From “About Me” to “About We”: Therapeutic Intentions of Black American Women’s Natural Hair Blogs
Keywords:
therapeutic intentions, natural hair, blogger, Black American womenAbstract
Psychological support is not confined to therapists’ offices, but also transfers to social media forums for Black American women. Black American women bloggers with natural hair care practices have participated in asynchronous computer-mediated communication, where discussion is based around caring for oneself and one’s hair. There is a dearth of research about the role of the Black American female hair bloggers in setting out therapeutic intentions for their online community. Through investigating the theory of PsychoHairapy (Author, year; Author, year) that argues that hair can be an entry point into psychological interventions, this study investigated therapeutic intentions represented by Black American women on their natural hair blogs. Through a content analysis of the “About me” section of the top 40 visited natural hair blogs, 4 independent raters identified that 93% of the bloggers represented at least one therapeutic intention. The results suggest that the blogs serve as a forum for informal support group work derived from the bloggers own lived experiences, fulfilling dual roles of peer and expert. This study provides evidence that natural hair blogging can integrate formal and informal techniques of health promotion, resulting in promoting psychological support for a population otherwise marginalized.
References
Alston, G., & Ellis-Hervey, N. (2014). Exploring public pedagogy and the non-formal adult educator in 21st century contexts using qualitative video data analysis techniques. Learning Media and Technology, 40, 502-513. doi:10.1080/17439884. 2014.968168
Ashley, W. & Brown, J. (2015). Attachment tHAIRapy: A Culturally Relevant Treatment Paradigm for African American Foster Youth. Journal of Black American Studies, 46, (6), 587–604. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934715590406.
Bledin, K., Loat, M., Caffrey, A., Evans, K., Taylor, B., & Nitsun, M. (2016). ‘Most Important Events’ and Therapeutic Factors: An Evaluation of Inpatient Groups for People with Severe and Enduring Mental Health Difficulties. Group Analysis, 49(4), 398-413.
Blood, R. (2002). The weblog handbook: Practical advice on creating and maintaining your blog. Cambridge MA: Perseus Publishing.
Brock, A. (2016). Critical technocultural discourse analysis. New Media & Society, 1-19. doi:10.1177/1461444816677532
Burtenshaw, R. (1997). An ethnic comparison of the ranked value of Yalom’s therapeutic factors among chemically dependent incarcerated adult males in group psychotherapy. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities and Social Sciences, 58 (2), 590.
Byrd, A. D., and Tharps, L. (2014). Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black American Hair in America. New York, NY: St. Martin's Print.
Coulson, N. S. (2005). Receiving social support online: an analysis of a computer-mediated support group for individuals living with irritable bowel syndrome. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 8(6), 580-584.
Cutrona, C. E. (1990). Stress and social support--in search of optimal matching. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 9(1), 3-14. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1521/jscp.1990.9.1.3
Davis-Sivasothy, A. (2011). The science of Black American hair. Stafford, TX. Saja Publishing.
Demirbas, H., Dogan, Y., & Ilhan, O. (2012). The Relationship Between the Group Therapeutic Factors and Relapse in Alcohol Dependent Inpatients. Journal of Psychiatry & Neurological Sciences, 25(2), 21-32.
Dienfenbeck, C., Klemm, P., & Hayes, E. (2014). Emergence of Yalom’s therapeutic factors in a peer-led, synchronous, online support group for family caregivers. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 35(1), 21-32.
Dubin, J. (1996). A descriptive study of career decision-making self-efficacy, career indecision, vocational identity, and the salience of Yalom’s therapeutic factors in a psychoeducational group work context. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities and Social Sciences, 57(6), 2369.
Ellington, T. (2015). Social networking sites: a support system for African-American women wearing natural hair. International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education, 8(1), 21-29, DOI: 10.1080/17543266.2014.974689
Ellis-Hervey, N., Doss, A., Davis, D., Nicks, R., & Araiza, P. (2016). African American personal presentation: Psychology of hair and self-perception. Journal of Black American Studies, 1-14.
Fullwood, C., Nicholls, W., & Makichi, R. (2014). We've got something for everyone: How individual differences predict different blogging motivations. New Media & Society,17(9), 1583-1600. doi:10.1177/1461444814530248
Gill, T. (2010). Beauty Shop Politics: African American Women’s Activism in the Beauty Industry. Illinois: University of Illinois Press.
Gross, A. & Shakespear-Finch, J. (2013). Positive Experiences for Participants in Suicide Bereavement Groups: A Grounded Theory Model. Death Studies, 37(1), 1-24.
Hall, C. I. (1995). Beauty is in the soul of the beholder: Psychological implications of beauty and African American women. Cultural Diversity and Mental Health, 1(2), 125-137.
