Gender-based bullying is the most common form of violence that students encounter in U.S. public schools. Several large-scale surveys reveal its consequences for students. Fewer studies examine how ...school staff members make sense of and respond to such violence. The authors address this knowledge gap by presenting analyses of interviews conducted with high school faculty and staff. Synthesizing sociological studies of violence and positioning theory, the authors illuminate the webs of relationships and cultural narratives in which school staff responses to gender-based bullying are situated. The authors find that, although school staff members felt compelled to intervene when male students sexually harassed quiet girls, they were reluctant to intervene in abusive heterosexual dating relationships and were ambivalent about their responsibility toward gay and lesbian targets of bullying. The authors argue for expanding prevention efforts beyond intervention to engage school staff in critically examining sexist and heterosexist roles, norms, and practices.
Although most sexual harassment research has focused on women, men also are targets of sexual harassment, particularly in military settings. Building on the existing literature on women, the present ...study examines race and rank in the sexual harassment experiences of 1,925 Black and White men in the U.S. military. The results indicated that Black men reported more overall sexual harassment in the past year than White men, and that this relationship was mediated by rank. More frequent sexual harassment was associated with reporting more work role limitations and lower coworker satisfaction. However, these relationships were moderated by race. Specifically, the relationship between more sexual harassment and greater work role limitations was stronger for Black men than White men. In contrast, the relationship between more sexual harassment and lower coworker satisfaction was stronger for White men than Black men. Results are discussed in terms of social and occupational status and work roles for men in the military context.
This study examined the sexual harassment (SH) and racial harassment (RH) experiences of Asian, Black, multiracial, and White male and female college students (N = 2,009). Research questions were (a) ...Do sex and race influence the frequency of SH and RH; (b) Do SH and RH have unique, additive, and/or interactive effects on psychological outcomes; and (c) Do sex and race moderate the relationship between SH/RH and psychological well-being? Analyses indicated that SH/RH frequency varied as a result of one's combined sex-race identity, SH/RH had individual, additive, and interactive effects on psychological well-being, and both sex and race moderate the relationships between harassment and well-being. Further, three-way interactions of sex, race, and harassment type were found for the prediction of well-being indicators.
This paper discusses a methodological approach to research that enhances critical analysis by contextualizing qualitative research findings within participants' individual experiences. We demonstrate ...the combined use of life history methods and feminist narrative analysis to explore Black women's everyday experiences with mental illness, from their perspectives. These interpretive methods reach beyond pathologized conceptions of identity and adjustment that often narrowly characterize mental illness among Black women. Instead, these methods holistically describe a participant's experiences and strategies she uses to pursue goals and enhance her life. The use of the methods is illustrated with examples from the life narrative of "Maria," a Black woman living with serious mental illness. Our findings underscore the need for rigorous, culturally appropriate methods and further research to evaluate participants' standpoints and needs, and interventions to facilitate understanding and improved outcomes. Adapted from the source document.
Empirical research on the chronic pain experience of older African Americans is scarce. Here, the authors examined the influence psychosocial indicators have on the pain experience in a sample of ...older African Americans. Data were collected from African Americans (N = 247) 50 to 96 years of age (69.4 ± 9.4). All participants provided self-report data on pain indicators, demographic characteristics, social (social support, locus of control, life satisfaction) variables, and depression. Those reporting higher levels of social support and depressive symptoms experienced greater pain intensity. Pain had an indirect effect on depression as mediated through life satisfaction.These findings demonstrate the need to focus more on the means to prevent and treat pain and to ameliorate its impact on social well-being, psychological functioning, and quality of life in older adults in general and older minority adults in particular.
Frightened or Bothered Settles, Isis H.; Harrell, Zaje A. T.; Buchanan, NiCole T. ...
