SELF
AWARENESS
"Self-awareness can uncover our biases, unpacks our privilege, unclasps our position, and un-occupies power"
Tulane University School of Social Work
Implicit Bias
Tools
Implicit Association Test- Project Implicit, Harvard University
Research shows the IAT is an effective educational tool for raising awareness about implicit bias. The IAT measures the strength of associations between concepts (e.g., black people, gay people) and evaluations (e.g., good, bad) or stereotypes (e.g., athletic, clumsy). The main idea is that making a response is easier when closely related items share the same response key.
Articles
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Holroyd, J. (2015). Implicit bias, awareness and imperfect cognitions. Consciousness and cognition, 33, 511-523. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S105381001400195
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Allen, R. N., & Harris, D. (2018). # SocialJustice: Combatting implicit Bias in an age of millennials, colorblindness & microaggressions. U. Md. LJ Race, Religion, Gender & Class, 18, 1. https://scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1302&context=faculty_publications
Identity Mapping and Positionality Statements
Tools
Diversity Toolkit: A Guide to Discussing Identity, Power and Privilege
Developed by the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work
The Social Identity Wheel worksheet is an activity developed by the University Of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts that encourages students to identify social identities and reflect on the various ways those identities become visible or more keenly felt at different times, and how those identities impact the ways others perceive or treat them.
Link to the worksheet: https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/inclusive-teaching/wp-content/uploads/sites/853/2021/12/Social-Identity-Wheel.pdf
Articles
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Jacobson, D., & Mustafa, N. (2019). Social Identity Map: A Reflexivity Tool for Practicing Explicit Positionality in Critical Qualitative Research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 18. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406919870075
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Self-Care
Videos
Articles
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Wyatt, J. P., & Ampadu, G. G. (2022). Reclaiming self-care: self-care as a social justice tool for Black wellness. Community Mental Health Journal, 58(2), 213-221. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10597-021-00884-9
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Brown, M. E. (2020). Hazards of our helping profession: A practical self-care model for community practice. Social Work, 65(1), 38-44. https://academic.oup.com/sw/article-abstract/65/1/38/5673358
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University of Maryland, Baltimore County. (n.d.). Self-Care for Allies. https://oei.umbc.edu/showing-up-for-black-lives/self-care-for-allies/
The first critical step that should be taken when participating in social justice work and advocacy should be engaging in self-reflection and examination.
“The journey of self-awareness unravels our biases, unpacks our privilege, unclasps our position, and un-occupies power. Self-awareness for social justice is an ongoing practice that requires an ever-developing lens fueled by empathy and understanding. In this session, we’ll outline an action plan to support our journey to becoming a more inclusive leader."
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Tulane University School of Social Work further explains why uncovering bias and self-awareness is important for advocacy work and allyship:
"Uncovering unconscious bias is a critical first step toward allyship. Unconscious bias can crop up in subtle ways. Examples of this include finding someone who looks like you more trustworthy than someone of a different race or attributing substance abuse relapse to lack of motivation or effort. To become a successful ally, you first need to understand your existing beliefs, feelings, and attitudes. Examine your motivations and behaviors with an open mind and critical lens. What do you believe? Why do you believe what you believe? While challenging, these questions are important to answer. You have to dig into your own oppression and privilege to understand the oppression and privilege of others.
Seeking outside guidance can be helpful during the self-examination process. Attend a diversity and inclusion seminar to help gain insight. Sign up for a workshop to engage with others who are going through the same process. Talk with trusted friends and see if your ideas hold up when others challenge them. In doing so, you can begin to define what allyship means to you and how you can be a better ally.
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Self-examination can be uncomfortable, but the ability to think critically and objectively about your own attitudes gets easier with practice.”
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Using Self Awareness to Avoid Burnout
Another important component of self-reflection and awareness when engaging in social justice advocacy is to identify your limits to avoid burning out.
“One forgotten way that we do justice to the cause is by always remembering to do justice to ourselves: avoiding burnout.
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As important as knowledge can be, over-information is very much a real thing. Another way to ensure the protection of one’s energy and health is to know when to turn it off, identifying one’s limitations and making room for reflection & evaluation of the information covered. With how quickly information spreads in today’s society, it is also very easy to always be consuming, summarizing and distributing, often without proper evaluation of what information is key or accurate.”
– Taylor B Alarcón, An Injustice! Magazine
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Resources & Tools
There are many resources and tools available online about how to engage in self-awareness activities. We have complied and categorized some of these for you to reference and use:
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Self-Awareness and Social Justice
Webinar:
Self-awareness for Social Justice: Tools for Equity-Minded and Inclusive Leaders