Understanding and Addressing Contemporary Racism: From Aversive Racism to the Common Ingroup Identity Model

This article describes our collaborative research on aversive racism and a strategy we developed to combat it, the Common Ingroup Identity Model. In addition, we reveal some details about our personal and professional relationship in pursuit of our scientific agenda. We begin by discussing evidence for the existence of aversive racism, a subtle, unintentional form bias that can have pernicious effects. Then we review research concerning how a common ingroup identity can combat aversive racism by redirecting the forces of social categorization and social identity, such that "Us" and "Them" are regarded as "We." We conclude with a brief discussion of where we may look next for clues toward helping to achieve a fairer, more just society.     

System Justification in Responding to the Poor and Displaced in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

We examine people's reactions to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, most of whom are minorities living in poverty, and we do so in terms of system justification theory. We propose that the social system was indirectly threatened for the public when inadequate relief efforts exposed governmental shortcomings, called into question the legitimacy of agency leadership, and highlighted racial inequality in America. In response to such system threats, both victims and observers (e.g., the general public, commentators, policy makers) are known to engage in various forms of system justification, including direct defense of the status quo, victim blaming, stereotyping, and internalization of inequality. These processes can reduce emotional distress and restore perceived legitimacy to the system, but they may have a number of troubling consequences for the storm victims in their efforts to return to normalcy.     

Inter-Group Aggression in New Orleans in the Immediate Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the city of New Orleans witnessed an emerging conflict between the residents who survived the storm and the rescuers charged with assisting them. This particular type of inter-group conflict has not been documented before, as it uniquely entails survivors acting against their very self-interest, and rescuers subverting their helping roles. We argue that Drury and Reicher's Elaborated Social Identity Model explains the nature of the inter-group aggression. Drawing on published first-person accounts, we document how the power differential between rescuers and survivors shaped inter-group perceptions and eventually rendered inter-group aggression acceptable. While inter-group aggression reflects only one facet of the aftermath of Katrina, we conclude that it must be interpreted as meaningful social action commensurate with the groups' emerging collective identities.     

Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Differences in Responding to Distinctiveness and Discrimination on Campus: Stigma and Common Group Identity

The present article examines how the salience of group membership can moderate or diffuse feelings of stigmatization for members of racial and ethnic minorities. A series of studies is presented that demonstrate that the development of a common group identity can diffuse the effects of stigmatization, improve intergroup attitudes, and enhance institutional satisfaction and commitment among college students and faculty. Strategies and interventions designed to address the effects of stigmatization, however, need to consider the different value and importance of racial and ethnic group identities for Whites and for people of color.     

When the Floods of Compassion Are not Enough: A Nation's and a City's Response to the Evacuees of Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina exposed serious deficiencies in the social support safety net at the federal, state, and local level. This article explores the impacts of the disrupted safety net through participant observation and interviews with service providers and evacuees resettled in one southern city. Their stories illustrate how vulnerable low‐income groups struggle to cope with disaster within the context of inadequate larger support systems and the legacy of racism. The data also illustrate the limits of the local resources and response, given the years of retrenchment and underfunding and increasing dependence on nongovernmental sources of support. The authors explore some of the implications of this trend for evacuees' long‐term recovery and social work intervention.     

Ethnic and University Identities across the College Years: A Common In-Group Identity Perspective

The common in-group identity model advocates the creation of a superordinate group identity in order to reduce conflict between members of different ethnic subgroups. This study demonstrates that a university identity can serve as an effective common in-group identity for students from different ethnic groups. Longitudinal data were collected from an ethnically diverse sample of university students at the end of each year of college. Although ethnic identification tended to be correlated with status-legitimizing orientations and ideologies in a way that reinforces ethnic-status differences (i.e., these variables tended to be positively related for Whites but less so for ethnic minorities), the status-legitimizing variables were largely unrelated to university identification during each year in college. The longitudinal data also allowed us to examine these relationships over time. The relationships between ethnic and university identification and status-legitimizing orientations and ideologies did not change. Ethnic and university identities are discussed in terms of the common in-group identity model.     

Young Children's Evaluations of the Ingroup and of Outgroups: A Multi-National Study

In investigating intergroup attitudes, previous research in developmental psychology has frequently confounded ingroup favouritism and outgroup derogation. The present study, using unconfounded measures, examines the possibility that ingroup favouritism and outgroup derogation are distinct phenomena. Six‐year‐old children (n=594) from five, culturally diverse nations were asked to make various evaluations of the national ingroup and of four national outgroups. The data indicate that although there is overwhelming evidence that young children favour the ingroup over other groups, outgroup derogation is limited in extent and appears to reproduce attitudes held by adult members of the particular nations investigated.     

The Aftermath of Shelter: Abused Arab Women in Israel

Shelters for battered women play a major role in combating abuse against women. Extensive research has dealt with various aspects of shelters, including professional and ideological perceptions and the women’s experiences. However, scarce research exists on women’s coping following shelter-stay, especially research on the meaning of shelter-stay for women from collectivist societies. In the present study, we focused on how Arab women who had lived in a shelter coped after returning to the community to begin independent lives. In the Arab society in Israel, Arab women who live in shelters are perceived as violating a cultural norm. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 12 Arab women aged between 25 and 42, who had stayed in a shelter for Arab women for at least six months.

The major themes that emerged from the interviews revealed changes in perception of self and of social environment, including a self-transformation from weakness to strength, from perceiving themselves as devoid of rights to the development of an identity of entitlement. Through their release from weakening cultural systems, they were transformed from familial and societal victims to empowered beings, and moved from negative gender self-awareness to an empowered gender self-perception. These changes helped the interviewees to cope with stresses and to live independently. The findings are conceptualized in the discussion using relational-cultural theory.     

