Advocacy Plan
As discussed in my Servant Leadership upload, Black women face unique challenges in the workplace, such as discrimination and racialized sexism (Bell & Nkomo, 2003). This can lead Black women to hide their identities so that they do not cause any conflicts at work. Fighting against this workplace discrimination against women of color is an area of advocacy that I am passionate about, especially because I have worked for organizations where I have never heard mention of diversity, discrimination, or preventing sexual harassment. I think that one way to directly combat these workplace struggles would be to start conversations about these issues at my place of work, because I know that there are several employees who are women of color. From there, I would like to gather ideas from these women and present them to our supervisors, with the goal of starting company-wide conversations about issues of diversity, specifically the concerns of our African-American women employees. If this plan for advocacy is successful, African-American women employees would report feeling understood and supported at work, and all employees would be able to collaborate and communicate in a culturally competent manner.
Reference:
Bell, E. L. J. E., & Nkomo, S. M. (2003). Our separate ways: Black and white women and the struggle for professional identity. Diversity Factor, 11(1), 11.
Servant Leadership
Black women face daily oppression and discrimination in society, and often feel like they need to keep quiet about this in order to prevent conflict. Further, Black women may feel at odds with White women, because as women of color, they face more and different issues than White women, especially in the workplace (Bell & Nkomo, 2003). In the workplace, Black women feel as if they need to hide their identity as women of color so that their coworkers feel comfortable with them. I think that an important step I could make to help lessen the discrimination Black women experience in the workplace and increase the awareness that White women have regarding the environments Black women face would be to form a group for working women of all backgrounds to meet and talk about these issues. From what I have learned while talking to women of color, White women are generally unaware, or simply ignore, the racialized sexism that Black women face. Creating a safe and open group for all working women could help to foster an understanding and supportive environment to discuss issues that Black women face in the workforce. To ensure that the needs of all group members are being met, I would seek out African American women to lead the discussion of the group, so that the conversations are targeting their needs and concerns specifically. If this group were effective, I would expect group members to report that they feel higher levels of understanding, perceived support, and compassion from the other group members, regardless of race or ethnicity. Finally, I would take the things I learned from this group and apply them to my own actions in the workplace.
Reference:
Bell, E. L. J. E., & Nkomo, S. M. (2003). Our separate ways: Black and white women and the struggle for professional identity. Diversity Factor, 11(1), 11.
Strengths-Based Needs
Black women have historically found strength through community and spiritual connections, which are often intertwined (Thomas, Crook, & Cobia, 2009). These connections are important for counselors to be aware of, for example, while counseling Black women in issues related to sexuality. Learning about the client’s personal relationships with both spirituality and feelings of community can provide a good starting point for directions in counseling. Focusing on these areas of strength for Black women can help grow the relationship between counselor and client, and provide the client with areas outside of counseling that she can turn to for support. The image I have chosen represents the strength that Black women can find within relationships with each other that are often grounded in faith-related and spiritual environments. Learning about one of the strengths that this population has provided me with new understanding on how I can approach counseling Black women in the future.
Systemic Challenges
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the babies of Black women have been shown to have a much higher infant mortality rate than babies with White mothers (2016). This could be because Black women experience their pregnancy differently, which includes a difference in the healthcare services that they receive during pregnancy. In general, White women receive maternal services earlier in their pregnancy, and are more likely to receive behavior education during pregnancy, such as smoking cessation advice (Mayberry, Mili, & Ofili, 2000). The same evidence also indicates that access to healthcare matters less than previously thought. This could mean that simply being pregnant while Black puts a woman at a disadvantage because of the oppression she faces from society, which could be detrimental to the baby. More research should be done to determine more tangible reasons for this disparity, so that measures can be taken to reduce it. Seeing how greatly the infant mortality rate differs according to race was a huge shock for me, because I did not want to believe that systemic racism could have an effect on unborn children. This has continued my process of change resulting from the immersion project by opening my eyes to the far-reaching consequences of systemic racism.
References:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018, August 03). Reproductive Health. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/MaternalInfantHealth/InfantMortality.htm.
Mayberry, R. M., Mili, F., & Ofili, E. (2000). Racial and ethnic differences in access to medical care. Medical Care Research and Review, 57(1), 108-145.
Annotated Bibliography
Thomas, C. M., Crook, T. M., & Cobia, D. C. (2009). Counseling African American women: Let’s talk about sex! The Family Journal, 17(1), 69–76. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/10.1177/1066480708328565
The purpose of this article was to provide counselors with culturally appropriate ways to counsel African American women with respect to sexuality and sexual practices. The authors note that it is important for counselors to have an understanding the sexual practices among African American women because this group is disproportionately affected by the rising rates HIV/AIDs. Additionally, counselors must take into account the socialization of African American women when it comes to sex. In this population, sex is often framed as something that can only happen during marriage, and that sexual abuse is perpetrated only by strangers. The authors argue that when counseling African American women about topics relating to sexuality, the counselor must proceed in a way that is congruent with their culture. For example, spirituality is particularly important in the lives of this population, and women often use their spirituality to help recover from instances of sexual abuse. Incorporating the client’s spirituality into the counseling process for this issue could be constructive. As a whole, the authors recommend that when counseling African American women about issues of sexuality, the counselor needs to be aware of the barriers against talking about sexual issues, aware of his or her own beliefs about sexual practices, and able to appropriately broach the topic of sexuality with the client. Overall, this article provides a good starting point for counselors seeking information about how to counsel this population in general.
