Minority Experience Research Articles

Engaging with Social Media to Spread the Gospel in Pandemic Times

Abstract This article engages with sociological and anthropological conversations about the digital experiences of cultural and religious minorities during the COVID-19 pandemic by investigating how some Pentecostal Gitanos seized the online world to spread the Gospel in Spain. The article features two ethnographic studies of my Pentecostal Gitano interlocutors. Modalities of digital religious engagement analyzed include testimonies, WhatsApp broadcast lists, praise songs, and praying. The article’s main argument is that the pandemic created a social media-enabled window of opportunity for some Gitano believers to reach out to new potential converts and claim online spaces for God. Extensive involvement in social media activities by Pentecostal Gitanos may also be understood as a tool to challenge and question an increasingly secular Spanish society that, during the pandemic, was perceived as dismissive of the spiritual aspects shaping the development of the global health crisis.

“What Kind of Migrant Are You?”—Iranian Migrants in the West, Racial Complexity and Myths of Belonging

In this article, I analyse the complexity of the status of “migrant” in relation to myths of belonging and what we call “home”. I look at status labels that Iranian border-crossers embrace after migrating to the Global North and the ways in which they practice adaptability in accordance with the systemic and structural meanings associated with their migration status and their racial complexity. Ethnic and Racial labels adopted by Iranian migrants can include “Persian”, “Iranian”, “Middle Eastern”, “White”, or “Aryan”, and migration status labels range from “migrant” to “refugees and asylum seekers”, “exiles”, “expats” etc. Using a mixed approach of digital ethnographies, autoethnography and textual analysis, together with an intersectional and decolonial lens, I investigate the ways in which migration status such as skilled categories are associated with not only “fitting” into the neoliberal and capitalist systems of border crossing but also “blending” into racial hierarchies and maintaining class status post migration within White contexts. This article takes an empathetic approach to the lived experiences of minority and racially complex migrants and emphasises the epistemic value of their narratives and the ways in which these stories can inform us about the covert systemic structural and racially loaded bias that exists within migration economies of the Global North.

Medical ambivalence and Long Covid: The disconnects, entanglements, and productivities shaping ethnic minority experiences in the UK

Structural violence - related to ‘isms’ like racism, sexism, and ableism – pertains to the ways in which social institutions harm certain groups. Such violence is critical to institutional indifference to the plight of ethnic minority people living with long-term health conditions. With only emergent literature on the lived experiences of ethnic minorities with Long Covid, we sought to investigate their experiences around the interplay of illness and structural vulnerabilities. Thirty-one semi-structured interviews with a range of UK-based participants of varying ethnic minorities, ages and socio-economic situations were undertaken online between June 2022 and June 2023. A constant comparison analysis was used to develop three over-arching themes: (1) Long Covid and social recognition; (2) The violence of medical ambivalence; and (3) Pathways to recognition and support. Findings showed that while professional recognition and support were possible, participants generally faced the spectre and deployment of a particular mode of structural violence, namely ‘medical ambivalence’. The contours of medical ambivalence in the National Health Service (NHS) as an institution had consequences, including inducing or accentuating suffering via practices of care denial. Despite multiple structurally shaped ordeals (like healthcare, community stigma, and sexism), many participants were nevertheless able to gain recognition for their condition (e.g. online, religious communities). Participants with more resources were in the best position to ‘cobble together’ their own approaches to care and support, despite structural headwinds.

성소수자 HIV/AIDS 감염인의 일과 교회를 중심으로 한 심리 사회적 경험 내러티브 탐구

The purpose of this study was to conduct in-depth interviews to explore the psychosocial experiences of a sexual minority individual living with HIV/AIDS. For this purpose, the narrative inquiry method of Clandinin and Connelly was used and the data were analyzed with the three-dimensional narrative inquiry space. In-depth interviews with people living with HIV/AIDS and participant observation visits to churches where participants currently attend. The identities formed in society were ‘feared even in the gay communities’, ‘Multiple identities,’ ‘Sexual minorities lacking self-pride,’ and ‘Being who is not only weak’. Since the identity of infected people is continuously formed and expectations change depending on the period of infection, multidimensional support is required. Through this study, the social experiences of sexual minority HIV/AIDS infected people are revealed and an in-depth understanding is provided, which can be used as basic data for establishing support systems and policies for them.

