Bem-estar psicológico, identidade coletiva e discriminação em moradores de bairros estigmatizados

Introducción: la discriminación social y la estigmatización de las personas por su pertenencia a un grupo determinado, en el presente caso por su lugar de residencia, es un problema relevante y que afecta el bienestar y la salud mental. Objetivo: establecer la influencia relativa de la identidad colectiva y la percepción de discriminación en el bienestar psicológico de habitantes de barrios estigmatizados. Metodología: la muestra estuvo formada por 160 personas adultas (50% mujeres) que habitaban barrios estigmatizados de la provincia de Concepción en Chile. Los instrumentos utilizados fueron la Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (mhc-sf) de Keyes para la medición del bienestar psicológico, la Escala de Identidad Colectiva de Van Zomeren y la Escala de Experiencias de Discriminación adaptada al contexto latinoamericano por Smith-Castro. Resultados: los resultados muestran que la discriminación influye negativamente y la identidad colectiva influye positivamente en el bienestar psicológico. Conclusiones: fortalecer el sentido de pertenencia y el orgullo endogrupal podría posibilitar entornos y condiciones de vida que propicien la salud mental y formas de vida saludables.Introdução: o preconceito social e a estigmatização das pessoas por seu pertencimento a um grupo determinado, neste caso, por seu lugar de residência, é um problema relevante e que afeta o bem-estar e a saúde mental. Objetivo: o propósito deste estudo foi estabelecer a influência relativa da identidade coletiva e a percepção de discriminação no bem-estar psicológico de moradores de bairros estigmatizados. Metodologia: a amostra foi formada por 160 pessoas adultas (50 % mulheres) que moravam em bairros estigmatizados da província de Concepción, no Chile. Os instrumentos utilizados foram a Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (mhc-sf) de Keyes, para a medição do bem-estar, a Escala de Identidade Coletiva de Van Zomeren e a Escala de Experiências de Discriminação adaptada ao contexto latino-americano por Smith-Castro. Resultados: os resultados mostram que a discriminação influencia negativamente, e a identidade coletiva, positivamente no bem-estar psicológico. Conclusões: fortalecer o sentido de pertencimento e orgulho endogrupal poderia possibilitar ambientes e condições de vida que propiciassem a saúde mental e formas de vida saudáveis.Introduction: Social discrimination and stigmatization of individuals for belonging to a particular group, specifically for their place of residence in this case, is a major problem and affects well-being and mental health. Purpose: The objective of this study was to establish the relative influence of collective identity and the perception of discrimination on the psychological well-being of inhabitants of stigmatized neighborhoods. Method: The sample consisted of 160 adults (50% women) living in stigmatized neighborhoods in the province of Concepción, Chile. The instruments used were Keyes’s Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (mhc-sf) for the measurement of psychological well-being, the Van Zomeren’s Collective Identity Scale and the Discrimination Experiences Scale adapted to the Latin American context by Smith-Castro. Results: The results show psychological well-being is negatively influenced by discrimination and positively influenced by collective identity. Conclusions: Strengthening the sense of belonging and endogroup pride could enable environments and living conditions that promote mental health and healthy lifestyles.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Sociales::Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas (IIP

The Effects of Proposition 8 in the LGBT Rights Movement in Orange County

Proposition 8 was a California ballot initiative that banned same-sex marriage in November of 2008. The issue of same-sex marriage is usually framed in the media as a political and cultural battle where the two opposing sides argue about the legal and cultural repercussions of the recognition of same-sex unions for same-sex relationships and society. Rather than focusing on the legal implications of the Proposition 8 campaign and its outcome, this paper addresses the campaign\u27s effects in the LGBT Rights Movement in Orange County. During the campaign many LGBTs became politically active for the first time in their lives, but it was after the passage of Proposition 8 when several LGBT rights organizations were founded and there were a greater number of people who became politically involved. I hypothesize that the Proposition 8 campaign was a socializing process that raised the LGBT community\u27s awareness of social stigma towards the LGBT identity. Political action was a coping mechanism for many LGBTs who saw their actions as means to better their social status. As a result, the campaign shaped the identity and the structure of the LGBT Rights Movement in Orange County

New Research on Housing and Territorial Stigma: Introduction to the Thematic Issue