Harju, V., Pehkonen, L., & Niemi, H. (2016). Serious but fun, self-directed yet social: blogging as a form of lifelong learning. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 35(1), 2-17. doi:10.1080/02601370.2015.1124930.
Herring, S. C., Scheidt, L. A., Bonus, S., and Wright, E. (2004). Bridging the gap: A genre analysis of weblogs. Proceedings of the Thirty-seventh Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-37). Los Alamitos: IEEE Press.
Holmes, S. E., & Kivlighan, D. M., Jr. (2000). Comparison of therapeutic factors in group and individual treatment processes. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 47(4), 478-484.
Gloria, A. (1999). Apoyando Estudiantes Chicanas: Therapeutic Factors in Chicana College Student Support Groups. Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 24(3), 246-260.
Glaser, B. & Strauss, A. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory. Chicago: Aldine.
Jacobs-Hueys, L. (2006). From the kitchen to the parlor: Language and becoming African American women’s hair care. New York: Oxford University Press.
Kim, L. & Johnson, B. (2018). Contesting Race in YouTube’s K-Town: “It’s white people in Asian disguises”. The Journal of Social Media in Society, 7(1), 78-105.
Lane, L. & Viney, L. (2005). The Effects of Personal Construct Group Therapy on Breast Cancer Survivors. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73(2), 284-292.
Leech, N. L. &Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (2008). Qualitative Data Analysis: A Compendium of Techniques and a Framework for Selection for School Psychology Research and Beyond. School Psychology Quarterly, 23(4), 587–604.
Link, B. G., Mirotznik, J., & Cullen, F. T. (1991). The effectiveness of stigma coping orientations: can negative consequences of mental illness labeling be avoided? Journal of health and social behavior, 302-320.
Linnan, L. A., & Ferguson, Y. (2007). Beauty salons: A promising health promotion setting for reaching and promoting health among African American women. Health Education and Behavior, 34, 517–530.
McWhirter, P., Nelson, J., & Waldo, M. (2014). Positive Psychology and Curative Community Groups: Life Satisfaction, Depression, and Group Therapeutic Factors. Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 39(4), 366-380.
Meng, J., Martinez, L., Holmstrom, A., Chung, M., & Cox, J. (2017). Research on Social Networking Sites and Social Support from 2004 to 2015: A Narrative Review and Directions for Future Research. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 20(1), 44-51. doi:10.1089/cyber.2016.0325
Miller, C. T., & Major, B. (2000). Coping with stigma and prejudice. The social psychology of stigma, 243-272.
Minian, Noormohamed, Dragonetti, Maher, Lessels, & Selby. (2016). Blogging to quit smoking: sharing stories from women of childbearing years in Ontario. Substance Abuse: Research and Treatment, 10(S1), 21–26.
Mo, P. K., & Coulson, N. S. (2008). Exploring the communication of social support within virtual communities: a content analysis of messages posted to an online HIV/AIDS support group. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 11(3), 371-374.
Morrow, W. (1990). 400 Years Without a Comb. San Diego, CA: Black American Publishers of San Diego.
Parham, T. (Ed.) (2002). Counseling persons of African descent: Raising the bar of practitioner competence. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Patton, T. O. (2006). Hey Girl, Am I More than My Hair?: African American Women and Their Struggles with Beauty, Body Image, and Hair. NWSA Journal 18(2), 24-51.
Rains, S., A & Keating, D., M. (2011). The social dimension of blogging about health: Health blogging, social support, and well-being. Communication Monographs, 78:4, 511-534
Rains, S. A (2014). The implications of stigma and anonymity for self-disclosure in health blogs. Health Communications, 29(1), 23-31.
Stavrositu, C., & Sundar, S. S. (2012). Does blogging empower women? Exploring the role of agency and community. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 17(4), 369-386.
Steele , C. K. (2016). The Digital Barbershop: Blogs and Online Oral Culture Within the African American Community. Social Media + Society, 1-10. doi:10.1177/2056305116683205
Thoits, P. A. (2011). Resisting the stigma of mental illness. Social Psychology Quarterly, 74(1), 6-28.
Turner, J. W., Grube, J. A., & Meyers, J. (2001). Developing an optimal match within online communities: An exploration of CMC support communities and traditional support. Journal of Communication, 51(2), 231-251.
Walton, N., & Carter, E. T. (2013). Better Than Good Hair: The Curly Girl Guide to Healthy, Gorgeous Natural Hair!. New York, NY: Harper Collins.
Weinberg, N., Uken, J., & Schmale, J. (1995). Therapeutic Factors: Their Presence in a Computer-Mediated Support Group. Social Work with Groups, 18(4), 57-69.
Wiesenfeld, A. & Herbert, W. (1979). Hairdressers and Helping: Influencing the Behavior of Informal Caregivers. Professional Psychology, 10 (6)786–92.