The Politics of Fear and the Experience of Bangladeshi Religious Minority Communities Using Social Media Platforms

Despite significant research on online harm, polarization, public deliberation, and justice, CSCW still lacks a comprehensive understanding of the experiences of religious minorities, particularly in relation to fear, as prominently evident in our study. Gaining faith-sensitive insights into the expression, participation, and inter-religious interactions on social media can contribute to CSCW's literature on online safety and interfaith communication. In pursuit of this goal, we conducted a six-month-long, interview-based study with the Hindu, Buddhist, and Indigenous communities in Bangladesh. Our study draws on an extensive body of research encompassing the spiral of silence, the cultural politics of fear, and communication accommodation to examine how social media use by religious minorities is influenced by fear, which is associated with social conformity, misinformation, stigma, stereotypes, and South Asian postcolonial memory. Moreover, we engage with scholarly perspectives from religious studies, justice, and South Asian violence and offer important critical insights and design lessons for the CSCW literature on public deliberation, justice, and interfaith communication.

Identifying future research priorities in the field of interpersonal violence (IV) towards athletes in sport: a Delphi study

ObjectiveOur aim was to define the priorities for future research in safeguarding athletes from interpersonal violence (IV) in sport through a Delphi consensus study of researchers in the field.MethodsAn internet-based...

Building Social Justice-oriented Resilience for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Higher Education: Propositions from Hong Kong

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) rhetoric and initiatives are gaining attention in Asian higher education. Yet, these are still underexplored in terms of their potential to bring about cohesive campus climates. As higher education institutions admit students from diverse backgrounds, there is room for examining how DEI might be leveraged to support growing student learning needs, particularly in contexts where cultural diversity is not the norm. Using Hong Kong as an example, this paper probes the genesis of DEI initiatives and sources of deficit thinking in higher education with reference to the experiences of ethnic minority (EM) students. It proposes a conceptualization of resilience theory from a social justice lens to counter deficit thinking and racism, which helps locate DEI initiatives in building culturally inclusive environments.

Time, Materiality, and History in UK-Based Interfaith Solidarity Work

In this paper, building upon ethnographic fieldwork conducted among members of one initiative of Jewish-Muslim dialogue in the UK, I discuss how my interlocutors thematize the temporal dimension of anti-minority discrimination and perceive remaining historical material heritage associated with it. Using the example of problematic artifacts pertaining to mediaeval Lincoln, such as the so-called “shrine of Little Hugh,” I discuss how in engaging the memory of traumatic past events in Jewish history activists of inter-faith dialogue reflect on their current conditions of minoritization and attempt a projection of their communities’ lives in the UK in the future. I also borrow insight from the presentist theoretical framework in anthropology of time to highlight the impact my interlocutors’ life histories have had on the way they relate to and conceptualize their own and other minoritized groups’ histories and imagine their personal and collective futures based on their experiences in the present. I suggest that in these reflections, narratives of positive historical trajectories in the minority experience sit alongside an anticipation of multiple possible futures, some inflected with anxiety about a repetition of difficult pasts, others imbued with a vision connecting the past, present and future of minoritized communities into a common presence.

Religious Belief: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis on the Experience of Minority Students in Implementing Religious Education

This study aims to explore students’ minority experiences while participating in religious education (RE). An interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to answer the objective questions. Data were collected using the undergraduates’ diaries and in-depth interviews with 9 senior high school students which were selected by purposive sampling. Thematic analysis was used to categorize the information obtained. The result showed the three major themes that emerge in the IPA analysis, which include the strength of faith, basic knowledge, and a sense of religion. The finding interprets that informants have complete belief in the God they worship because of the basic understanding of religion that has been obtained from the family, community, and social media, even informants’ religious participation and activities have reached the level of sense. This study explains how the informants stand firm in worshipping their God despite receiving RE in various schools. This study concludes that even though informants are in a minority environment, they can still get religious education that is appropriate to their conditions through diverse activities and upholding the values of differences.