This introduction to the thematic issue on housing and territorial stigma provides concise overviews of the concepts of stigma, housing stigma, and territorial (or neighborhood) stigma, while tracing back current research on these topics to the pioneering work of Erving Goffman and Loic Wacquant. In doing this, we place particular attention on social responses to, and coping strategies with, stigma, especially various forms of stigma resistance. Finally, in brief summaries of all articles in the thematic issue, we emphasize their shared themes and concerns

FROM PREDATOR TO PREY: THE EDIFICATION OF STIGMA MANAGEMENT IN THE SMALL-DOLLAR LOAN INDUSTRY

In this dissertation, I focus on how entrepreneurs in a stigmatized industry – the Small-Dollar, or “Payday” Loan industry – manage industry stigma and evaluate the extent to which they employ strategies to mitigate this stigma. This dissertation is an ethnographic, participatory observation study, where I engage with lenders as a customer, borrowing and paying back loans from different small-dollar establishments. I find that, in response to being subject to multiple elements of stigma, industry representatives, entrepreneurs, and employees used a variety of strategies, in part, based on the policies initiated against their industry that resulted in different strategies employed to reduce industry stigma. My findings also focus attention on the cross-level nature of stigma management in organizational research, and its enactment between organizations and its effects on a key audience, customers, who also experience the industry’s stigma. The combination of these findings expands theoretical understanding of entrepreneurship in highly contested and uncertain domains, by integrating research from the stigma literature to offer a nuanced perspective of the process and outcomes of industry stigma

When they see us: racial criminalization, racial stigma, and identity in a Midwest college town

Racial stigma and racial criminalization have been centralizing pillars of the construction of Blackness in the United States. Taking such systemic injustice and racism as a given, then question then becomes how these macro-level injustices are reflected in micro-level processes. This project uses critical interactionism and stigma theory to explore the potential implications for racialized identity construction and the development of 'criminalized subjectivity' among Black undergraduate students at a predominately white institution of higher education in the Midwest. This study utilizes semi-structured interviews to not just gauge the implications of racial stigma and criminalization on micro-level identity construction but also how understandings of these issues can change across space and over the course of one's life. This was rooted in a continual process of awakenings, reflection, and interactions with participants gaining more complex appreciation of their racial identities as they grew older. Students also were increasingly aware of racial stigma and criminalization as a social fact but did not internalize it as a true reflection of who they were as people. Sensitivity to membership in a criminally stigmatized racial group was also shaped by perception and anticipation of navigating spaces. University life also became a site of these processes; college-aged peer groups served as important sites of collective identity-building and students juxtaposed space and region in ways that reinforced subjective sensitivity to being in a racially stigmatized group. This research contributes to scholarship that applies a critical lens to Goffmanian stigma rooted in Black sociology and from the perspectives of the stigmatized themselves.Includes bibliographical references

The Role of Knowledge of Racist History and Identity in Perception of Racism

European Americans tend to perceive less racism in America, and see ongoing racism as a less likely source of existing racial disparities, than do African Americans. Most research that investigates group differences in perception of racism has focused primarily on motivational explanations for observed differences: specifically, that African Americans or European Americans experience ego-defensive motivations to perceive or deny racism, respectively (Adams et al, 2006) Without denying identity-relevant motivations as a source of differences in perception of racism, this study considers the additional hypothesis that differences in perception of racism can also reflect a difference in knowledge of racism in U.S. History. In the present study, African American and European American participants (N=309) indicated their knowledge of American history (positive and racist), perception of racism (isolated and systemic), and identity (ethnic and national collective self esteem). I used a signal detection measurement paradigm that included both consensually "true" events and fabricated (but plausible) events to distinguish accuracy from racism-expectant or other schema-driven responding. This study was successful at illustrating that even with a new, more stringent measure, racial differences in perception of racism can be accounted for by racial differences in knowledge of racist history. Results also support my secondary hypotheses that racial differences in perception of racism are particularly strong for perception of racism in systemic manifestations compared to isolated, individual events and that ethnic identity moderates the relationship between race and perception of systemic racism

The Invisible Walls of The 606: An Examination of the Relationship Between an Urban Greenway and Community Change

