1. Exploring experiences of microaggressions in personal, professional, and academic spaces
Makieya Kamara, MSW student
Ashley Davis, PhD, MSW
WheeBuild Community Day
February 28, 2017

2. Defining microaggressions
Pierce et al. (1978): ‘‘subtle, stunning, often automatic, and nonverbal exchanges which are ‘put-downs’ of blacks by offenders’’ (p. 66).
Sue et al. (2007): “brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative slights and insults toward members of oppressed groups” (p. 271).
Ross-Sheriff (2012) offers a “working definition” in the context of social work:
“Microaggressions are communications perpetrated by individuals or organizations that convey disrespect to the target individuals or groups. They may be overt or subtle. The conveyed hostility and the hurtful effect may be intentional or unintentional. They may be one-off or part of a pattern. Their effect is often to marginally reduce the confidence, self-esteem, or effectiveness of the target persons” (p. 234).

3. Perpetrated against target groups: Categories of diversity and difference as listed in Council on Social Work Education’s EPAS (2015):
age
political ideology
color
race
culture
religion/spirituality
disability/ability status
sex
ethnicity
sexual orientation
gender identity and expression
socio-economic status
tribal sovereign status
immigration status
veteran status
language spoken
marital status

4. 3 forms of racial microaggressions (Sue et al., 2007):
Microassaults: explicit racial derogation characterized primarily by verbal, nonverbal or environmental attack meant to hurt the intended victim through name calling, avoidant behavior, or purposeful discriminatory actions.
Microinsults: communications that convey rudeness and insensitivity and demean a person’s racial heritage or identity.
Microinvalidations: communications that exclude, negate, or nullify the psychological thoughts, feelings, or experiential reality of a person.

5. What are the effects on individuals from targeted groups?
Effects studied in several settings: therapy, clinical supervision, academia, university classrooms and environment, and the community
Implicated in poor physical health and mental health (e.g., anxiety, diminished self-esteem, diminished self-efficacy, etc.)
Led to discomfort and perceived hostility in the school environment
They “can produce psychological distress, sap spiritual energy, seriously impair relationships, and foster inequities for people of color” (Constantine & Sue, 2007).
“The pain of the experience is heightened by the isolation of not being able to share the experiences with White people, including friends and colleagues, for fear that they will dismiss, rationalize, or minimize the experience” (Greene & Blitz, 2012, p. 205).

6. Why do people perpetrate microaggressions?
Sometimes can be explained away as an act of rudeness, thoughtlessness, or bad manners that does not reflect bias (Greene & Blitz, 2012).
Insensitivity, misunderstanding, or simply ignorance (Ross-Sheriff, 2012).
Reflect larger culture: “smog in the air” (Tatum, 2007)
White people are socialized into Eurocentric values, beliefs, standards, and norms, which makes the perception of their power and privilege normative, and therefore invisible (Wong et al., 2014)

7. Transphobic microaggressions: Educational context (Austin, Craig, McInroy, 2016)
Experiences of 97 transgender SWK students highlighted barriers to trans-affirmative social work education:
The overarching lack of visibility of trans people, trans-focused education, and trans support in schools of social work.
When trans issues are finally recognized in the curricula, the trans experience is often pathologized, creating a negative and nonaffirming educational experience.
The extra burden placed implicitly or explicitly on trans students to teach, explain, or model trans issues

8. Racial microaggressions: Professional context (Constantine & Sue, 2007)
10 Black psychology supervisees described perceived racial microaggressions by White supervisors
Invalidating racial–cultural issues
Making stereotypic assumptions about Black clients or supervisees
Reluctance to give performance feedback for fear of being viewed as racist
Focusing primarily on clinical weaknesses
Blaming clients of color for problems stemming from oppression
Offering culturally insensitive treatment recommendations

9. What can justice-based social workers do?
“Call out” microaggressions that we witness
Make the invisible, visible
Name the unsettling feeling
Expect accountability and growth
Speak up, especially when you have privilege/power
Examine our own words and behavior
Expand our own awareness
Listen when confronted
Consider re-visiting a moment
Use supervision and peer support
Help clients understand their experience as a microaggression
Bear witness to the client’s story
Normalize their emotional response
Decrease isolation with empathy
Consider taking action, individually or collectively

10. References
Austin, A., Craig, S. L., & McInroy, L. B. (2016). Toward transgender affirmative social work education. Journal of Social Work Education, 52(3), Balsam, K. F., Molina, Y., Beadnell, B., Simoni, J., & Walters, K. (2011). Measuring multiple minority stress: the LGBT People of Color Microaggressions Scale. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 17(2), 163. Constantine, M. G., & Sue, D. W. (2007). Perceptions of racial microaggressions among Black supervisees in cross-racial dyads. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 54(2), 142. Greene, M. P., & Blitz, L. V. (2012). The elephant is not pink: Talking about white, black, and brown to achieve excellence in clinical practice. Clinical Social Work Journal, 40(2), Ross-Sheriff, F. (2012). Microaggression, women, and social work. Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work, 27(3) Sue, D. W., Capodilupo, C. M., Torino, G. C., Bucceri, J. M., Holder, A., Nadal, K. L., & Esquilin, M. (2007). Racial microaggressions in everyday life: Implications for clinical practice. American psychologist, 62(4), 271. Wong, G., Derthick, A. O., David, E. J. R., Saw, A., & Okazaki, S. (2014). The what, the why, and the how: A review of racial microaggressions research in psychology. Race and social problems, 6(2),

11. Silent reflection/journaling:
Feel free to write whatever comes to mind, or if prompts would be helpful, consider writing about:
A new idea that you just heard about
An idea that is already familiar to you
A feeling you are having
A question or dilemma that has come up for you

12. The roles we play:
Victim/target: when you are on the receiving end of a microaggression
Perpetrator: when you say or do something that is a microaggression towards someone else
Bystander: when you witness but do not interrupt a microaggression
Upstander/ally: when you witness and interrupt a microaggression