‘We do not include tests and treatment for those [STI] conditions’: the trouble in navigating access and care for STIs among gay, bisexual men and transgender and other MSM in Kenya and Rwanda

Abstract Background Lesbian, gay, bisexual men, and transgender persons (LGBT) in Kenya and Rwanda have a hard time accessing healthcare, in particular sexual health screening. We used a social norms and values framework to examine determinants of access to healthcare, with specific attention to sexual healthcare. Methods We draw on cross-sectional mixed methods research in Kenya and Rwanda that examined the lived experiences of sexual and gender minorities in access to health services. A cross-sectional quantitative survey in Rwanda (n = 499) and Kenya (n = 1,550) was conducted with LGBT people. We conducted key informant interviews (n = 81), in-depth interviews (n = 48), digital storytelling (n = 3), and focus group discussions (n = 30). We used a mixed-methods thematic and content analysis to integrate quantitative and qualitative findings. Findings Accessibility and quality of care were the main barriers to healthcare services. The results indicate widespread discrimination and stigma toward LGBT people in service provision. Approximately half of the survey participants, 47%, reported challenges accessing health services, and 25% indicated they experienced discrimination in healthcare. Qualitative results link low quality of care to stigma and discrimination. “Mostly at the hospitals, there are times people take too much time discussing who we are instead of giving us the treatment we seek, and send us to mental health to first deal with our sexuality issues since they think it is a ‘sickness.’” (Focus group, Muhanga, Rwanda). Our study highlights challenges in navigating sexual healthcare in government, faith-based, and donor-funded health facilities. Conclusions Access to healthcare services, particularly sexual health screening and prevention, is a growing issue for LGBT people in Kenya and Rwanda. Stigma acts as a significant barrier to high-quality healthcare. Sensitivity training and educational opportunities for healthcare professionals are urgently needed to address stigma.

The collateral effects of the COVID-19 pandemic: A gender-specific systematic review of disordered eating behaviour in the general population.

The COVID-19 pandemic initiated public health measures, impacting mental health and exacerbating disordered eating behaviours (DEB). This study aims to fill gaps in understanding DEB in the general population during the pandemic, emphasising gender dynamics and the experiences of gender and/or sexual minority (SGM) individuals. A systematic literature review followed PRISMA guidelines to investigate DEB during the pandemic, focusing on gender-sensitive analyses and SGM populations. Outcomes from the included studies were synthesised to identify patterns and associations related to DEB, particularly considering gender dynamics and SGM experiences. Significant gender associations with DEB were observed, with women consistently exhibiting higher scores. SGM populations also showed elevated DEB symptoms. Longitudinal studies indicated changes in DEB over time, with some decreases observed among men. The review underscores significant gender differences in DEB during the pandemic, with women exhibiting higher symptom levels. Lockdown measures had nuanced impacts on DEB, varying across studies. Various factors including pandemic-related stressors influenced DEB. Consideration of these factors can inform tailored interventions for DEB in the general population. Overall, the review enhances our understanding of how gender intersects with the pandemic's impact on DEB, emphasising the need for diverse approaches to address these behaviours.

Experiences of Sexual and Gender Minorities with Health Care in the Philippines: A Qualitative Study.

There is limited availability and accessibility of health care facilities and services tailored to the specific health care needs of sexual and gender minorities (SGMs) in the Philippines. The purpose of this study was to describe SGMs' experiences with health care services in the Philippines. Using a phenomenological design, interviews were conducted with participants recruited online through SGM networks and organizations. Individual, online-recorded interviews were conducted with 14 participants who were at least 18 years old, were Filipino nationals residing in the Philippines, self-identified as SGM, could comprehend and write in Filipino, and received any health care service within the past year. Data were entered and analyzed using the NVivo software. Three major themes emerged: patient-centered communication and relationship, holistic care, and caring environment. Participants identified the significance of genuine, affirming, and respectful communication in building positive relationships and continuing engagement with health care. Holistic care is embedded in clinical competence, gender sensitivity, continuity of care, and collaborative practice with other disciplines. A caring environment minimizes gender-related stigma and discrimination and promotes acceptance of diverse sexual identities. Filipino SGMs face several multifaceted health care concerns and challenges stemming at the individual, institutional, and societal levels. Sexual and gender biases, stigma, and discrimination are major barriers to health care among SGMs. Promotion of culturally and gender-sensitive care among Filipino SGMs should involve training of health care providers and creation of programs and policies to understand and respect SGMs while considering social, cultural, and political influences on their health and well-being.

