Impact of Identities


While the various dimensions of diversity discussed above are a start to understanding human diversity, they do not fully describe an individual, community, or population. Instead, we must consider that these dimensions do not exist independently of each other and that the interaction of these dimensions is referred to as intersectionality. Intersectionality focuses on how the dimensions can overlap and give rise to different experiences as well as multiple privileges or inequities; for example, racial/ethnic and sexual minority men will experience more health disparities than white and/or heterosexual men. Community psychologists recognize the significance of intersectionality, but published research in this area is still lacking compared to other disciplines.

Privilege, or the unearned advantages that individuals have based on membership in a dominant group (e.g., race, gender, social class, sexual orientation, ability), contribute to the systems of oppression for non-privileged individuals and groups. While privilege can come in multiple forms and individuals can have multiple privileges, white privilege, or the advantages that white people have in society, are important for psychologists to examine more extensively to understand how white people participate in systems of oppression for racial minority groups in the US. For example, white experiences and perspectives tend to be pervasive in curriculum, policy, pedagogy, and practices at the exclusion of work and research by people of color.

Janet Helms' important work on the white racial identity model describes how white people move from a racist identity to a non-racist identity as they become more aware, move beyond an effective understanding of racial minorities to an experiential one, and understand their role in a racist society. Other community psychologists have explored how to create organizational contexts that are more inclusive and address white privilege or have examined how white privilege influences commitment and interest toward social justice. While community psychologists are contributing to this research, more studies are needed to understand the relationship between identity, privilege, and social justice and action in community contexts.