Integrating an Intersectionality Lens in Theory and Research in Developmental Science

Abstract

This article discusses key issues in the integration of an intersectionality lens in the developmental sciences and introduces a peer-reviewed thematic journal issue on this topic. We begin by briefly situating the importance of an intersectionality lens within the changing demographics and sociopolitical history in the United States, and within developmental science as a field. We provide a brief overview of recommendations on responsible use of intersectionality in developmental science. We then introduce contributions contained within this volume, and how each contributor grappled with the following question: How can an intersectionality perspective inform the developmental phenomena of interest and particular developmental theories you draw upon in your area of research? We end by noting that these contributions offer a collection of manuscripts that aim to increase dialogue among developmental scientists on ways to productively integrate an intersectionality lens in developmental science.

Adolescents’ Subjective Social Status Predicts Day‐to‐Day Mental Health and Future Substance Use

“…In groups that tend to experience more economic disadvantage relative to others, social status identities may be less influenced by factors that differentiate their group from “out‐groups”, such as SES (Shaked et al., ). It may also be informative to view the racial/ethnic differences in this association through a lens of intersectionality, which argues that multiple, interacting systems of oppression and privilege shape individuals’ self‐perceptions and thereby perpetuate existing inequities and affordances perceived to be linked with race, class, and gender or sex (Azmitia & Thomas, ; Santos & Toomey, ). Viewed through an intersectional lens, the difference in the association we observed between family SES and perceived social status among Hispanic versus White youth in this study may reflect differences in their experiences of discrimination (including those fueled by racism and classism), which may ultimately shape their developing social status perceptions more strongly than indicators of family SES.…”

Intersectionality and Youth Identity Development Research in Europe

“…To understand why everyone who identifies as female, for instance, may not engage in identity development processes in the same way requires letting go of a solely intrapersonal operationalization of identity, while also moving away from the positivist goal of generalizability. Both of these aims are in line with the paradigm of intersectionality, and they necessitate an intentional shift in perspective from developmental psychologists (Santos and Toomey, 2018;Syed and Ajayi, 2018).…”

“…By framing ethnic, cultural, and religious diversity in continental Europe as a relatively new "problem" with which fictively homogeneous European nations must contend (Gogolin, 1997;Silverstein, 2005;Schinkel, 2013;Lewicki, 2017), migration and diversity are abstracted from centuries of colonialism and related systems of oppression. As Santos and Toomey (2018) recently argued, the chronosystem is indelibly important to understand context, and in this case, an incorporation of this pertinent history would help move away from deficit-oriented research. In line with the intersectional perspective, we therefore argue that developmental researchers ought to explicitly push against the "immigrant integration" framing.…”

“…Instead, it is a humanistic theory recognizing, questioning, and pushing against interlocking structures of inequity, including how they inform what is accepted as valid knowledge and what is understood as normative. So, echoing the question guiding the afore-mentioned special issue (Santos and Toomey, 2018), how can this paradigm be most appropriately applied to identity development research? In line with our focus, how can it be applied in continental Europe, where race is officially unacknowledged, though racialized inequity is a primary system of oppression shaping lived experience?…”

The Evolution of Acculturation and Development Models for Understanding Immigrant Children and Youth Adjustment

“…As a consequence of this inequitable power differential across groups, individuals living in institutions and structures that privilege certain groups with more power and disadvantage others with less power have different opportunities and experiences. An intersectional perspective would consider the implications of living in these broader overlapping privileging or oppressive systems (Crenshaw, ; Santos & Toomey, ; Syed & Ajayi, ). For example, researchers taking an intersectional perspective could examine how institutional systems that perpetuate racism, classism, and sexism combine to influence and potentially marginalize immigrant youth.…”