‘Where is the diversity in this facility?’ Experiences of emergency care among visible minority individuals in Kingston, Ontario

ABSTRACT Introduction Visible minorities, a growing segment of Canada's population, have voiced concerns about experiencing racism while receiving care in the emergency department (ED). Understanding the ED care experiences of visible minorities is crucial to improving care and reducing health disparities. Methods From June to August 2021, we collected data from participants in Kingston, Ontario using a sensemaking approach. Individuals who had accessed emergency care or accompanied someone else to the ED in the prior 24 months were eligible to participate. After sharing a brief narrative about their care experience, participants interpreted the experience by plotting their perspectives on a variety of pre-determined questions. Here, we conducted a thematic analysis of narratives involving patients who identified as visible minorities and complemented it with quantitative analysis of the participants’ interpretative responses. This mixed-methods approach highlighted the distinct experiences of visible minority participants in relation to a comparison group. Results Of the 1973 unique participants, 117 identified as a visible minority and 949 participants did not identify with an equity-deserving group (comparison group). Visible minority participants were more likely to report that too little attention was paid to their identity and more likely to express a desire for a balance between receiving the best medical care and being treated with kindness and respect. Visible minorities’ ED experiences were also more likely to be impacted by how emergency staff behaved. Qualitative analysis revealed negative experiences of feeling uninformed and disempowered, facing judgement and discrimination, and experiencing language barriers. Positive experiences of receiving compassionate care from staff also emerged. Conclusion Visible minority perceptions of ED care were often negative and mainly focused on staff treatment. Cultural competency and language translation services are key areas for improvement to make ED care more accessible and equitable.

The Measurement of Inter-Minority Empathy

ABSTRACT This study introduced the concept of inter-minority empathy, defined as empathy for the experiences of other minorities based on one’s own experience as a minority, derived from interviews with LGBTQ+ allies. In addition, it developed the Inter-Minority Empathy Scale to measure this concept. The scale’s reliability and validity were examined, and hypothesis testing was conducted. In Study 1, the Minority Perception Scale, measuring the degree of awareness of one’s minority situation, and the Inter-Minority Empathy Scale were developed, and their reliability and validity were evaluated and confirmed with 60 graduate students. In Study 2, three hypotheses were formulated and tested using a survey of 150 Japanese undergraduate and graduate students. The affirmative minority experience and interest in other minorities were positively correlated, supporting Hypothesis 1. Furthermore, inter-minority empathy was positively correlated with the individual’s number of minority statuses and with being a visible and easily recognizable minority, supporting Hypotheses 2 and 3, respectively. The lack of positive experiences as minorities did not affect these associations. This concept can be applied not only to LGBTQ+ people but also to other minorities. Developing this concept would allow minority groups to understand the dynamics of discrimination and oppression experienced by other groups.

Revisiting dark pasts: the portrayal of Jewish minority and audience responses to the Netflix series The Club

ABSTRACT The Club, a Turkish series exclusively produced for Netflix, challenges the official historical narrative of modern Turkey by depicting the experiences of minorities on the brink of the country’s political upheaval. It highlights the state’s complex relations with its minorities and historical events that are often silenced in the official historical narrative. This study looks at how Turkey’s dark pasts pertaining to its religious minorities are portrayed in The Club and the ways in which its audience respond to these dark pasts. It argues that the audience of The Club recreates the silences about the past, resulting in the denial or rationalization of state violence, while emphasizing a nostalgic multi-cultural past.

A Standard Measure of Structural Racism, Do We Have One? Can We Have One? A Narrative Review of Commonly Used Measures and Domains of Use.

A lack of a "gold standard" operationalized index to measure structural racism (SR) in the current literature limits the comparison of the evidence available. This study aims to synthesize the measures of SR from the current literature to identify the measures used to date, study the indicators included, and investigate its expanding domain. A literature search of original quantitative studies in the Google Scholar and PubMed databases for articles dated January 1, 2000-July 31, 2023, was conducted with search terms: ["Institutionalized Racism" OR "Systemic Racism", OR "Structural Racism"] AND "Health" AND "United States." The studies were summarized and extracted based on the type of SR index used, the domains of SR incorporated, and the health outcomes studied. A total of 74 articles were included in the final review. The historical redlining score, G-statistics, index of concentration, and structural racism index were common quantifiable measures of SR. These indices capture 56 indicators across 11 significant domains to measure SR. Similarly, SR indices are being used mostly to study the impact of SR on cardiovascular diseases and other chronic health conditions, women's and maternal health-related issues, and COVID-19 outcomes. Multiple indices have been developed to capture SR, and since the COVID-19 pandemic, we have observed an increased interest in understanding health disparities through the lens of SR. With the rise in evidence on experiences of minority races related to racism, there is a high need for a standard approach to measuring SR.

