Objective: Studies focused on prejudice and discrimination have traditionally explored the impact of one kind of prejudicial experience (e.g., race, gender, criminal history) within a particular context and thus, there is weak base of understanding about the experiences of individuals who may contend with concurrent prejudicial and/or discriminatory experiences across multiple characteristics. In this study, our aim was to better understand the prejudicial and/or discriminatory work experiences of Black adults with serious mental illness (SMI). Specifically, we highlight instances where individuals endorse the salience of multiple sources of prejudice and discrimination during a given workplace incident.
Method: Using a semistructured interview guide and a grounded theory approach, we interviewed 24 Black adults with SMI recruited from two clubhouses in the Boston metropolitan area. To validate findings, we also conducted follow-up focus groups with participants (n = 9) at each recruitment site.
Results: We identified 19 personal attributes/characteristics contributing to the prejudicial/discriminatory experiences of Black adults with SMI in the context of work. We also found that respondents would organize these prejudicial/discriminatory experiences in clusters whereby two or more characteristics were viewed as the reasons for prejudice and discrimination during a given workplace incident.
Conclusions and implications for practice: Black adults with SMI contend with a range of prejudicial and discriminatory experiences, often experienced simultaneously, highlighting the importance of an intersectional framework in research designs and/or clinical interventions addressing the needs of this population. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).