Overview
Section 1) Students will complete a web of oppression diagram for themselves and one for a client from their field placement, professional experience or personal social sphere (please physically complete a web for yourself and for your client). After completing each diagram, students will answer the following questions:
Section 2) Student's Personal Experience: How do you perceive how your combined positions affect your personal experience of oppression and access to power, privilege, and resources? (2-3 pages)
Section 3) Another's Experience: Please discuss your interpretation of your client’s experience of oppression and access to power, privilege and resources. *Please change all identifying information such as name*. How do you perceive how their combined positions affect their personal experience of oppression and access to power, privilege, and resources? Imagine the barriers that are created when individuals occupy multiple positions at the outer circle and far from the center of the web. (2-3 pages)
Section 4) Identify at least 3 areas of intersectionality where you recognize overlap and intersecting experiences. Make sure to assess your lived experience with a microscopic lens in contrast to another’s. Hint: this may be the best place to reference academic sources as required in this assessment. (2-3 pages).
Rationale behind the assignment: This positionality assessment uses an intersectional model that diagrams a web of oppression in which an individual's intersectional identities or locations can be mapped. This intersectional model represents the multidimensionality of intersectionality and complexity of the human cultural experience. It describes the place where multiple identities come together and intersect. The web of oppression diagram (Sisnero's Web of Oppression) positions an individual at the intersection of race, class, gender, religion, ability, birthplace, language spoken, and sexual orientation. It shows the areas of intersection and can map the connections between all of them. Those individuals with characteristics that position them closer to the center have more power, privilege, and access to resources than those that are consistently farther away from the center.
Simple descriptions of oppression based on one's personal characteristics, such as gender or race, give only a partial explanation of their patterns of oppression. Oppression is mostly a qualitative experience and unique to each individual. The most valid interpretation consists of individuals experiencing of their own oppression-privilege status.
Guidelines: Student's are required to include a minimum of 3 peer-reviewed sources in this assignment (this can include your textbook, articles utilized in class, or external sources), which also must adhere to all APA guidelines
Me: I am a white Latina, female, middle class (due to family), U.S. Born (English 1st language then Spanish), mental disability since I'm bipolar but I'm able-bodied, Catholic, and bisexual
My client which you can name Jane Doe for privacy: Latina, Female, currently on welfare/public assistance, Foreign born (English is 2nd language), able-bodied, not sure of religion, and is heterosexual. She currently resides (my job) which is at a domestic violence shelter. Prior to coming to the shelter her oppression was the same.