Weibling Project for the Psycholegal Study and
Treatment of Discrimination
Law and Psychology Program
UNL
LGBT Forum
Mental Illness
Discrimination
LGBT Forum
STIGMA
• Reciprocal causal relationship between mental illness and discrimination
• How does social stigma create obstacles to care giving for LGBT people?
Weibling Project: • Assessment, treatment, and client referrals
• Evaluating and testing policy interventions
• Conducting legal decision-making research
• Conducting discrimination research in education, employment and housing
• Conducting community education and development projects
•
Wiener, R.L. & Willborn, S. L. (Eds.) (2011). Disability and Age Discrimination: Perspectives in Law and Psychology. New York: Springer Press.
LGBT Forum
ASSUMPTIONEfforts aimed at eliminating
discrimination based upon any stigmatizing factor will be successful to
the extent to which the efforts are consistent with existing law
Weibling Project
Weibling Project
“Law is a therapeutic agent…legal rules, legal practices, and the way
legal actors (such as judges, lawyers, government officials,
police officers, and expert witnesses testifying in court) play their roles
impose consequences on the mental health and emotional wellbeing of
those affected.”
Winick (2006)
Weibling Project Philosophy
• Discrimination and mental illness is a compounded and complex psychological problem
• Relationship Between mental illness, discrimination, and social dysfunction is resistant to change
• Weibling Project – a new model for addressing these issues through the interaction of legal and psychological interventions
Weibling Project Model
Discrimination
Mental Illness
Social andPersonalDysfunction
Race, Ethnicity, and Sexual Orientation
Weibling Project
http://psychology.unl.edu/weibling/weibling-project-home
University of Nebraska at Lincoln
Weibling Project
Legal Analysis
Law students working in the UNL Civil Law Clinic interview clients and advise them
about the law that regulates their discrimination experiences.
• Students work under supervision of the law clinic director and refer clients to a slate of qualified attorneys when appropriate
Weibling Project
Psychological Counseling
Clinical Psychology graduate students under the supervision of the
faculty provide psychological assessment and short-term help for
those who have suffered psychological harm in connection
with their discrimination claim
Weibling Project Research
1. Descriptions of discrimination experiences and their outcomes
2. Basic research on the causes and effects of discrimination
3. The origins and impact of stigma and bias against those with visible and invisible markers such as sexual orientation
4. Legal decision making to understand how courts, agencies, jurors, judges, and others resolve discrimination conflicts
Weibling Project
http://psychology.unl.edu/weibling/weibling-project-home
University of Nebraska at Lincoln
Sexual Orientation Discrimination
1. Federal law does not prohibit discrimination based upon sexual orientation.
2.Discrimination that results from sexual orientation interferes with marriage, parenting, and obtaining affordable health care.
2. Social scientists have studied extensively the way in which this type of discrimination works in laboratory and real world environments.
Research: Sexual Orientation
Is there an economic cost of being gay or lesbian in the
workplace?
Sexual Orientation Discrimination
Using Data from the General Social Survey
Black, Makar, Sanders, & Taylor (2003)Cornell University ILR Review:
•Salaries for gay men are 14% to 16% lower than for heterosexual men
•Salaries for lesbian women are 20% to 34% higher than for heterosexual women
Research: Sexual Orientation
Is it better for gays and lesbians to come out at work
or to stay invisible?
Research: Sexual Orientation
Open Group Processes – workers express their views and participate in decision making
Button and Declementi (2002) surveyed 255 lesbian and gay employees
Strategies gays and lesbians use at work:
•Counterfeiting – more open group processes•Avoiding – fewer open group processes•Integrating – no relationship
Research: Sexual Orientation
What are the consequences of not coming out at work?
What happens when LGBT workers fear disclosing their
sexual identities?
Research: Sexual Orientation
Ragins, Singh, and Cornwell (2007)
National sample of 534 gay, lesbian, and bisexual employees:
Work Related Factors
Those who feared disclosure:
Lower job satisfaction, less organizational commitment, less opportunities for promotion,
less career commitment, greater intention to quit
Research: Sexual Orientation
Ragins, Singh, and Cornwell (2007)
National sample of 534 gay, lesbian, and bisexual employees:
Wellbeing Factors:
Those who feared disclosure:
•More physical stress symptoms, •more depressive symptoms, •more irritation at work
Research: Sexual Orientation
Does public policy make a difference in the mental
health of LGBT populatons?
Research: Sexual Orientation
Hatzenbuehler, Keyes, and Hasin (2009)
National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (N = 34,563)
In states without hate crime and employment discrimination laws based upon sexual orientation:
There was a strong relationship between being LGBT and having anxiety disorder, PTSD, dysthymia and psychiatric comorbidity
Stigma
Discrimination
LGBT Forum
• Reciprocal relationship between stigma due to sexual orientation and discrimination
• We need models that consider and treat discrimination and sexual orientation stigma as part of the same psychological process.
Law and Psychology Program
University of Nebraska at Lincoln
LGBT Forum
Lincoln Commission on Human Rights
April 24 2013