Social Psychological and Personality Science,
11/2011, Letnik:
2, Številka:
6
Book Review, Journal Article
Recenzirano
The present study distinguishes between bothersome versus frightening sexual harassment appraisals and examines their relative strength as mediators of the relationship of sexual harassment intensity ...and perpetrator status with psychological distress. Using a sample of 6,304 men and women in the U.S. Armed Forces, the results indicated that sexual harassment intensity and perpetrator status were related to psychological distress. For men, bothersome appraisals mediated this relationship for two of the three sexual harassment subtypes examined and for perpetrator status; for women, bothersome appraisal was not a significant mediator. Frightening appraisals mediated the relationship for all sexual harassment subtypes and perpetrator status for both men and women, and accounted for significantly more of the relationship between sexual harassment intensity and distress than did bothersome appraisals for most analyses. However, mediating relationships were significantly stronger for men than for women. We discuss the utility of a multidimensional conceptualization of sexual harassment appraisals.
Although previous research has linked sexual harassment to negative psychological outcomes, few studies have focused on moderators of these relationships. The present study surveyed Black (n = 88) ...and White (n = 170) female undergraduates who endorsed experiences of sexual harassment to examine whether traditional gender attitudes differentially moderated the relationship between sexual harassment and three outcomes: posttraumatic stress symptoms, general clinical symptoms, and satisfaction with life. We replicated past findings that sexual harassment is related to negative outcomes. Further, the results supported our hypothesis that less traditional gender attitudes (i.e., more feminist attitudes) would buffer the negative effects of sexual harassment for White women, whereas the same attitudes would exacerbate its negative effects for Black women. We discuss reasons for these differences, including Black women's double consciousness and differences in the meaning of feminist and traditional gender attitudes for Black and White women.
A recent study found that attentional control is a key mechanism that accounts for the association between discriminatory experiences and health outcomes in Black women. We replicate and extend this ...finding by testing the mediating role of attentional control in the association between discrimination and symptoms of anxiety and depression symptoms. A total of 128 Black women completed an online survey that assessed experiences of discrimination, anxiety, depression and attentional control. Three models were conducted to examine associations between experiences of discrimination and three outcomes (worry, anxious arousal, and anhedonic depression), and whether attentional control mediated these effects. Our findings revealed that more frequent discrimination predicted less attentional control and heightened anxiety symptoms. In support of our hypotheses, we found that attentional control mediated the association between discrimination and anxious arousal and anhedonic depression. Attentional control did not mediate the association between experiences of discrimination and worry, however. Our findings dovetail with previous research suggesting that experiences of discrimination tax prefrontal regions associated with attentional control and could be a pathway that leads to somatic anxiety and depression. Our findings also amplify the need to assess experiences of discrimination in therapeutic assessment and intervention with Black women.
To date, scholars who investigate sexual harassment have been disturbingly silent about issues facing women of color. The current study describes results of a qualitative study of sexual and racial ...harassment conducted with 37 African American women. These data indicate that African American women cannot easily separate issues of race and gender when considering their personal accounts of victimization, which creates a form of racialized sexual harassment. Implications for practice and therapeutic interventions are presented.
ABSTRACT
Background: Peer sexual harassment is a significant social problem with consequences for both students and schools. Four out of 5 students report experiencing sexual harassment. These ...experiences have been linked to poor psychological health and academic withdrawal. Recognizing the seriousness of sexual harassment in schools, Supreme Court rulings have established school liability for known instances of sexual harassment under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Federal guidelines established by the Office for Civil Rights of the US Department of Education mandate schools to develop sexual harassment policies; however, the implementation of these guidelines has not been examined. Therefore, this study assessed the degree to which sexual harassment policies in primary and secondary schools adhered to said guidelines.
Methods: This study evaluated 784 primary and secondary school sexual harassment policies across 4 states on 3 key factors: accessibility to students (ie, via the Internet), consistency with federal guidelines regarding their content and the inclusion of 10 key components, and consistency of content across educational levels.
Results: Only 14% of sexual harassment policies were available online; the majority of policies incorporated only 5 of the 10 critical components, and elementary school policies contained significantly fewer components than all other educational levels.
Conclusions: The Internet is an underused resource for disseminating school sexual harassment policies to students. When policies are available, they rarely incorporate the key elements specified in the federal guidelines. Particularly troubling are the inaccessibility and incompleteness of elementary school policies. Greater attention to policy accessibility and comprehensiveness is needed.
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