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BackgroundThis pilot study, conducted at a public univerisity in an urban community, collected the experiences of 42 social work students enrolled in a required course on diversity.ObjectiveThis research utilizes Critical Race Theory as a framework and expands on the themes experienced by recievers of microaggression insults, assaults, and invalidation (Sue et al., 2007).MethodsParticipants in this qualitative study completed three survey questions about: their microaggression experiences, immediate responses, and how they felt.ResultsStudent feelings provided beginning insights as to how they coped with their microaggression experiences.ConclusionSocial work educators may find this research supports the importance of cultural awareness and culturally responsive pedagogy.

Three social work scholars explore their experiences of microaggressions in academia using queer theory as a lens to disrupt, deconstruct, and disorder the dominant heteronormative discourse. Qualitative analysis of autoethnography narratives resulted in seven themes describing experiences of microaggressions in social work education. Themes illuminated were as follows: (1) queer isolation, (2) throwing shade, (3) queer insult, (4) biphobia: not queer (straight) enough, (5) too queer, (6) queer backlash, and (7) revolving closet door. Concept mapping was used to explore each of these areas as they relate to the values of social work. Recommendations for social work education and research are presented.

This study aims at understanding students' perspectives on a university response to a racial microaggression on campus. Responses were collected in the form of an online survey and analyzed using qualitative data analysis to identify themes from students' perspectives. Insights on how students processed the incident were gathered. Although students were thankful for the university response, there is lingering concern for another incident and for how leadership will equip students to handle similar situations. The authors provide implications for educators.

Aims. This review aims to understand the scope of the literature regarding mental health-related microaggressions towards people affected by mental health problems. Methods. A scoping review was conducted to explore this question. Four electronic health-oriented databases were searched alongside Google Scholar. As per scoping review principles, the inclusion criteria were developed iteratively. The results of included studies were synthesised using a basic narrative synthesis approach, utilising principles of thematic analysis and thematic synthesis where appropriate. Results. A total of 1196 records were identified, of which 17 met inclusion criteria. Of these, 12 were peer-reviewed journal articles, three were research degree theses and two were book chapters. Six included empirical studies were qualitative, four were quantitative and two employed a mixed-methods design. Within these, five qualitative studies aimed to describe the nature of mental health microaggressions experienced by people with mental health problems. Themes identified in a thematic synthesis of these five studies included stereotypes about mental illness, invalidating peoples' experience and blaming people with mental illness for their condition. The included publications informed on the perpetration of mental health microaggressions by family, friends, health professionals and social workers. In addition, two studies created scales, which were then used in cross-sectional surveys of the general public and community members to assess characteristics, such as right-wing political views, associated with endorsement of mental health microaggressions. A consensus definition of microaggressions emerged from the included studies: microaggressions are brief, everyday slights, snubs or insults, that may be subtle or ambiguous, but communicate a negative message to a target person based on their membership of a marginalised group, in this case, people affected by mental illness. Conclusions. The study of mental health microaggressions is an emerging, heterogeneous field, embedded in the wider stigma and discrimination literature. It has been influenced by earlier work on racial microaggressions. Both can be ambiguous and contradictory, which creates difficulty defining the boundaries of the concept, but also underpins the key theoretical basis for the negative impact of microaggressions. Mental illness is a more concealable potential type of identity, so it follows that the reported perpetrators of microaggressions are largely friends, family and professionals. This has implications for intervening to reduce the impact of microaggressions. There are several challenges facing research in this area, and further work is needed to understand the impact of mental health microaggressions on people affected by mental health problems.

This article offers an exploration of migrant Black African youths' (MBAYs') experiences of racial microaggressions in Australian, predominantly White, workplaces. Data for this article are drawn from qualitative interviews conducted with 20 MBAYs working in Newcastle, a traditionally White working-class city. Drawing on a theoretical framework that approaches racial microaggressions through a Critical Race Theory lens, the article centres MBAYs' experiences of racial microaggressions in the workplace as a site of legitimate experiential knowledge. The findings of this article underscore how MBAYs perceive questions like 'Where are you from?' posed by their White colleagues and clients as a racial microaggression. They showcase how MBAY experience racial microaggressions in the workplace as an invisible, insidious and infantilizing process. Finally, the findings highlight how some MBAYs respond to racial microaggressions by accepting or contesting them in the workplace. The article concludes by reflecting on how these microlevel, subtle forms of racism contribute towards institutionalizing and sustaining White supremacy.

Recent research finds negative impacts of racial microaggressions, defined as racial slights, on a variety of outcomes. Targets of racial microaggressions often report feeling pressured to remain silent in the face of these subtle interactions, which can be coded as aracial by perpetrators or bystanders. This article explores the ways Internet-based communication can change this dynamic and structure distinct responses to racial microaggressions. Drawing on in-depth interviews with undergraduate students of Color, I find that in some online spaces, students of Color have access to unique technology-based tools that increase their perceived and actual capacity to respond critically to racial microaggressions. I discuss implications for understanding online racial discourse and resistance on college campuses and beyond.

As social work's signature pedagogy, field education socializes students into their professional roles as practitioners. However, for students and field instructors of color, racial microaggressions add another dimension to the practice experience. Utilizing findings from a qualitative study exploring the experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) social work students and agency-based field instructors, this paper highlights experiences of microaggressions in field placement settings. Specifically, BIPOC students and field instructors described being tokenized in agencies, feeling invisible in placement settings, experiencing microaggressions from service users or students, and witnessing microaggressions. Experiences of microaggressions had emotional impacts, and affected participants' sense of professional identity and confidence. Based on findings, we share recommendations for addressing racial microaggressions within social work field education in order to promote racial equity, including: grounding microaggressions in an ecological approach, unpacking the concept of professionalism, and building capacity of field instructors and agencies to respond to racism and microaggressions. Addressing microaggressions in field education is necessary to support BIPOC students in field placements, honor the work and well-being of racialized social workers who serve as field instructors, disrupt white supremacy, and move the social work field forward in regard to anti-racist practice.

AbstractThis article reviews racial microaggressions, specifically psychology and sociology's historical trajectory in informing existing literatures and disciplines, in its connections to meso and macro levels of systemic racism. In doing so, we contend that a sociological understanding of racial microaggressions presents opportunities to better understand the cumulative and deleterious effects of racial violence on racialized groups. Furthermore, we argue that beyond bridging the disciplines of psychology and sociology to allow for more interdisciplinary analyses of racial microaggressions will help to move conversations in ways that more meaningfully capture the monstrosity of white supremacy and its cumulative deleterious effects of daily racial terrorism at all levels of society.