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