Internment, immersive technology and historical empathy: Natal’s Fort Napier Camp (1914–1919) as a virtual reality experience

ABSTRACT The article presents a new way of reconstructing and representing the history of internment. It provides a critical academic framework for the authors’ virtual reality experience (VRE) Interned. Fort Napier Camp in South Africa held 2,500 civilians, mostly German ‘enemy aliens’, during the First World War. The VRE gives users an immersive experience of the camp and was produced through rigorous cross-sector collaboration between academia and industry. Based on user feedback, we argue that the empathy-related opportunities of VR create novel gateways to understanding experiences of minorities in wartime. Expanding the concept of ‘historical empathy’, we also argue that immersive technologies remain underused by historians.

A Scoping Review of Intimate Partner Violence Research in Canada.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is at epidemic levels across low-, middle-, and high-income countries, including Canada, where recent lifetime prevalence indicated that over 40% of women had IPV experiences. In response to this, Canada's federal government has made investments toward IPV prevention and response. We conducted a scoping review of English and French literature identified through searches of multiple databases and specific journals to assess the current state of IPV research in Canada. A total of 267 articles met inclusion criteria of being peer-reviewed research primarily about IPV in either French or English published from 2020 to 2022 with at least one Canadian-affiliated author. Almost a third of studies described services for survivors but did not evaluate service effectiveness. We noted a significant gap in research on the IPV experiences of gender and/or sexual minorities. Canada's federal social science research funding agency was the most common funder, with the two federal government departments with specific IPV funding initiatives in place cited as funding less than 6% of included studies. In general, there remains an overfocus on IPV epidemiology and on descriptions of service use, and not enough research examining the effectiveness and implementation of interventions, especially grounded in theoretical, gendered, and trauma- and violence-informed frameworks. Funders and researchers are encouraged to consider moving resources from ongoing description of well-established factors to assessment and implementation of evidence-informed interventions, and, crucially, primary prevention of IPV and all forms of gender-based violence.

Addressing diversity: An analysis of German curricula for history

AbstractThis article analyses the extent to which German history curricula address aspects of diversity. The curricula are analysed in terms of whether they include diagnostic phases to identify students' individual interests. It also examines whether the historical experiences of minorities and the agency of subaltern groups are addressed. The extent to which the curricula abandon a Eurocentric perspective and integrate global historical aspects will also be considered. Methodologically, the curricula of two main school types in all German states were analysed by means of a qualitative content analysis. The focus was on curricula for lower and upper secondary schools. The results show that diversity is usually addressed only from the perspective of established narratives. A national and Eurocentric history continues to dominate the curricula. Only a few curricula explicitly address the diagnosis of students' performance and ideas. Finally, the paper discusses the evolving nature of curricula, influenced by societal needs and growing sensitivity to social diversity. It highlights the need for future research on diversity in teacher education and the practicality of implementing complex concepts such as postcolonial thought in the classroom. More empirical research is needed on current curricula and the teaching of history in different regions and types of school.

Invalidation and Mental Health among Nonbinary Individuals.

This study examines the experience of a unique minority stressor, gender identity invalidation (henceforth referred to as invalidation), which is defined as the refusal to accept someone's gender identity as real or valid, among transgender and nonbinary (TNB) individuals. Data are drawn from a large and diverse sample of TNB adults who participated in a quantitative survey concerning transgender identity, minority stress, and mental health (N = 302). Invalidation was assessed using a novel 17-item scale that ascertains the extent to which respondents experienced invalidation across different social contexts. On average, TNB adults in this sample report low levels of invalidation, although a minority experience it at relatively high levels. Experiences of invalidation were significantly higher among nonbinary participants when compared with their binary trans peers. A series of multivariate regression models that control for sociodemographic factors (sex assigned at birth, race/ethnicity, education, age, and income) and well-established indicators of minority stress (felt stigma, enacted stigma) suggest that nonbinary gender identity is independently associated with poor mental health (assessed with the Global Severity Index), and that this association is mediated by invalidation. These findings suggest that invalidation, which is largely unexamined in existing research, merits greater attention as a particularly salient minority stressor influencing mental health among gender diverse populations, nonbinary populations in particular.