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Standing in the Intersection : Using Photovoice to Understand the Lived

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Standing in the Intersection : Using Photovoice to Understand the Lived University of Louisville ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository Electronic Theses and Dissertations 12-2015 Standing in the intersection : using Photovoice to understand the lived experience of black gay college students attending predominantly white postsecondary institutions. Erica Caton University of Louisville Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd Part of the Community-Based Research Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, Higher Education Administration Commons, Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, and the Social Work Commons Recommended Citation Caton, Erica, "Standing in the intersection : using Photovoice to understand the lived experience of black gay college students attending predominantly white postsecondary institutions." (2015). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 2295. https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/2295 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The nivU ersity of Louisville's Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ThinkIR: The nivU ersity of Louisville's Institutional Repository. This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has retained all other copyrights. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STANDING IN THE INTERSECTION: USING PHOTOVOICE TO UNDERSTAND THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF BLACK GAY COLLEGE STUDENTS ATTENDING PREDOMINANTLY WHITE POSTSECONDARY INSTITUTIONS By Erica Caton B.A., Lehman College, CUNY, 1994 MSW, Hunter College, CUNY, 1997 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Raymond A. Kent School of Social Work of the University of Louisville in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work Kent School of Social Work University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky December 2015 Copyright 2015 by Erica Caton All rights reserved STANDING IN THE INTERSECTION: USING PHOTOVOICE TO UNDERSTAND THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF BLACK GAY COLLEGE STUDENTS ATTENDING PREDOMINANTLY WHITE POSTSECONDARY INSTITUTIONS By Erica Caton B.A., Lehman College, CUNY, 1994 MSW, Hunter College, CUNY, 1997 A Dissertation Approved on November 9, 2015 by the following Dissertation Committee: ___________________________________ Dr. Thomas R. Lawson, Chair ___________________________________ Dr. Emma M. Sterrett, Co-Chair ___________________________________ Dr. Tomarra A. Adams ___________________________________ Dr. Shannon E. Bell ___________________________________ Dr. Armon R. Perry ii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my cousin, Kamilo and the students at U of L and UK who so graciously gave their time and hearts to this project. You showed me the meaning of courage. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want to express my deepest thanks to Dr. Thomas R. Lawson, my professor and chair. Your patience during Doc Prep and ARDA were invaluable. Surpassed only by the support, you extended in the form of not-so-gentle nudges just when I needed them most. To Dr. Ruth Huber, the late Dr. Blaine Hudson, Dr. Cynthia Conley and the late James Elmer Caton III, their kindness and generous financial support was instrumental in my being able to pursue and achieve this goal. To the members of my dissertation committee Dr. Tomarra Adams, Dr. Shannon Bell, Dr. Armon Perry and Dr. Emma Sterrett, your time, expertise and guidance were greatly appreciated. Many thanks to everyone in my U of L Kent School of Social Work and College of Arts & Sciences families. There is no way to express the gratitude and love I have for my family and friends. You have laughed, cried, hugged, tough loved, and talked me down off the ledge more times than you will ever know. I love you, Mom! Finally, to my husband Mark, you proofed hundreds of pages, made me countless cups of hot tea and cheered me on with perfectly inspiring and tender words. Thank you for supporting me in this and everything. iv ABSTRACT STANDING IN THE INTERSECTION: USING PHOTOVOICE TO UNDERSTAND THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF BLACK GAY COLLEGE STUDENTS ATTENDING PREDOMINANTLY WHITE POSTSECONDARY INSTITUTIONS Erica Caton November 9, 2015 The intersection of multiple oppressed identities is characterized by the compounded effects of victimization, intimidation and continued marginalization by dominant culture groups in society. Despite a growing body of knowledge about the individual experiences of racial and sexual minorities, there remains a lack of understanding of the unique life experiences of individuals with intersecting oppressed identities, specifically Black gay youth. Failure or inability to recognize, understand and take action in response to the needs of Black gay youth in college, perpetuates a culture of oppression that compromises the physical and mental well-being, and the academic success of these students. Engaging Black gay college students in a Photovoice project affords said students the opportunity to document their everyday experiences in photographic images, tell the stories of their lives, and identify the strengths and needs of their community for campus policy makers, educators, practitioners and researchers. While it represents a trusted approach in understanding the lived experiences of marginalized and oppressed people, Wang and Burris’ (1994) participatory action research method Photovoice is underutilized as a means of understanding the lived v experience of Black gay college students. This dissertation study utilized a modified Photovoice project as well as other qualitative and quantitative research methods to explore the lived experience of Black gay college students, the meaning they attribute to said experiences and subsequent role performance. The students in this study demonstrated a keen awareness of the complexity and compounded effects of their identities and resilience in the face of harassment and repeated microaggressions while identifying and employing multiple pathways to personal, academic and professional success. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ v LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1 The Problem .................................................................................................................... 4 Study Considerations ...................................................................................................... 9 Being Black ................................................................................................................... 11 Being LGBTQ ............................................................................................................... 17 Being a College Student ................................................................................................ 23 I am a Black Heterosexual Woman… Why LGBTQ research? ................................... 27 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................... 32 Intersectionality ............................................................................................................. 32 Role Theory ................................................................................................................... 40 Student Development Theory ....................................................................................... 43 Black Youth in College ................................................................................................. 47 LGBTQ Youth in College ............................................................................................. 51 Black Communities and Black LGBTQ Community Members ................................... 58 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY AND METHODS .................................................... 78 Participatory Action Research ....................................................................................... 79 Photovoice ..................................................................................................................... 81 Study Sites ..................................................................................................................... 87 Measures ....................................................................................................................... 94 Recruitment and Sampling ............................................................................................ 97 The Process of Critical Reflection ................................................................................ 99 Data Collection, Management & Analysis .................................................................. 102 Study Ethics and Rigor ................................................................................................ 105 vii TABLE OF CONTENTS (CON'T) PAGE CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS ............................................................................................ 108 “I am Black and Gay” ................................................................................................
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