Date of Award

8-24-2024

Document Type

Doctoral Research Paper

Degree Name

Psy.D.

Organizational Unit

Graduate School of Professional Psychology

First Advisor

Erica Adkins

Second Advisor

Kathryn Barrs

Third Advisor

Rohini Gupta

Keywords

Systemic oppression, Multicultural feminist theory, Multicultural feminist psychology

Abstract

Multicultural feminist psychological theory states that all people experience suffering due to systemic oppression, and that healing results from the liberation from oppression. Part of the healing process involves consciousness-raising, or the act of telling one’s story and analyzing one’s experiences for themes of privilege and power, while exploring the relationships between identities, systems, and sociopolitical context. As a doctoral student experiencing significant distress, burnout, and apathy at the end of my academic training, I sought to understand my own experiences of oppression, power, and privilege in order to deepen my multicultural responsiveness and humility and to engage in an act of liberation and empowerment. Using multicultural feminist psychological theory, my analysis revealed the perpetuation of systemic oppression (including but not limited to capitalism, colonialism, patriarchy, white supremacy, ableism, and cis-heteronormativity) within my doctoral program at systemic, interpersonal, and individual levels. At the individual level, I experienced broad disempowerment as a result of being oppressed and, more prominently, a result of my internalized oppressor becoming activated. This analysis demonstrates how systemic oppression harms all individuals and informs the argument that all people must fight for liberation from oppression.

Copyright Date

7-12-2024

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Alison Conner

Provenance

Received from author

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

47 pgs

File Size

705 KB

Available for download on Sunday, July 25, 2027



Share

COinS