"We Don't Get a Chance to Prove Who We Really Are": A Qualitative Inquiry of Workplace Prejudice and Discrimination Among Black Adults With Serious Mental Illness

Objective: Studies focused on prejudice and discrimination have traditionally explored the impact of one kind of prejudicial experience (e.g., race, gender, criminal history) within a particular context and thus, there is weak base of understanding about the experiences of individuals who may contend with concurrent prejudicial and/or discriminatory experiences across multiple characteristics. In this study, our aim was to better understand the prejudicial and/or discriminatory work experiences of Black adults with serious mental illness (SMI). Specifically, we highlight instances where individuals endorse the salience of multiple sources of prejudice and discrimination during a given workplace incident. Method: Using a semistructured interview guide and a grounded theory approach, we interviewed 24 Black adults with SMI recruited from two clubhouses in the Boston metropolitan area. To validate findings, we also conducted follow-up focus groups with participants (n = 9) at each recruitment site. Results: We identified 19 personal attributes/characteristics contributing to the prejudicial/discriminatory experiences of Black adults with SMI in the context of work. We also found that respondents would organize these prejudicial/discriminatory experiences in clusters whereby two or more characteristics were viewed as the reasons for prejudice and discrimination during a given workplace incident. Conclusions and Implications for Practice: Black adults with SMI contend with a range of prejudicial and discriminatory experiences, often experienced simultaneously, highlighting the importance of an intersectional framework in research designs and/or clinical interventions addressing the needs of this population. Impact and Implications This qualitative inquiry reports on experiences of workplace prejudice and discrimination among Black adults with SMI. Giving credence to the intersectional discriminatory experiences that ethnic minorities may face is a necessary next step to more adequately inform research designs and more efficacious clinical interventions.