Willemsen, J., Seys, V., Gunst, E. & Desmet, M. (2016). “Simple Speaking Your Mind, from the Depths of Your Soul”: Therapeutic Factors in Experiential Group Psychotherapy for Sex Offenders. Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice, 16(3), 151-168.
Yalom, I. (1995). The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy (4th ed.). New York, NY: Basic Books.
Yalom, I. & Leszcz, M. (2005). The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy (5th ed.). New York, NY: Basic Books.
Yeshua-Katz, D. (2015). Online stigma resistance in the pro-ana community. Qualitative health research, 25(10), 1347-1358.
Ashley, W. & Brown, J. (2015). Attachment tHAIRapy: A Culturally Relevant Treatment Paradigm for African American Foster Youth. Journal of Black American Studies, 46, (6), 587–604. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934715590406.
Bledin, K., Loat, M., Caffrey, A., Evans, K., Taylor, B., & Nitsun, M. (2016). ‘Most Important Events’ and Therapeutic Factors: An Evaluation of Inpatient Groups for People with Severe and Enduring Mental Health Difficulties. Group Analysis, 49(4), 398-413.
Blood, R. (2002). The weblog handbook: Practical advice on creating and maintaining your blog. Cambridge MA: Perseus Publishing.
Brock, A. (2016). Critical technocultural discourse analysis. New Media & Society, 1-19. doi:10.1177/1461444816677532
Burtenshaw, R. (1997). An ethnic comparison of the ranked value of Yalom’s therapeutic factors among chemically dependent incarcerated adult males in group psychotherapy. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities and Social Sciences, 58 (2), 590.
Byrd, A. D., and Tharps, L. (2014). Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black American Hair in America. New York, NY: St. Martin's Print.
Coulson, N. S. (2005). Receiving social support online: an analysis of a computer-mediated support group for individuals living with irritable bowel syndrome. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 8(6), 580-584.
Cutrona, C. E. (1990). Stress and social support--in search of optimal matching. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 9(1), 3-14. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1521/jscp.1990.9.1.3
Davis-Sivasothy, A. (2011). The science of Black American hair. Stafford, TX. Saja Publishing.
Demirbas, H., Dogan, Y., & Ilhan, O. (2012). The Relationship Between the Group Therapeutic Factors and Relapse in Alcohol Dependent Inpatients. Journal of Psychiatry & Neurological Sciences, 25(2), 21-32.
Dienfenbeck, C., Klemm, P., & Hayes, E. (2014). Emergence of Yalom’s therapeutic factors in a peer-led, synchronous, online support group for family caregivers. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 35(1), 21-32.
Dubin, J. (1996). A descriptive study of career decision-making self-efficacy, career indecision, vocational identity, and the salience of Yalom’s therapeutic factors in a psychoeducational group work context. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities and Social Sciences, 57(6), 2369.
Ellington, T. (2015). Social networking sites: a support system for African-American women wearing natural hair. International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education, 8(1), 21-29, DOI: 10.1080/17543266.2014.974689
Ellis-Hervey, N., Doss, A., Davis, D., Nicks, R., & Araiza, P. (2016). African American personal presentation: Psychology of hair and self-perception. Journal of Black American Studies, 1-14.
Fullwood, C., Nicholls, W., & Makichi, R. (2014). We've got something for everyone: How individual differences predict different blogging motivations. New Media & Society,17(9), 1583-1600. doi:10.1177/1461444814530248
Gill, T. (2010). Beauty Shop Politics: African American Women’s Activism in the Beauty Industry. Illinois: University of Illinois Press.
Gross, A. & Shakespear-Finch, J. (2013). Positive Experiences for Participants in Suicide Bereavement Groups: A Grounded Theory Model. Death Studies, 37(1), 1-24.
Hall, C. I. (1995). Beauty is in the soul of the beholder: Psychological implications of beauty and African American women. Cultural Diversity and Mental Health, 1(2), 125-137.
Harju, V., Pehkonen, L., & Niemi, H. (2016). Serious but fun, self-directed yet social: blogging as a form of lifelong learning. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 35(1), 2-17. doi:10.1080/02601370.2015.1124930.
Herring, S. C., Scheidt, L. A., Bonus, S., and Wright, E. (2004). Bridging the gap: A genre analysis of weblogs. Proceedings of the Thirty-seventh Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-37). Los Alamitos: IEEE Press.
Holmes, S. E., & Kivlighan, D. M., Jr. (2000). Comparison of therapeutic factors in group and individual treatment processes. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 47(4), 478-484.
Gloria, A. (1999). Apoyando Estudiantes Chicanas: Therapeutic Factors in Chicana College Student Support Groups. Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 24(3), 246-260.
