Equity as a Social Justice
Strategy Against
Structural Oppression
Gabby Falzone Doctoral Candidate UC Berkeley
Jessika Duran MSW Candidate CSU East Bay
May 10, 2017
Format –Three Parts
Format –Three Parts
• Brief overview of structural oppression and
its connection to early child development
Format –Three Parts
• Brief overview of structural oppression and
its connection to early child development
• Pitfalls and suggestions for effective
interventions
Format –Three Parts
• Brief overview of structural oppression and
its connection to early child development
• Pitfalls and suggestions for effective
interventions
• Space to share concerns, questions, setbacks,
and successes working with system-involved
children
Social Determinants
of Equity
(Jones et al., 2009)
Why the larger context matters
Problems in
the Home
Detrimental
Effects on
Child
Child
Welfare
Intervention
Ecological Model of Child Development
(Bronfenbrenner, 1994)
Cliff Analogy
(Jones et al., 2009)
(Jones et al., 2009)
(https://www.slideshare.net/vahealthequity/social-determinantsof-health-and-equity-the-impacts-of-racism-on-health)
(Jones et al., 2009)
(Jones et al., 2009)
Structural
Oppression
Detrimental
Community
Effects
Detrimental
Family
Effects
Problems in
the Home
Detrimental
Effects on
Child
*Intervene
before this
Point
Right and Left Hands
of the State
(Bourdieu/Wacquant)
A Gardner’s Tale
(Jones, 2000)
(Jones, 2000)
(Jones, 2000)
(Jones, 2000)
Moving from Theory to Data:
How Does Structural Inequity
Affect Children?
Annual child abuse fatality rates by county poverty concentration in the United States, 1999
to 2014.
Caitlin A. Farrell et al. Pediatrics doi:10.1542/peds.20161616
©2017 by American Academy of Pediatrics
“It’s the Skin
You’re In”
(Nuru-Jeter et al., 2008)
Possible links
between racism and
maternal & child
health
• The women “experienced
interpersonal, institutional, and
internalized forms of racism” “in
many different domains and
settings” – “both directly and
vicariously, particularly in
relation to their children”
• They “maintained a pervasive
sense of vigilance in anticipation
of future racism for themselves
and their children”
(Komro et al., 2013)
(Komro et al., 2013)
Inequity in Interventions
Beware of the Deficit Trap
Danger of Omitting Distal Factors
• Confuse symptom for
cause
• Racism, classism, etc. (both
explicit or implicit)
• Burnout and compassion
fatigue (always putting out
the proximal fires)
Danger of Omitting Distal Factors
• Confuse symptom for
cause
• Racism, classism, etc. (both
explicit or implicit)
• Burnout and compassion
fatigue (always putting out
the proximal fires)
Parental Social
Control Models
• Implicit bias: “includes both implicit
stereotypes and implicit attitudes” (Kang,
p.2, 2009).
• Explicit bias: “the stereotypes and
attitudes that folks recognize and
embrace” (Kang, p.5, 2009).
• Compassion Fatigue
Emotional and physical exhaustion, withdraw,
desensitization, decrease in quality of care, increase
in clinical errors, and high rates of anxiety and
depression (Gough, 2007;Figley Institute, 2012; VanHook &
Rothenberg, 2009)
• Burnout
Prolonged exposure to trauma, economic
insecurity, lack of control in position, irritability and
somatic issues (Figley Institute, 2012; VanHook & Rothenberg,
2009)
Impacts of Compassion Fatigue
and Burnout on Practitioner
• Loss of empathy
• Inability to ask for help
• Loss of self-reflection
• Increase in clinical
errors
• Feelings “of never getting
enough done or not
making a difference”
• Decrease in self-care
practices
• Isolation and insecurity
• Implicit biases may be
activated under stressful
working experiences
(Drolet & McLennan, 2016; Hall, et al., 2015; Kapoulitsas & Corcoran, 2015)
How Implicit Bias May
Impact Practice
• Decrease in relational ability
• Decrease in sensitivity to others
• Practice of microaggressions
• Inability to identify and illicit strengths
• Decrease in complex reflection
• Miscommunication: Verbal and nonverbal
(Kapoulitsas & Corcoran, 2015; Forrester, et al., 2008; Robb & Stone, 2016;
Wong, et al., 2014).
Two Views of Parental Agency
Deficit
Collaborative
Two Views of Parental Agency
Deficit
• Culture of
poverty
• Learned
helplessness
• Savior model
Collaborative
• Experiential
knowledge
• Empowered
agents of change
• Co-equal
partners
Danger of Deficit Thinking
Deficit
• Culture of
poverty
• Learned
helplessness
• Savior model
Parental Social
Control Models
Triad of Stakeholders
Family
Researchers
Practitioner
s
Triad in Practice
Examples of Collaborative Research
• Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) (Harris
et al., 2015)
• Grandmother Caregiver Study (Roe et al., 1999)
• Inner City Children and Family Learning
Circles (Lynam et al., 2012)
• RYSE Listening Campaign (2013)
RYSE Listening Campaign
• Understand the lived experience of
Richmond youth burdened with
multiple forms of violence and
trauma
• Inform effective community
interventions & systems strategies,
policies, and investments
• Create more empathetic & accurate
assessment & response processes
for youth healing from trauma
‘We know we can’t run the city- it’s too complexbut our experience and our voices should count,
especially because we’re the most effected.’
(RYSE, 2013)
Models of Equitable
Contextualized Collaboration
Systems Change for More Sustainable
Long-term Gains
(Lynam et al., 2012)
(Hicks et al., 2012)
Pave the Way to Long-Term
Systems Change with ShortTerm Action
Or How to be More Equitable While
Putting Out the Proximal Fires
Recommendations
Practitioner Self-Care Plans
Agency Environments
1. Critical self-reflection
1. Agency Culture
2. Daily, weekly, monthly
practice reflection and
discussion
2. Agency Policy
3. IAT test and discussions:
Race, Weight, Gender
Identity, Age ,and Disability.
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implici
t/selectatest.html)
3. Agency Acceptance and
Accessibility
(Bride, et al., 2007; Cameron, et al.,
2010; Hernandez, et al., 2013).