Possible Implicit Mechanisms of Minority Representation

Minority representation is an important topic for political science—how do members of a racial majority group identify with the political goals of a minority, even when research documents widespread anti‐Black bias? Does pro‐Black policy support require an individual to be unbiased, or can such support emerge despite internalized anti‐Black bias? This paper draws a distinction between two types of implicit racial attitude measures based on functionalist theories of attitudes ( Katz, 1960 ; Smith, Bruner, & White, 1956 ) and research regarding automatic empathic processes ( Decety & Jackson, 2004 ; Preston & de Waal, 2002 ). According to this distinction, some attitudes evaluate racial groups as attitude objects (evaluative associations), while others involve automatic identification with them as people (relational associations). I use subliminal racial priming for evaluative associations and a measure of implicit closeness to Blacks ( Craemer, 2008 ) for relational associations. The evaluative measure captures association strength between a racial stimulus and race‐unrelated positive or negative target words. The relational measure assesses association strength between the respondent's self‐concept and the mental representation of a racial group based on implicit “self‐other overlap” ( Aron, Aron, Tudor, & Nelson, 1991 ). Implicit measures are obtained in a well powered online reaction time study (n = 1,341). Online results are evaluated against a representative telephone survey (n = 1,200). Consistent with the extant literature, a significant anti‐Black bias emerges in evaluative associations. In contrast, a significant pro‐Black effect emerges in relational associations and the two implicit measures are statistically unrelated. Both measures predict pro‐Black policy support independently of one another and net of other factors. Implicit closeness to Blacks predicts pro‐Black policy support even among White respondents suggesting that minority representation based on relational associations may be possible despite widespread anti‐Black evaluative bias.     

Disability in Female Immigrants with Ritually Inflicted Genital Mutation

There have been 200,000 immigrants to the United States from African and Arab countries in the past decade that practice extensively disabling ritual genital mutilation. many of these women are severely disabled not only by the social constraints placed upon them by their culture, but by chronic pain syndrome and mobility impairment. They only rarely present at conventional medical facilities, being prevented from doing so by protective/dominant men, and further by the fact that they have little or no expectation that their specialized medical problems will be either understood or dealth with compassionately. The disabling immediate and long term medical consequences of female genital mutilation are described, most particularly in relation to menstruation and childbirth. Its significance as a social phenomenon is explained in historical terms and in terms of the values of the societies in which it is tenaciously entrenched. The question of how a working relationship with these immigrant women may be established is discussed.     

There's a Stranger in This House

Abstract

Although more researchers are investigating violence in lesbian relationships, they continue to neglect the experiences of African American lesbians. The purpose of this article is to describe the experience of a battered African American lesbian and to offer suggestions for intervention, which include techniques for addressing homophobia, providing appropriate referrals, and culturally sensitive treatment.     

A Social Perspective on Women's Mental Health Problems

No abstract available for this article.     

Using Celluloid to Break the Silence About Sexual Violence in the Black Community

Abstract

I am the producer, writer, and director of NO!, a feature length documentary that addresses intra-racial sexual assault in the Black community. Through this film, I hope to break the silence and give visual voice to a chorus of Black women rape survivors and Black women and men activists, historians, poets, attorneys, psychologists, and musicians. Their messages are conveyed through testimonies, scholarship, dance, music, and poetry.     

Internalized Classism:

Internalized classism refers to the process by which a personÆs experience as a member of the poor or working classes becomes internalized and influences her self-concept and self-esteem as well as her relationships with others. Internalized classism, often not recognized by clients or by therapists, may be manifested in a variety of ways in psychotherapy. Active clinical attention to internalized classism can carry significant benefits for people with poor or working-class backgrounds.