Chapter 8 A JEDI Lecture: Promoting Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Research

Screencasted Lecture Link

This lesson introduces a collection of guidelines from the American Psychological Association that address research, education, and practice as it relates to individuals with marginalized identities. After introducing these guidelines broadly, my lesson and lecture focus on the elements that specifically address research.

8.1 Navigating this Lesson

There is about 1 hour of lecture.

8.1.1 Learning Objectives

Learning objectives from this lecture include the following:

• Describe APA’s position on social justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in research.
• Recognize ways that psychological research has contributed to marginalization and inequity.
• Identify ways to design a research project so that it contributes to these larger goals.
• Access the host of practice guidelines and return to them when they may be useful in professional development.

8.1.2 Readings & Resources

In preparing this chapter, I drew heavily from the following resource(s). Other resources are cited (when possible, linked) in the text with complete citations in the reference list. Together these articles are an incredible resource for understanding the history of the issue(s) in the profession and getting a sense of theory, research, and prior practices. They are a great reference place if you are seeking to research in these areas.

• American Psychological Association, APA Task Force on Race and Ethnicity Guidelines in Psychology. (2019). Race and Ethnicity Guidelines in Psychology: Promoting Responsiveness and Equity. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/about/policy/guidelines-race-ethnicity.pdf
  • I primarily draw from pages 3-7 (Introduction), 10-15.5 (Fundamental Guidelines), 27-33 (Research Guidelines)
• Multicultural Guidelines: An Ecological Approach to Context, Identity, and Intersectionality, 2017: (501962018-001). (2017). [Data set]. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/e501962018-001 Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/about/policy/multicultural-guidelines.pdf
• American Psychological Association. (2012). Guidelines for psychological practice with lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients. American Psychologist, 67(1), 10–42. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024659
• American Psychological Association. (2015). Guidelines for psychological practice with transgender and gender nonconforming people. American Psychologist, 70(9), 832–864. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039906

8.2 Some Context

APA creates (via task forces) and approves (via a process involving a task force, divisional input, and multiple layers of review, finally approved by the Council of Representatives) a variety of professional practice guidelines that are freely and publicly available.

There are a couple of distinctions that are important when considering the information provided in the guidelines:

First, are they aspirational or mandatory?

• Standards (like the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct) are mandatory • Guidelines are aspirational and informative regarding practice considerations.

Second, are they for the practitioner or the client:

• Treatment guidelines are client-focused and address intervention-specific recommendations for clinical populations or conditions. • Practice guidelines are practitioner-focus and provide guidance for clinical practice, education, research, and consultation

The Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice, and Organizational Change for Psychologists were first released in (Association, 2002).

In recent years, with explicit acknowledgment that the U.S. is increasingly diverse and that we are at a “different period in time,” multiple guidelines have been produced and are guided by a foundation of intersectionality. Thus, the 2017 multicultural guidelines (Re-envisioning the Multicultural Guidelines for the 21st Century, 2017):

• Are conceptually grounded in a Bronfenbrenner style model with five concentric circles: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem, • Recognize three dynamic process that influence the model: power/privilege, tensions, fluidity. • Highlight intersectionality that is “shaped by the multiplicity of the individual’s social contexts.”

Below, I list each of the six guidelines and outline the concrete, practical recommendations associated within the applications to research subsection (Re-envisioning the Multicultural Guidelines for the 21st Century, 2017). These are my paraphrases – and, because I provided the citation in this paragraph, I do not provide secondary citations. Also, in many of these subsections the Task Force makes recommendations for research topics. I do not list those.

Guideline 1. Psychologists seek to recognize and understand that identity and self-definition are fluid and complex and that the interaction between the two is dynamic. To this end, psychologists appreciate that intersectionality is shaped by the multiplicity of the individual’s social contexts.

• Research often looks “downstream” for cause (i.e., individual behavior that may be associated with a social category membership) when we can also look “upstream” for macro societal processes that define systems of social inequality (laws, cultural mores, institutional practices, public policies).
• Quantitative and qualitative can be used effectively to answer some of these questions.
• That said, qualitative and/or mixed methods may be more sensitive to social complexities because of the use of open-ended versus checkboxes; grounded/emergent rather than a priori theory.
• If engaged in scholar-activism or participatory action research, be mindful that the project isn’t just serving those on the “scholar side of the equation.”
• Consider self-identification of demographic data. Recognize multiple identities.

Guideline 2. Psychologists aspire to recognize and understand that as cultural beings, they hold attitudes and beliefs that can influence their perceptions of and interactions with others as well as their clinical and empirical conceptualizations. As such, psychologists strive to move beyond conceptualizations rooted in categorical assumptions, biases, and/or formulations based on limited knowledge about individuals and communities.

• Be cognizant and responsive to how design, methodology, and data analysis are shaped by personal worldviews and assumptions.
• Culturally informed empirical studies strive for collaboration (valuing the perspectives and sociocultural locations and identities of research participants) and self-reflexivity on the part of the researcher.

Guideline 3. Psychologists strive to recognize and understand the role of language and communication through engagement that is sensitive to the lived experience of the individual, couple, family, group, community, and/or organizations with whom they interact. Psychologists also seek to understand how they bring their own language and communication to these interactions.

• Culturally adapt measures, research questions, practices (not stated in the article, but [Byrne, 2016] outlines an entire process of culturally adapting measures).
• Informed consent should be provided in the participants’ primary language.
• Incorporate members of the community in all aspects of the research planning and implementation.

Guideline 4. Psychologists endeavor to be aware of the role of the social and physical environment in the lives of clients, students, research participants, and/or consultees.

• A 1946 call for community action research and practice remains the article’s recommendation.
• Not mentioned in the article, multi-level (statistics) approaches that can accommodate individual- and contextual- level inputs in the same analysis can be useful.

