the topic of bisexuality is beginning to gain grounds in the research arena as well (Klein, 2014; Bostwick, 2013). Misunderstandings about bisexuality tend to revolve around relation of bisexuality to the heterosexual and lesbian/gay communities, bisexual monogamy, and the idea that bisexuality reinforces the gender binary. These misunderstandings have the potential to negatively affect not only the ways in which bisexual individuals experience support from community, family, and friends, but also the ways in which researchers and clinicians understand the plight of this minority community situated within an already marginalized community. With an understanding of these misconceptions, this panel will discuss some current trends related to research on bisexuality. Some of the current trends relate to issue surrounding bisexuality and monogamy, bisexuality, and community, and clinical concerns with bisexual clients. These trends will be addressed by members of the panel. In addressing these current research trends, this panel will attempt to provide information on the most current research available on bisexual individuals and the bisexual community. The implication of a greater understanding of bisexual issues in relation to clinical, research, educational, and advocacy implication will be discussed.

The sexual domain is an essential space for justice researchers to consider – not only to understand how sexual relationships serve as sites of violence and conflict, but additionally, how sexual relationships reflect adaptions to and normalizations of inequality. This symposium offers three perspectives on working with justice theories to “enliven” key concepts in sexuality research. The three papers each take up a key concept – choice, empowerment, and satisfaction – and use a range of theoretical and empirical work to assess how previous conceptualizations have overlooked how entitlement and deservingness shape individuals’ sexual lives. The three papers each address how gender shapes sexual entitlement as well as how feminist psychological research plays an essential role in understanding experiences of normalized injustices in intimate relationships. The first paper examines the concept of “choice” in sexuality research and analyzes interviews with a sample of racially and ethnically diverse girls about their experiences with providing oral sex in heterosexual sexual encounters. The second paper takes us to the concept of “empowerment” and argues that an intervention into discussions of female empowerment must more carefully consider the role of sexual embodiment in order to more fully articulate what exactly one is empowered to do, be, or feel. Lastly, the third paper makes a theoretical and empirical argument that studies of “sexual satisfaction” do not sufficiently consider the ways in which individuals are socialized to feel entitled (or un-entitled) to feel sexually satisfied. Drawing on a mixed methods study of individuals’ definitions of satisfaction, this paper argues that feminist psychology must more systematically link examinations of satisfaction with deservingness.