Understanding the Well-Being of LGBTQI+ Populations (2020) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
6 Public Policy and Structural Stigma
6 Public Policy and Structural Stigma
Pages 121-164
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 121... ...
It then turns to the emerging literature on how structural factors -- law, public policy, and public attitudes -- influence the well-being of SGD populations, including economic outcomes, experiences of victimization and violence, and mental and physical health. Collectively, this research falls under the umbrella of what researchers call structural stigma, which is defined as "societal-level conditions, cultural norms, and institutional policies that constrain the opportunities, resources, and well-being of the stigmatized" (Hatzenbuehler and Link, 2014, p.
|
From page 122... ...
. Among SGD populations, early organizing centered on gay men and lesbian women who had to construct an identity in the context of high degrees of social and structural stigma (Bernstein, 2002; D'Emilio 1983)
|
From page 123... ...
The coalition of organizations that advocate on behalf of SGD populations consists of a myriad of groups (Taylor et al., 2018) ; some focus on policy advocacy, many prioritize litigation, and others are issue specific, faith based, or work primarily to deliver goods and services.
|
From page 124... ...
. Like advocacy organizations devoted to the advancement of rights for SGD populations, organizations opposed to such advancement also devote considerable resources to framing and tailoring their messages to the public (Flores, 2019; Stone, 2012)
|
From page 125... ...
. Because framing and public perception are so important, the pursuit of public policies affecting SGD populations is constrained by prioritizing policies that are politically palatable and crafting respectable ways to present and discuss them (Cohen, 1999)
|
From page 126... ...
. In addition, the policies that most affect multiply marginalized SGD populations (e.g., policies relating to sex work)
|
From page 127... ...
The frequent use of ballot initiatives and referendums in the passage of state and local policies affecting SGD populations directly involves the attitudes of voters in policy making (Stone, 2012) , and it is far more likely than other approaches to position LGBT rights on the losing end of policy debates (Haider-Markel, Querze, and Lindaman, 2007; Lewis, 2019; Stone, 2012)
|
From page 128... ...
In addition to issue framing and strategic communications (Solomon, 2014; Stone, 2012) , advocates and academics have examined various strategies to change public opinion to be more favorable to SGD populations.
|
From page 129... ...
showed that social movement activism rooted in ACT UP eventually led to mass media and entertainment media representing SGD populations. Such representation may be one key driver of the mass opinion change that shifted favorably toward lesbian women and gay men in the United States (Garretson, 2018)
|
From page 130... ...
A pro-rights policy change has the capacity to produce both backlash or further positive change for SGD populations (Egan, Persily, and Wallsten, 2008) , though recent empirical research tends to show mass attitudes become more favorable of SGD populations following adoption of pro-rights laws (Flores and Barclay, 2016; Ofosu et al., 2018; Tankard and Paluck, 2017)
|
From page 131... ...
Public policy and public opinion represent structures that establish the overall context for SGD populations. Social movements and advocacy organizations represent the ongoing struggle of SGD people to change those structures to improve their well-being.
|
From page 132... ...
, which may be appropriate for research questions that seek to evaluate which individual components of structural stigma are most robustly associated with the well-being of SGD populations. Under some circumstances, however, it is desirable to develop comprehensive measures of structural stigma that tap into shared variance in order to eliminate or minimize unique variance (e.g., unmeasured variables that reflect constructs other than structural stigma)
|
From page 133... ...
. SGD populations are not passive victims as they experience structural forms of stigma, but instead they engage in a variety of coping responses that buffer the negative effects of structural stigma and lead to positive psychosocial outcomes.
|
From page 134... ...
opportunity to serve openly as gay in the military; and (5) the presence of a legal framework to address all anti-gay discrimination Composite variable of two state laws: hate crimes and employment nondiscrimination acts Constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage Voter referendum on sexual orientation-based discrimination Voter referendum on same-sex marriage (Proposition 8)
|
From page 135... ...
; use, bullying Youth Survey Geospatial Dataset (N Duncan, Hatzenbuehler, = 102 sexual minority youth) and Johnson (2014)
|
From page 136... ...
Composite measure of country-level policies related to sexual orientation and aggregated social attitudes toward homosexuality held by the citizens of each country Composite measure of country-level policies related to sexual orientation and aggregated social attitudes toward homosexuality held by the citizens of each country Voter referendum on same-sex marriage Aggregate measure of community attitudes on same-sex marriage Sexual orientation enumeration in state anti-bullying statutes Religious Freedom Restoration Acts Longitudinal Studies Longitudinal panel Composite variable of (1) density of same-sex couples; (2)
|
From page 137... ...
(2019) ideation and attempts in the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance the past 12 months System (N = 2,000 sexual minority youth)
|
From page 138... ...
Repeated cross- Same-sex marriage policies sectional samples with fixed effects Repeated cross- State laws permitting the denial of services to same-sex couples sectional samples with ("religious exemption laws") fixed effects
|
From page 139... ...