With much of the United State population now choosing to live, work, and recreate in urban locations, cities across the county have begun to look for ways to increase green space to meet the ever-growing demand of residents. One way this has been done is through the integration of urban greenways. Unlike other green spaces, these contemporary corridors are constructed in a manner that they directly traverse both densely populated residential communities and commercial spaces. By being built into the fabric of residential areas, these corridors connect residents who often vary in terms of race, socio-economic status, and culture. While these greenways have been shown to provide traversed communities with numerous benefits, the positive impacts resulting with greenway assimilation may not be equally distributed to communities of color and their residents. Research has shown that in urban settings communities of color and parks located within their boundaries are often avoided by White residents based on preconceived notions of neighborhood crime and disorder. This avoidance results in segregation and social isolation. Additionally, research has shown that the integration of a park or green space into a community of color may represent a threat to neighborhood culture and serve as a catalyst for neighborhood change. However, due to their contemporary nature, the effects of urban greenways on communities of color have been largely understudied and thus in need of additional research. The purpose of this study was to better understand how the integration of Chicago’s 606, an urban greenway on the city’s northwest side, into the Puerto Rican neighborhood of Humboldt Park was altering the social and structural environments in and around the community. In examining these components, the study highlights and provides insight for city leaders and park officials looking to assimilate similar corridors into their cityscape. This mixed method study included quantitative and qualitative approaches to assess use patterns and the experiences of trail users and neighborhood residents. Findings indicate that urban greenways may present a paradox for the neighborhoods in which they are integrated. The 606 had utility in lowering crime, increasing access for minority residents, and providing a safe space for both active and passive recreation. However, it also demonstrated that stigma associated with minorities and the spaces they occupy, in this case Humboldt Park, had the ability to perpetuate exclusionary practices, resource disparities, and sustain inequities between communities. The study also found that The 606 represented a threat to the Humboldt Park community, providing an entry point for White newcomers and an instrument for developers to accelerate green gentrification. This study fills an existing research gap related to urban greenways and their relationship with urban communities. While the study demonstrated that urban greenways may benefit communities of color, it also showed that these benefits may be inequitable and terse. As the popularity for parks and greenways of this sort increases, more research is needed to better understand the positive and negative impacts on proximate environments

Singing to exist. Narratives and trajectories of African and Afro-descendant rappers in Lisbon

The educational achievement gap between white native students and their African and Afro descendant peers has been widely studied and explained by transnational studies. Perceived discrimination has been pointed out as a predictor for academic disengagement in minority groups. Discrimination is also related to low well-being and involvement in risk behaviors. While much research has shed light on the origins of racial discrimination — which, in the Portuguese context, stems from a long history of colonialism and denial — studies on coping strategies to stigma are limited in Portugal. However, some research has highlighted the positive effects of rap music in psychological well-being for marginalized youth. This study explores, through semi - structured interviews, the narratives of eleven male African and Afro descendant youngsters from the cities of Sintra and Amadora who use rap music as means of expression. A thematic analysis was conducted to analyze the data. The testimonies suggest that the youngsters found in rap music the place of belonging that the educational system failed to provide. Results, limitations and suggestions for future research and educational policies are discussed.O fosso educacional entre os estudantes nativos brancos e os seus pares africanos e afrodescendentes tem sido amplamente estudado e explicado por estudos transnacionais. A discriminação percecionada tem sido sublinhada como um preditor de desinteresse académico em grupos minoritários. A discriminação está, ainda, relacionada com o baixo bem-estar e com o envolvimento em comportamentos de risco. Embora muita investigação tenha posto o foco nas origens da discriminação racial — a qual, no contexto português, advém de uma longa história de colonialismo e negação — os estudos sobre as estratégias para combater o estigma são limitados em Portugal. No entanto, algumas investigações têm salientado os efeitos positivos da música rap no bem-estar psicológico da juventude marginalizada. Este estudo explora, através de entrevistas semiestruturadas, as narrativas de onze jovens africanos e afrodescendentes das cidades de Sintra e Amadora que utilizam a música rap como meio de expressão. Foi realizada uma análise temática para analisar os dados. Os testemunhos sugerem que os jovens encontraram na música rap o lugar de pertença que o sistema educacional não conseguiu proporcionar. Os resultados, limitações e sugestões para futuras pesquisas e políticas educacionais são discutidos