Diversity Challenges in Community Research and Action: The Story of a Special Issue of AJCP

Abstract

Community research and action often involve managing difficult diversity-related dilemmas. However, the literature on diversity tends to focus on success stories that tie up very complex issues into neatly-packaged case studies or lists of specific recommendations. This article introduces a special issue of the American Journal of Community Psychology that was rooted in the belief that it is within the stories of the challenges that the complexity of the political, historical, social, and psychological dynamics of diversity are most evident. The special issue includes 22 detailed narratives of dilemmas related to multiple dimensions of diversity including race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexual orientation, disability, and religion. We asked contributing authors to divide their papers into three primary subsections: (1) context, (2) Challenge and Response, and (3) Reflections. We do the same in telling the story of how this edited collection evolved.

Mapping nondominant voices into understanding stress‐coping mechanisms

“…This point is in line with other researchers' call for the need of greater attention given to individuals with disabilities (Goodley & Lawthom, 2005;McDonald, Keys, & Balcazar, 2007), lesbians and gay men (D'Augelli, 2003), and indigenous or Native people (Gone, 2006). Consequently, the inclusion of those multiple diversity dimensions (i.e., disability/ability, gay/lesbian, and Indigenous/Aboriginal) in a single study provides a context for examining the intersection of a complex multidimensional human diversity, as advocated by Bond and Harrell (2006). In addition, this approach extends multicultural perspectives on stress and coping because these perspectives explicitly acknowledge cultural diversity and complexity .…”

“…The integration of both intersectionality and social exclusion frameworks into stress and coping conceptualizations seems to facilitate a greater understanding about the processes and mechanisms of stress and coping in the context of our diverse society. Not only do the findings from this research extend the basic concepts of stress and coping from non-dominant perspectives as alluded in edited volume, but the research also demonstrates the utility of a narrative or story-telling approach to giving voices to nondominant groups of individuals as advocated by Bond and Harrell (2006) and others.…”

“…The conceptual rationale for intentionally choosing these groups for this study is Bond and Harrell's (2006) argument and unsettling sense about the lack of coverage of dilemmas faced among specific nondominant or marginalized groups of people. Particularly, in their special issue introductory article, they cautioned that despite the broad range of diversity-story collection, the voices of people with disabilities and individuals within gay and lesbian communities were mostly hidden, beyond racialand ethnic minorities such as indigenous or Aboriginal population groups.…”

“…First, as illustrated in edited book, Handbook of Multicultural Perspectives of Stress and Coping, there is the need to broaden our understanding of what stress and coping actually are by giving careful and critical attention to the ways in which these concepts are understood from different cultural perspectives. Second, as shown by a special issue of the American Journal of Community Psychology edited by Bond and Harrell (2006), diversity stories give insights into the diversity-related challenges and the approaches to dealing with them to ''draw out themes, lessons learned, and guiding principles' ' (p. 158). A broader community psychology perspective, however, encompasses stress and coping by highlighting complex intersections of such diversity dimensions as gender, class, sexual orientation, and disability/ability beyond race and ethnicity rather than artificially separating these diversity dimensions.…”

The Spirit of Ecological Inquiry and Intervention Research Reports: A Heuristic Elaboration

“…We need to see who we are ourselves, our anxieties, our precepts, our premises, so we are aware of how our conclusions can reflect more of us than context'' (personal conversation, June 9, 2007). Reflection on our ''cultural experiences'' (Bond and Harrell 2006), including our identities, competencies, histories, and interests, in relation to those with whom we work and collaborate has the potential to foster relationships, mutual openness and willingness for challenge, growth and development (Bond and Harrell 2006;Heller 1989;Kelly 1970Kelly , 1971Nelson et al 2000;Serrano-García 1990;Prilleltensky et al 1997;Trickett and Schmid 1993). Developing an eco identity challenges the community psychologist to be open to transformation, new insight, and ''rich points'' (Agar 1996) that emerge during immersion in a setting that challenge prior assumptions.…”