African American Responses to Racism and Discrimination

通过对生活在纽约及其周边地区的160名非裔美国人的深度访谈，该研究分析了被污名化群体成员用来应对种族主义和歧视的话语和行为策略。它比较了25-60岁的中产阶级和工人阶级男性和女性对这些策略的描述，并考虑了策略的范围和显著性如何受到感知歧视的影响。该项目还考虑了战略与心理健康结果之间的关系，目的是为关于心理健康和种族差异的文献作出贡献。虽然社会流行病学文献提供了不平等和歧视对身心健康影响的证据，但本项目记录了对歧视的反应，即通过反种族主义战略，如何调节这种影响。它还阐明了意义和文化结构在导致从歧视到不健康的途径中的作用。该项目涉及对反种族主义战略的“日常”理解以及对其范围和显著性的解释。感兴趣的结果是：A)对种族主义和歧视的经历以及感知到的歧视所带来的情绪的描述。B)对被污名化群体和其他群体成员之间的异同和关系的描述。C)为了回应他人对他们群体的刻板印象，他们用来改变与其社会身份相关的意义的策略。D)对获得尊重或促进与优势群体成员互动的行为策略的描述。E)通过各种健康指标衡量的感知歧视对心理健康的影响。我们将探讨个人的反种族主义策略是否会随着感知到的歧视而变化：一个人感知到的歧视越频繁和强烈，他/她就会动员更多的证据来证明他/她的价值。我们还假设，账户的范围和显著性将因受访者类别而异：中产阶级和工人阶级；男人和女人。研究结果将在一本面向更多人的书中，以及针对反种族主义、种族主义、身份、民族和社会运动专家的学术文章中，以及针对应对、反种族主义、种族主义、身份、民族和社会运动的心理和心理健康文献中的专家中提出。该项目的更广泛的社会意义是通过更好地了解可能限制种族主义对心理健康影响的文化进程来促进社会正义。

Drawing on 160 in-depth interviews with African-Americans living in and around New York, the study analyzes the discursive and behavioral strategies that members of stigmatized groups use to cope with racism and discrimination. It compares the accounts of these strategies produced by middle and working class men and women ages 25-60 and considers how the range and salience of strategies are affected by perceived discrimination. The project also considers the association between strategies and mental health outcomes, with the goal of contributing to the literature on mental health and racial disparity. While the social epidemiology literature provides evidence of the impact of inequality and discrimination on physical and mental health, this project documents how responses to discrimination, namely through anti-racist strategies, can modulate this impact. It also illuminates the role of meanings and cultural structures in the pathways leading from discrimination to ill health.The project is concerned with the "everyday" understandings of anti-racist strategies and with accounting for their range and salience. The outcomes of interest are: A) Accounts of experiences with racism and discrimination and of the emotions brought about by perceived discrimination. B) Accounts of the similarities and differences, and relationships, between members of stigmatized groups and other groups. C) Accounts of strategies used to change the meanings associated with their social identity in response to stereotypes about their group that others have. D) Accounts of behavioral strategies used to gain respect or facilitate interaction with members of the dominant group. E) Effects of perceived discrimination on mental health, as measured by various health indicators. We will explore whether individual anti-racist strategies vary with perceived discrimination: the more frequently and intensely an individual perceives discrimination, the greater the range and salience of evidence s/he will mobilize to demonstrate his/her value. We also hypothesize that the range and salience of accounts will vary across categories of respondents: middle class and working class people; and men and women. Results will be presented in a book written for a larger audience, as well as in scholarly articles aimed at experts on anti-racism, racism, identity, ethnicity, and social movements, as well as experts in the psychological and mental health literatures on coping, anti-racism, racism, identity, and ethnicity, and social movements. The broader social significance of the project is to promote social justice through a better understanding of the cultural processes that may limit the impact of racism on mental health.