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Dominant and Marginalized Discourses in Interracial Couples' Narratives: Implications for Family Therapists
Author(s) -
Killian Kyle D.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
family process
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.011
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1545-5300
pISSN - 0014-7370
DOI - 10.1111/j.1545-5300.2002.00603.x
Subject(s) - narrative , negotiation , ideology , psychology , gender studies , ethnic group , white (mutation) , voice , racism , sociology , social psychology , politics , political science , art , social science , biochemistry , chemistry , linguistics , philosophy , anthropology , law , gene , literature
This study explores interracial couples' family histories, their experiences of their life together, and the dominant and subordinate discoures employed in negotiating racial and ethnic differences. Ten black‐white couples were interviewed individually and conjointly. Dominant discourses that emerged from the couples' narratives included those of homogamy, hypersensitivity of persons of color, and the insignificance of familial and societal history. Interracial partners also simultaneously subverted these prevailing ideologies by voicing expriences associated with life at the margins of the society. Dominant and subordinate discoureses used by therapists and interracial couples in the therapy room are examined to integrate marginalized “truths” crucial to effective work with interracial couples and persons of color.