Racism and Identity Formation: Exploring the Impact of False Narratives

Presented by Maurice Nicoleau, LCSW

This workshop will explore the role of imposed false narratives and where they come from, how they affect individuals, and how they affect society and systemic forms of oppression. Many have tried to identify and name the roles that people take on within the family unit, such as Sharon Wegscheider-Cruse’s family roles of scapegoat, mascot, hero, and lost child; we’ll discuss how people self-identify with a variety of roles that may or may not reflect these common categories, with a particular emphasis on how race impacts these self-identifications. These categories and narratives are universal and affect everyone. We’ll then see how these false narratives start in the family unit (thus affecting the individual’s psychological well-being) and then extend outward into society, with a particular emphasis on how these roles can become racialized and also reflect racist ideas. Finally, we’ll think about how, as psychology practitioners, an awareness of these racially influenced false narratives (both for therapists and for clients) can improve individual outcomes and perhaps even change society. 

This workshop was recorded on February 7, 2025.

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