1,211 sexual minority male patients) Hazardous Nonprobability sample from the Everett, drinking, depressive Chicago Health and Life Experiences Hatzenbuehler, and symptoms, perceived of Women Study (N = 517 sexual Hughes (2016)
|
From page 140... ...
sectional samples constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage, and (3) with fixed effects employment nondiscrimination and hate crime laws Cross-sectional Media market data of television ads during a voter referendum on analysis, examining same-sex marriage "spillover" into states where "treated" individuals were accidentally exposed to the campaign ads Field Experiments Audit experiment Legal protections related to employment discrimination Laboratory Studies Composite variable of (1)
|
From page 141... ...
discrimination resume in each pair was randomly (percentage of gay assigned experience in a gay campus men who received a organization, and the other resume callback) was assigned a control condition Laboratory Studies Physiological stress Nonprobability sample of LGB young Hatzenbuehler and response, measured by adults (N = 74)
|
From page 142... ...
. Daily diary studies are increasingly being used to study structural stigma among SGD populations.
|
From page 143... ...
These declines in structural stigma were associated with a significant reduction in the magnitude of the sexual orientation disparity in mental health: in 2005, gay men and lesbian women were nearly three times more likely to meet criteria for elevated psychological distress than heterosexual men and women, but in 2015 the sexual orientation disparity was eliminated (Hatzenbuehler, Bränström, and Pachankis, 2018)
|
From page 144... ...
This pattern was in the opposite direction of those observed in the study's sample of sexual minority men, suggesting that external factors in the Massachusetts health care environment were unlikely to have influenced the results. Quasi-Experiments Using Repeated Cross-Sectional Samples A second quasi-experimental approach uses repeated cross-sectional samples with state fixed effects to examine the consequences of structural stigma for SGD populations.
|
From page 145... ...
Results indicated that the presence of hate crime and employment nondiscrimination laws that include sexual orientation as a protected class resulted in a small but statistically reliable reduction in the incidence of hate crimes against LGBT populations. For instance, states instituting a nondiscrimination law had one fewer reported hate crime per 900,000 people during the year the policy was adopted and an additional one fewer reported crime per 1.2 million people in the following year (Levy and Levy, 2017)
|
From page 146... ...
The researcher submitted a pair of fictitious, but ostensibly real, resumes to job postings of white-collar, entry-level jobs in seven states that were chosen on the basis of whether they had employment nondiscrimination laws that included sexual orientation as a protected class. The sexual orientation of the applicant was randomly assigned to each pair before the resumes were sent: the sexual orientation of the apparent applicant was signaled through the applicant's membership in a campus organization during college.
|
From page 147... ...
Establishing Causal Inferences Researchers have used several different approaches to achieve the strongest inferences possible regarding the effects of structural stigma on the well-being of SGD populations. Below, we briefly discuss six of these strategies.
|
From page 148... ...
, the opposite of what the social selection hypothesis would predict. This finding indicates that differential selection by health status is unlikely to be responsible for the observed association between structural stigma and well-being outcomes among SGD populations.
|
From page 149... ...
Mediating Pathways Although most research to date has focused on main effect relations between structural stigma and well-being outcomes among SGD populations, research has begun to identify potential mechanisms explaining this association. This work has largely focused on two
|
From page 150... ...
, and exposure to various media content (e.g., television ads) -- offers new ways of measuring the presence and scope of structural stigma, as reflected in aggregated social norms and attitudes, that affect SGD populations.
|
From page 151... ...
Researchers could also study dose–response relationships between length of exposure to structural stigma over a person's life course and adverse outcomes among SGD populations. Structural Stigma Relevant to Individuals of Diverse Genders and Sexualities Most research has examined structural stigma related to sexual orientation, with a particular focus on same-sex sexuality.
|
From page 152... ...
Data Needs The most widely used approaches for studying structural stigma and well-being among SGD populations include multilevel or population-average models that provide an estimate of the effect of structural stigma on wellbeing outcomes, net of individual and contextual factors (Hatzenbuehler, 2017)
|
From page 153... ...
At the same time, however, there are organizations opposed to the advancement of rights for SGD populations that also try to control the policy agenda and reach the public through counter campaigns and social movements. The way issues are communicated affects how people come to understand them.
|
From page 154... ...
CONCLUSION 6-2: Tracking shifts in policies and public opinion is important to illuminate the policy environments for sexual and gender diverse populations and to understand the processes and consequences of legal and policy changes. The well-being of SGD populations is affected not only by legal and political institutions and public attitudes, but also by structural factors, including structural stigma.
|
From page 155... ...
. Policy backlash: Measuring the effect of policy venues using public opinion.
|
From page 156... ...
. Value War: Public Opinion and the Politics of Gay Rights.
|
From page 157... ...
. Neighborhood-level LGBT hate crimes and current illicit drug use among sexual minority youth.
|
From page 158... ...
Tadlock (Eds.) , Gay and Lesbian Women in the Democratic Process: Public Policy, Public Opinion, and Political Representation (pp.
|
From page 159... ...
. Structural stigma and sexual orientation disparities in adolescent drug use.
|
From page 160... ...
. Gay rights in the states: Public opinion and policy respon siveness.
|
From page 161... ...
. Hidden from happiness: Structural stigma, sexual orientation concealment, and life satisfaction across 28 countries.
|
From page 162... ...
. Hidden from health: Structural stigma, sexual orientation conceal ment, and HIV across 38 countries in the European MSM Internet Survey (EMIS)
|
From page 163... ...
. The factors underlying public opinion about transgender rights.
|
From page 164... ...
New Political Science, 34(2)
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.