Trahan, D. P., Jr., & Lemberger, M. E. (2014). Critical race theory as a decisional framework for the ethical counseling of African American clients. Counseling and Values, 59(1), 112–124. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/10.1002/j.2161-007X.2014.00045.x
In this article, the authors use critical race theory (CRT) as an outline for counselors to refer to when counseling African American clients. In reviewing the literature around the topic, the authors draw attention to the fact that race does indeed matter when counseling a client of a diverse background. Current ethical standards may not be as inclusive as they should be, so counselors must educate themselves about each client’s racial background in order to make ethical decisions throughout the counseling process. It is important to realize that no matter how much a counselor intends to be culturally-competent, he or she must reflect on how internal, socialized biases still affect his or her approach to counseling. This means that the counselor should “prioritize race in the counseling relationship” (p. 115) so that racism does not negatively affect the process. The authors note that according to CRT, minority groups (like African Americans) will always be subordinate to the society’s majority group in both power and privilege. Because of this, it is necessary for a white counselor working with an African American client to understand that this is why the client may be hesitant to open up at first. The authors recommend that the counselor encourages the client to use narrative storytelling to describe experiences of racism, so that the counselor gains a holistic understanding of the client’s worldview. This article presents an effective and current model for counselors to use when making decisions while counseling African American clients.
Weist, M. D., Kinney, L., Taylor, L. K., Pollitt-Hill, J., Bryant, Y., Anthony, L., & Wilkerson, J. (2014). African American and White women’s experience of sexual assault and services for sexual assault. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 23(9), 901–916. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/10.1080/10926771.2014.953715
The premise of this study was to determine how the needs of African American and white female survivors of sexual assault (SA) compare. The authors note that previous literature has found that African American women are less likely than white women to seek help after experiencing a sexual assault, and that this might not be the result of difference in availability of help. Instead, this difference is likely due to cultural considerations. The study was conducted with 213 women (133 African American and 80 white) who were sexual assault survivors. The data was gathered through face-to-face interviews in which the interviewer was matched with the interviewee on both gender and race. The interviews followed a scripted questionnaire. The results of the study show that African American women “were less likely to receive services at SA centers, and were less likely to receive mental health counseling” (p. 911). The authors conclude that this is consistent with previous findings, and warrants further research. This study unfortunately did not provide any new or surprising information, perhaps because of a lack of statistical power. However, these findings are still important, as they show that African American women may not be getting the counseling help that they need after experiencing a sexual assault.
Ward, E. C., Clark, L. O., & Heidrich, S. (2009). African American women’s beliefs, coping behaviors, and barriers to seeking mental health services. Qualitative Health Research, 19(11), 1589–1601. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/10.1177/1049732309350686
The purpose of this study was to examine the beliefs held by African American women relating to mental illness, coping strategies, and barriers to treatment seeking. The literature the authors review points to experiences like the Tuskegee Experiments that were important in shaping the way that African Americans view seeking health care services. The stigma against mental illness in the African American population may also play a role in the decisions that African Americans make regarding seeking mental health services. African Americans may be more likely to use coping strategies involving social support from family, friends, and church before finding professional help. The study was conducted with 15 African American women ranging from 25-85 years old. The researchers used the Common Sense Model to formulate interview questions that were asked in a face-to-face setting. The CSM model outlines seven dimensions of illness representations: “identity, cause, timeline, consequences, cure or controllability, illness coherence, and emotional representation” (p. 1591). The results of the study show that the participants view consequences of mental illness to be very severe, that a particularly important coping behavior involved support networks such as religious groups, and that they perceive discrimination towards individuals with mental health issues as a barrier to seeking help. This study was small due to the depth of each interview, so having a larger number of participants could yield more information about systematic barriers to seeking help. Overall, the article highlights the need to eliminate the stigma around mental illness among African Americans.
Abrams, J. A., Hill, A., & Maxwell, M. (2018). Underneath the mask of the strong black woman schema: Disentangling influences of strength and self-silencing on depressive symptoms among U.S. Black women. Sex Roles. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/10.1007/s11199-018-0956-y
This article discusses the way that the schema of the “Strong Black Woman” (SBW) can affect the mental health of African American females. The SBW schema refers to the perceived resilience, strength, and independence of African American women. This schema may be related to the presence of depression, anxiety, and disordered eating in response to the enormous psychological pressure that a SBW experiences. These psychological issues in African American women have consequences not just for the individual, but also for her family and community. On top of this, African American women may be less likely to seek out help for mental health issues. Furthermore, the SBW schema leads to women self-silencing, choosing to remain quiet about problems in order to prevent relationship issues or stigma. The goal of the study conducted was to determine how the schema leads to depressive symptomology. This study utilized 194 college students and community members who identified as Strong Black Women. The college student participants took the survey online, and the community member participants took the survey by paper-and-pencil. The survey included questions about life and health experiences as an African American woman. The results show that self-silencing mediates the relationship between feeling obligated to show present a strong front and depressive symptoms. This provides valuable information that can be used in the counseling setting. Counselors should be aware of the implications of the SBW schema when working with female African American clients—counselors should work on unraveling the impacts of the schema with the client before trying to alleviate symptoms. This study provides important information about the cultural experience of African American women that counselors can use during interventions.