Guideline 5. Psychologists aspire to recognize and understand historical and contemporary experiences with power, privilege, and oppression. As such, they seek to address institutional barriers and related inequities, disproportionalities, and disparities of law enforcement, administration of criminal justice, educational, mental health, and other systems as they seek to promote justice, human rights, and access to quality and equitable mental and behavioral health services.

• Leverage methodological diversity. For example, pair quantitative methods with qualitative, discovery-oriented, and/or community-based participatory approaches.
• Establish relationships with community partners to collect and analyze data with and from those communities.
• As more research is published, employ meta-analysis to draw broader conclusions.
• Comparative research between dominant and non-dominant help-seeking individuals may be used to better understand differences in health care and, in particular, identify unique demographic patterns that correlate with mental health disparities.

Guideline 6. Psychologists seek to promote culturally adaptive interventions and advocacy within and across systems, including prevention, early intervention, and recovery.

• Foster the development of culture-centered interventions.
• Seek to include research participants who are diverse across multicultural variables.
• Develop/adapt research measures for multicultural contexts.
• Document the evaluation/adaptation of evidence based treatments (EBTs) to culturally and linguistically diverse contexts.

Guideline 7. Psychologists endeavor to examine the profession’s assumptions and practices within an international context, whether domestically or internationally based, and consider how this globalization has an impact on the psychologist’s self-definition, purpose, role, and function.

• Contribute to a global helping paradigm that links psychology, psychotherapy, and indigenous healing across national boundaries.
• International communities may have no (or different) regulatory standards. In this case, consult with local NGOs, health clinics, and stakeholders to abide by both by U.S. (IRB) and local standards.

Guideline 8. Psychologists seek awareness and understanding of how developmental stages and life transitions intersect with the larger biosociocultural context, how identity evolves as a function of such intersections, and how these different socialization and maturation experiences influence worldview and identity.

• Pay close attention and inform themselves of the intersectional considerations that participants present. How do these influence interpretations of findings regarding self, identity, group membership, and the consistency of presentation across groups of a psychological phenomena or concept?
• A qualitative component may help unravel this.

Guideline 9. Psychologists strive to conduct culturally appropriate and informed research, teaching, supervision, consultation, assessment, interpretation, diagnosis, dissemination, and evaluation of efficacy as they address the first four levels of the Layered Ecological Model of the Multicultural Guidelines.

• Recognize the limited generalizability of random clinical trials (RCTs); this may reduce the effectiveness of evidence based treatments (EBTs) with diverse groups.
• Review culturally adapted interventions or evidence of fidelity to the original approach.

Guideline 10. Psychologists actively strive to take a strength-based approach when working with individuals, families, groups, communities, and organizations that seeks to build resilience and decrease trauma within the sociocultural context.

• Determine and employ local definitions of resilience and other strengths-based outcomes.
• Recognize how these definitions change as a function of intersecting identities (e.g., sex, gender roles).
• And again: quant + qual.

..before leaving this article, check out the 65+ pages of reference and the extensive appendices (definitions, case studies).

8.3 Race and Ethnicity Guidelines in Psychology: Promoting Responsiveness and Equity (2019)

The lecture continues with a focus on the 2019 race and ethnicity guidelines (Race and Ethnicity Guidelines in Psychology, 2019). Because these are the central focus of the lecture and my hope is that you will check access them directly, I have intentionally not written additional notes.

8.4 Specific Guidelines for Research in Related Guidelines

The following research-related guideline is from the Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Clients (American Psychological Association, 2012).

Guideline 21. In the use and dissemination of research on sexual orientation and related issues, psychologists strive to represent results fully and accurately and to be mindful of the potential misuse or misrepresentation of research findings.

• Be aware of the potential influence of overt and covert bias
• Exercise care that reports are thorough and that limitations are fully disclosed and discussed
• Remember that there are subgroups within LGBTQ+ communities that are not included in research samples; take their absence into consideration when applying/discussing findings
• Be extra careful when citing/quoting research findings from third parties
• Avoid false or deceptive statements; accurately publish research results
• Remember that media outlets lack psychological training; emphasize to journalists the complexity and limitations of research findings

Another research-specific guideline is from the Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming People (American Psychological Association, 2015).

Guideline 15. Psychologists respect the welfare and rights of TGNC participants in research and strive to represent results accurately and avoid misuse or misrepresentation of findings.

• Provide a range of options for capturing demographic information about TGNC people so that TGNC people may be included and accurately represented. One group recommends
  • First asking sex assigned at birth
  • Following with a question about gender identity
• Because the TGNC population may be hard to reach (geographically dispersed, diverse, stigmatized, hidden), consider collaborative research methods such as participatory action research in which the members are integrally involved.
• Be cautious with media. Journalists may have limited knowledge about the scientific method and there is potential for misinterpretation, exploitation, sensationalization.

References

American Psychological Association. (2012). Guidelines for psychological practice with lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients. American Psychologist, 67(1), 10–42. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024659

American Psychological Association. (2015). Guidelines for psychological practice with transgender and gender nonconforming people. American Psychologist, 70(9), 832–864. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039906

Association, A. P. (2002). Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice, and Organizational Change for Psychologists. https://www.apa.org/about/policy/multicultural-guidelines-archived.pdf

Race and Ethnicity Guidelines in Psychology, A. T. F. on. (2019). APA Guidelines on Race and Ethnicity in Psychology. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/about/policy/guidelines-race-ethnicity.pdf

Re-envisioning the Multicultural Guidelines for the 21st Century, T. F. on. (2017). Multicultural Guidelines: An Ecological Approach to Context, Identity, and Intersectionality (Nos. 501962018-001). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/e501962018-001