Family Life and School Experience: Factors in the Racial Identity Development of Black Youth in White Communities

Eighteen middle-class Black college students were interviewed in-depth about their experiences growing up in predominantly White communities. Using Cross's model of racial identity development as a theoretical framework for analysis, case studies of three women and two men are presented to highlight the impact of varied parental socialization practices and school experiences on racial identity development. For all, positive same-race peer relationships, information about African-American achievements, the availability of role models, and the encouragement of significant adults were important for academic success and the beginning resolution of identity conflicts. The implications of these findings for understanding aspects of school integration and for developing relevant school-based interventions are considered.     

From the Digital Divide to the Connectivity Dividend Difference: A Connectivity Capital Perspective*

The access divide was once the basic form of the digital divide. The development of Internet infrastructure has narrowed the access divide and increased application coverage, but it has also touched off a connectivity dividend difference. Taking the online market as an example, we examine the sources of the dividend difference and the factors influencing it with in a connectivity framework. We found that the narrowing of the access divide has resulted in enhanced connectivity and platform development, giving people the chance to benefit from transforming the various assets in which they have previously invested into differentiated compound connectivity capital. In the course, the scale and rate of the conversion are affected by two multiplier effects and especially by online platforms. The process is ultimately expressed in the dividend difference.     

Continuous Parenting and the Clean Break: The Aftermath of Marriage Breakdown

This paper examines the financial disparity between men and women after marriage breakdown in the context of the debate about public support for children and their caretakers. The Australian Institute of Family Studies research into the economic consequences of marriage breakdown, the government's endorsement of reforms for the assessment and collection of child maintenance and the Law Reform Commission's recommendations for the reform of matrimonial property law indicate the need for more clarity and predictability for family law clients. In addition, empirical work highlights the need to eradicate any notion that the clean break philosophy is appropriate for parenting after separation. Whilst family law reforms are already underway in this area, the issues of womens' independence and of child welfare must be looked at in the broader context of employment opportunities and child care.     

Perceptions of Racism in Hurricane Katrina: A Liberation Psychology Analysis

Poll data showed that African Americans perceived more racism in the response to Hurricane Katrina than did White Americans. In this article, we consider claims about racism in Katrina-related events in light of (a) our program of experimental research on group differences in perception of racism and (b) the meta-theoretical perspective of Liberation Psychology (LP). First, this analysis suggests that White Americans may perceive less racism in the Katrina disaster because they are less likely than African Americans to know about historically documented acts of past racism (e.g., following the Mississippi flood of 1927). Second, group differences may arise because African Americans and White Americans face divergent motivations regarding perception of racism. Whereas African Americans may have motivations to be vigilant for the possibility of racism, White Americans may be motivated to deny racism because it constitutes a threat to social identity and to the legitimacy of the status quo.     

The Common Factors Model: Its Place in Clinical Practice and Research

The common factors model advances the view that client, relationship, and clinician factors account for a greater proportion of therapeutic change than do specific techniques or types of therapy. In this era of evidence-based practice, in which specific techniques are heavily emphasized, this updated review of the common factors model focuses attention on other components of therapeutic change, including the client's contribution, the therapeutic alliance, and clinician factors. The common factors model has recent and long-standing research support of several kinds. The model affirms many widely used therapeutic practices and has led to the development of several procedures to enhance therapeutic outcomes. This article explores the origins and development of the common factors model; its current research support; and its implications for practice, research, and education.     

Exploration of Racial Enactments in an Interracial Therapeutic Dyad to Foster the Strengthening of Voice and Identity in African American Male Adolescents

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of systemic racism on an interracial therapeutic dyad between a white therapist and an African American adolescent male. Leary (2000 Leary, K. (2000). Racial enactments in dynamic treatment. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 10(4), 639–653. doi:10.1080/10481881009348573[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) operationalized the term “racial enactments” and made the important point that its “most common” manifestation “has been our relative silence about racial issues” (p. 647). It is the premise of this paper that the youth of color’s subjective experience of racial microaggressions and assaults experienced on a daily basis must be validated and explored prior to a meaningful intersubjective exploration in the clinical encounter. The emphasis in this paper is on the racial enactment that precedes the clinical encounter. A treatment vignette is used to highlight the intersection of social and psychic spheres of human experience and how an awareness of unconscious bias in the therapist can facilitate a more meaningful dialogue in which priority is given to the emergence of a powerful client narrative voice.     

The Perils of Rights Discourse: A Response to Kitzinger and Wilkinson

This commentary responds to Celia Kitzinger and Sue Wilkinson's argument for the use of human rights discourse rather than a discourse of mental health when arguing for the legalization of same-sex marriage. Without disagreeing with their basic argument, I "problematize" it, showing that legal and human rights discourses also have a history of reinforcing power dynamics and operating to the disadvantage of marginalized groups such as lesbians and gay men. First, equality rights discourse can force lesbians and gay men into a conservative mode of argument, for instance, having to show how similar they are to traditionalist opposite-sex couples, rather than emphasizing potentially significant differences. Second, the increasing use of rights discourse has arguably narrowed the scope of the lesbian/gay social movement and rendered its political strategies more conservative, rather than aiming for the elimination of heterosexism and patriarchy. Third, the focus on marriage as a human right tends to render invisible, and to reinscribe, the extent to which marriage as a socio-legal institution has operated in oppressive ways. Modern marriage is not innocent of oppression, tied as it is to the increasing privatization of social and economic responsibilities. While human rights discourse offers an important avenue for lesbians and gay men, the perils of its use should not be overlooked.