Glaser, B. & Strauss, A. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory. Chicago: Aldine.
Jacobs-Hueys, L. (2006). From the kitchen to the parlor: Language and becoming African American women’s hair care. New York: Oxford University Press.
Kim, L. & Johnson, B. (2018). Contesting Race in YouTube’s K-Town: “It’s white people in Asian disguises”. The Journal of Social Media in Society, 7(1), 78-105.
Lane, L. & Viney, L. (2005). The Effects of Personal Construct Group Therapy on Breast Cancer Survivors. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73(2), 284-292.
Leech, N. L. &Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (2008). Qualitative Data Analysis: A Compendium of Techniques and a Framework for Selection for School Psychology Research and Beyond. School Psychology Quarterly, 23(4), 587–604.
Link, B. G., Mirotznik, J., & Cullen, F. T. (1991). The effectiveness of stigma coping orientations: can negative consequences of mental illness labeling be avoided? Journal of health and social behavior, 302-320.
Linnan, L. A., & Ferguson, Y. (2007). Beauty salons: A promising health promotion setting for reaching and promoting health among African American women. Health Education and Behavior, 34, 517–530.
McWhirter, P., Nelson, J., & Waldo, M. (2014). Positive Psychology and Curative Community Groups: Life Satisfaction, Depression, and Group Therapeutic Factors. Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 39(4), 366-380.
Meng, J., Martinez, L., Holmstrom, A., Chung, M., & Cox, J. (2017). Research on Social Networking Sites and Social Support from 2004 to 2015: A Narrative Review and Directions for Future Research. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 20(1), 44-51. doi:10.1089/cyber.2016.0325
Miller, C. T., & Major, B. (2000). Coping with stigma and prejudice. The social psychology of stigma, 243-272.
Minian, Noormohamed, Dragonetti, Maher, Lessels, & Selby. (2016). Blogging to quit smoking: sharing stories from women of childbearing years in Ontario. Substance Abuse: Research and Treatment, 10(S1), 21–26.
Mo, P. K., & Coulson, N. S. (2008). Exploring the communication of social support within virtual communities: a content analysis of messages posted to an online HIV/AIDS support group. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 11(3), 371-374.
Morrow, W. (1990). 400 Years Without a Comb. San Diego, CA: Black American Publishers of San Diego.
Parham, T. (Ed.) (2002). Counseling persons of African descent: Raising the bar of practitioner competence. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Patton, T. O. (2006). Hey Girl, Am I More than My Hair?: African American Women and Their Struggles with Beauty, Body Image, and Hair. NWSA Journal 18(2), 24-51.
Rains, S., A & Keating, D., M. (2011). The social dimension of blogging about health: Health blogging, social support, and well-being. Communication Monographs, 78:4, 511-534
Rains, S. A (2014). The implications of stigma and anonymity for self-disclosure in health blogs. Health Communications, 29(1), 23-31.
Stavrositu, C., & Sundar, S. S. (2012). Does blogging empower women? Exploring the role of agency and community. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 17(4), 369-386.
Steele , C. K. (2016). The Digital Barbershop: Blogs and Online Oral Culture Within the African American Community. Social Media + Society, 1-10. doi:10.1177/2056305116683205
Thoits, P. A. (2011). Resisting the stigma of mental illness. Social Psychology Quarterly, 74(1), 6-28.
Turner, J. W., Grube, J. A., & Meyers, J. (2001). Developing an optimal match within online communities: An exploration of CMC support communities and traditional support. Journal of Communication, 51(2), 231-251.
Walton, N., & Carter, E. T. (2013). Better Than Good Hair: The Curly Girl Guide to Healthy, Gorgeous Natural Hair!. New York, NY: Harper Collins.
Weinberg, N., Uken, J., & Schmale, J. (1995). Therapeutic Factors: Their Presence in a Computer-Mediated Support Group. Social Work with Groups, 18(4), 57-69.
Wiesenfeld, A. & Herbert, W. (1979). Hairdressers and Helping: Influencing the Behavior of Informal Caregivers. Professional Psychology, 10 (6)786–92.
Willemsen, J., Seys, V., Gunst, E. & Desmet, M. (2016). “Simple Speaking Your Mind, from the Depths of Your Soul”: Therapeutic Factors in Experiential Group Psychotherapy for Sex Offenders. Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice, 16(3), 151-168.
Yalom, I. (1995). The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy (4th ed.). New York, NY: Basic Books.
Yalom, I. & Leszcz, M. (2005). The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy (5th ed.). New York, NY: Basic Books.
Yeshua-Katz, D. (2015). Online stigma resistance in the pro-ana community. Qualitative health research, 25(10), 1347-1358.
Downloads
Published
2019-05-31
Issue
Section
Articles
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
