New research from James M. Mancinelli, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, an associate professor emeritus in La Salle University’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, details the intersectional identity of LGBTQ+ people who stutter.
Mancinelli’s research, titled On the Construction of an Intersectional Identity of LGBTQ People Who Stutter, is one of a very small number of publications on the topic. It aimed to fill gaps in the academic literature already published by other authors on related topics, Mancinelli wrote in the piece.
New research from James M. Mancinelli, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, an associate professor emeritus in La Salle University’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, published in the Journal of Fluency Disorders’ June edition, adds new insight into the intersectional identities of members of the LGBTQ+ community who stutter.
Mancinelli’s research, titled On the Construction of an Intersectional Identity of LGBTQ People Who Stutter, is one of a very small number of publications on the topic. It aimed to fill gaps in the academic literature already published by other authors on related topics, Mancinelli wrote in the piece.
Mancinelli believes his research will have a broader, overarching takeaway for those within speech-language pathology and beyond.
“I would say that the most important point of the research itself is that multiply stigmatized individuals, in this case LGBTQ+ people who stutter, are always managing information about themselves in every social interaction they have, and that can be a burden,” he said. “We must give multiply stigmatized individuals and those with intersectional identities grace and understand that their social positioning can be burdensome and create social isolation. Not everyone is the same, we all lead different social lives, and for individuals with multiply stigmatized social identities the challenge of difference is amplified.”
Intersectionality, a framework introduced in 1989 by civil rights advocate and scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, is, at its core, the idea that different parts of who a person is, for example, their race or gender, combine and overlap to shape the lived experiences of an individual rather than doing so separately.
In terms of the specific purpose of the published piece, Mancinelli was looking to do two things.
“The purpose of this study was to propose a theory on the construction of the intersectional identity of LGBTQ+ people who stutter, find out what the shared elements of both are, and how those elements combine to create the intersectional identity,” he stated.
Work towards proposing the theory started with a literature review, which Mancinelli began in 2021 and completed with assistance from La Salle students. At its conclusion, he developed three hypotheses, referred to as assumptions in the published piece, to guide the study.
First, LGBTQ+ people who stutter experience both public and structural stigmatization that have an impact on their ability and/or willingness to be authentic in social situations. Second, they stand outside of societal “norm circles” that uphold unwritten rules on ways to interact to conform. Lastly, they are always managing information about both of their identities to minimize public and self-stigmatization.
The next step of the research was to gather the data. Starting in 2022, Mancinelli conducted three one to two hour long semi-structured interviews with four participants. The information they provided in the interviews was then analyzed for themes and subthemes common to all four participants. These commonalities were found using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), a qualitative method used in research to evaluate how participants view their own experiences.
From the IPA results, Mancinelli identified many common themes shared by both identities of his participants. These themes included, among others, feeling public stigmatization across social interactions and always managing information about themselves when socializing.
One theme, authenticity, was described by the participants as a desired outcome but that they struggled with it at various times in their lives. Interestingly, all the participants became aware of their intersectional identity as a LGBTQ+ person who stutters by the onset of puberty.
Grounded theory methodology, or using data to develop theories or frameworks, was then used to propose a core phenomenon of the intersectional identity based on themes that emerged from the IPA analysis.
“The core phenomenon became ‘who am I now?’,” Mancinelli said.
That overarching question of ‘who am I now?’ came from an interview with one of the participants, Mancinelli noted, who found he was asking himself that question when deciding what parts of his identity he would show during social interactions throughout his life. This core question was common to all, but perfectly articulated by this participant, Mancinelli said.
“Because they have this intersectional identity made up of these elements, they’re always managing information about who to be and navigating identities during interactions,” Mancinelli said. “It’s learning social interactions that these folks are having to manage, asking ‘who am I now,’ to manage the cognitive and affective feelings of being in that situation having an intersectional identity.”
Mancinelli did note that his research had limitations that would be beneficial to address in future directions of the research. One of which is the sample size of four, which, although common in qualitative research such as this, is still a smaller group.
He also acknowledged that the sample could be more diverse, writing “despite focusing on a specific segment of the LGBTQ+ community, a broader demographic, including bisexual, transgender, queer, and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) individuals, as well as people across generations would have enriched the findings and would be especially relevant in the current cultural context.”
Mancinelli also related his research findings to clinical practice for speech pathologists. He proposed clinical applications for clinicians whose clients have this lived experience. Clinicians, he said, must be cognizant and acknowledge that these clients are dealing with the stigmatization that comes with both, and they must create safe spaces where their clients can be open about their life experiences. Doing this will help to create an environment based on trust and cultural humility, ensuring their clients feel seen, supported, and empowered.
“The findings challenge speech-language pathologists, educators, and support organizations to adopt a more inclusive and intersectional approach to working with PWS, acknowledging knowledge gaps about non-heteronormative and transgender experiences and demonstrate a willingness to recognize that identity formation is deeply influenced by social context and power structures,” the research says.
-Naomi Thomas
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