Dr. James Brooks Spotlight

CRRES recently chatted with Dr. James Brooks, Assistant Professor in the Counseling and Educational Psychology Department in the School of Education at IU, to discuss his recently published peer-reviewed article titled, “Stigma and Relationship Quality: The Relevance of Racial-Ethnic Worldview in Interracial Relationships in the United States,” on the associations between relationship stigma, racial-ethnic worldview, and the relationship quality among those in interracial relationships. We also discuss what he means by racial-ethnic worldview, his research on racial justice and multiracial families, and his experiences as a faculty mentor for the CRRES Undergraduate Research Program (URP).

Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Dr. Brooks: I am trained as a counseling psychologist and have really made a point when I am doing research to understand the perspectives of individuals, especially as it relates to racial understanding. I think that plays a really important part in their lives. I had the opportunity to teach at a historically Black university before coming to Indiana University, and that was an experience that really helped solidify like my interest in exploring topics in the way that I do today, that I didn't really explore before then. I think probably my greatest joy is really the mentoring aspect of being a professor is getting a chance to work with students and help shape experiences that will help bring voice to themselves as researchers.

You recently published a peer-reviewed article titled, “Stigma and Relationship Quality: The Relevance of Racial-Ethnic Worldview in Interracial Relationships in the United States,” in a special issue. Could you tell us more about what you sought out to examine, the findings, and the broader implications?

Dr. Brooks:At the core of that work what was most important was this construct that I’ve been working on that I call Racial-ethnic Worldview. What it is— if we think about anyone’s experience throughout life, there’s a whole host of things that make it different and unique than maybe other people’s experiences. When it comes to understanding race and ethnicity that is also true that we all have different perspectives. If we actually look across folks, we see that there are a lot of commonalities that exist, but that people may think very differently in groups. I think it matters for one, how do we think about our own racial group? Do we have an affinity for it? Do we appreciate it, our ethnic identity, does that matter to us? How do we interact with other people from different racial groups? Or the same racial group? And then, the one that is probably most important that I think gets into this idea of our worldview about race and ethnicity, is do we acknowledge systemic racism? Do we really see it as something that impacts people’s lives? If you put all those things together, you have someone’s Racial-ethnic Worldview.

This idea of whether racism exists, how do I react to other people from different racial groups, and what is my own ethnic group mean for me— I took that idea and I said, well, let's look at folks who are in interracial relationships and let's see if the way they think about race really has an impact on how they're experiencing their romantic relationships because there's stigma that comes with dating, marrying, being partnered with someone of a different race. What I actually found is that there are some types of folks, those who deny racism and who don’t really value group differences. These types of individuals don’t really do as well in their relationships, or at least, they report that their relationships are not as great in terms of satisfaction, passion, and commitment. They are not as great as compared to folks who acknowledge systemic racism. Folks who value group differences and have a strong kind of ethnic identity. That is the gist of the study.

Before this, interracial relationships were really kind of just examined for their racial composition. Maybe sometimes we look at identity, sometimes we look at attitudes, but very, very rarely do we look at how do people think about systemic racism. So, looking at all three of those things together in this idea of racial-ethnic worldview, it was probably the most meaningful part of that study and that it actually was connected to how people experience their relationships. Relationships are so incredibly important for our lives. Many times, folks find lots of support, or sometimes they are stressed in their relationships, so as a psychologist, I see that as really being a part of our overall wellness.

You have a funded research endeavor on “Racial Justice and Multiracial Families – The Implications of Critical Consciousness for Couples and Counselors.” Could you tell us more about it?

Dr. Brooks: This is very similar in terms of Racial-ethnic Worldview. As a counseling psychologist and someone who's really interested in relationships, I think about the implications of this new knowledge I'm gaining for clinical practice. When we think of relationship research, or more importantly, about relationship counseling, we are often thinking about the individual family or the individual couple, but not giving much context to what is the social environment that they are living in. Particularly, how is it that systems of oppression and marginalization might be impacting this family in a way that is unique from other types of families, and so with the Racial Justice and Multiracial Families project, the goal is to identify the ways in which we can make clinical recommendations for counselors. How is it that you can help multiracial families, interracial couples navigate race and racism in a way that we are not necessarily taught as clinicians or being trained? What happens in multiracial families, especially if there's a white partner, is that you have individuals who have very different experiences with race, right and it impacts their racial worldview, right? So, it may be different in terms of who believes racism is playing a role in their day-to-day lives as individuals, but also what impact is it having for us as a couple?

As a person of color, I may be more aware and vigilant around experiences of discrimination or mistreatment as an individual. That might also translate to being part of the interracial couple, but perhaps as a white partner or partner who hasn't had experiences to be vigilant about race. So, what happens in counseling when something comes up, either within the relationship or even outside the relationship, brings some stress. Some of the research I've looked at has seen the impact of things, like the murder of George Floyd and the movement for Black Lives, and how that generates new conversations within couples that haven't talked about it before. I mean, folks that really learn, you know, I'm coming from a very different place in terms of how I view the world and race than you are. So the racial justice project is about how we, as counselors, begin to use this information to help navigate that space.

Do you have preliminary findings that could be shared with the public?

Dr. Brooks: The things that I would say are that when interracial couples, as these partners are reporting, talk about race, like when those folks talk about it, and they value their differences. Those conversations can be challenging and difficult. We are actually seeing that those people tend to report better relationship quality; they seem more resilient and resistant to the stigma they face as a couple. And so, those are the kinds of things that I would really encourage folks to take away from the research. Right now, I am examining if a match in racial-ethnic worldview matters if both partners think the same way, even if you deny institutionalized racism. Even if you do not value group differences or value your own racial group, if you all agree, does that help? But there seems to be some benefit to having a shared understanding of race in the relationship. However, broadly, the perspective of acknowledging racism, valuing your partner and their differences from yourself, but also having a good ethnic identity yourself seems to be the most valuable at this time.

You are currently a faculty mentor for the CRRES Undergraduate Research Program, what has your experience been like so far?

Dr. Brooks:Well, it's really phenomenal. I have had a chance to work with Jahlea Douglas for two years, who is phenomenal as a Counseling and Student Services major. It's been a real pleasure to see her develop not only in terms of her confidence around research and the creativity that she brings from her own lived experiences. One of my favorite things to say to all the students that I work with is that for me, research is me-research. The research questions that I examine, the ways I approach things are all impacted by my lived experiences, things that I've lived through, things that I've witnessed, but things that I've held on to. So, I encourage Jahlea as part of the program and other students as well to bring themselves into the research process because they will ask questions and find solutions that will be different than what it is that I bring. And I believe that being able to empower her in that way has been a big part of her development. We have plans to present at professional conferences. We're going to an international one here in July as well, so it's been really fantastic to be able to work with work with Jahlea for two years. It’s probably an experience that wouldn’t have happened without the without the URP program.

Is there anything else you would like to add that maybe wasn’t covered by my questions?

Dr. Brooks:So I would definitely say that my, my research has been mostly centered around relationships, interracial relationships, also multi-racial relationships, but recently I have added studies around sexuality and sexual expression in sex-positive spaces. I am particularly interested in what I can explore with sexuality and in continuing my research to expand beyond couples and to actually include families and multiracial identity development and how people's racial-ethnic worldview will impact the ways in which they engage in the ethnic-racial socialization of their children. I think that there's something about being able to not only get what the parents’ intentions are, what they say they're doing socially with their children, and then also what the children are taking to heart, what do they carry on with them. It will be really fascinating to see how these those things are related as well.