The social construction of violence among Northern Plains tribal members with antisocial personality disorder and alcohol use disorder

Whereas recent reports from national studies have presented extremely high rates for many personality disorders in American Indian communities, persistent concerns about the meaning of these symptoms have left many troubled by these reports. American Indians as a group are known to suffer disproportionately from a number of violent experiences, but the dynamics of this violence have received little attention. This paper examines perspectives on violence in the lives of 15 northern plains tribal members who met criteria for antisocial personality disorder and comorbid alcohol use disorder. It explores how study participants constructed and understood their own violent encounters, as well as the motivations they described (characterized here as reputation, leveling, retaliation, catharsis, and self-defense). Violence was gendered in this study, with men generally presenting as perpetrators and women as victims. Men often described themselves as ready participants in a violent world, while women were quite clear that aggression for them was often simply required as they tried to defend themselves from male violence. While this analysis does not replace clinical analyses of violence in antisocial personality disorder, it does reveal an underlying cultural logic that may play a role in shaping the recourse to violence for that minority of individuals for whom it appears to be the obvious choice.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Mapping the Dynamic Complexity of Sexual and Gender Minority Healthcare Disparities: A Systems Thinking Approach

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations experience extensive health disparities compared to their straight and cisgender counterparts. The importance of addressing these disparities is paramount, as SGM groups often encounter significant barriers to accessing comprehensive healthcare, including societal stigma, provider bias, and financial constraints. This study utilizes a community-based system dynamics approach to understand and visualize the barriers to and facilitators of healthcare engagement for SGM groups across their life course. It aims to identify core constructs, relationships, and dynamic feedback mechanisms related to the experiences of connection/disconnection with physical, mental, and dental healthcare of SGM individuals. Barriers to access, such as discriminatory practices and the limited availability of SGM-informed healthcare professionals, exacerbate these disparities, underscoring the urgency of developing targeted interventions. System dynamics, a complex systems science (CSS) methodology, was used for this research. Group model building sessions were conducted with diverse SGM groups, including youth, older adults, and trans and gender-expansive community members. Causal loop diagrams were developed according to an iterative process, and a meta-model of their collective experiences was created. The study revealed extensive, dynamic, and shifting structural barriers for SGM community members accessing healthcare. Societal and structural stigma, provider bias, and pathologization were identified as significant barriers throughout their life course. Community-led interventions and SGM-focused holistic healthcare were identified as critical facilitators of SGM healthcare connection. The findings highlight the need for SGM-affirming and culturally responsive healthcare settings. This paper calls for a concerted effort from SGM health researchers to use CSS in developing interventions to reduce SGM health disparities

Scoping review of transgender and gender diverse older adults’ experiences of health protocol

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/167690/1/Trans Aging Review Protocol.docxDescription of Trans Aging Review Protocol.docx : ProtocolSEL

Using Community-Based Participatory Research to Address Health Disparities

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) has emerged in the past decades as an alternative research paradigm, which integrates education and social action to improve health and reduce health disparities. More than a set of research methods, CBPR is an orientation to research that focuses on relationships between academic and community partners, with principles of colearning, mutual benefit, and long-term commitment and incorporates community theories, participation, and practices into the research efforts. As CBPR matures, tensions have become recognized that challenge the mutuality of the research relationship, including issues of power, privilege, participation, community consent, racial and/or ethnic discrimination, and the role of research in social change. This article focuses on these challenges as a dynamic and ever-changing context of the researcher-community relationship, provides examples of these paradoxes from work in tribal communities, discusses the evidence that CBPR reduces disparities, and recommends transforming the culture of academia to strengthen collaborative research relationships