The focus of my programmatic line of research is to understand how different dimensions of oppression become embodied at multiple levels to affect the health of racial and sexual minorities. My research uses and advances theories of social stigma to investigate the antecedents and consequences of internalized oppression (i.e., incorporation and acceptance by individuals within an oppressed group of the prejudices against them within the dominant society; Tappan, 2006), the mechanisms through which it may contribute to racial and sexual minority health inequities, and the factors that may exacerbate or mitigate its effects on health. My research makes significant theoretical contributions, advances our understanding of self-stigma, internalized racism, internalized homophobia, and health inequities, and has practical implications for improving the lives of marginalized communities.
Drexler James, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. He is also an affiliate faculty member of the Robert J. Jones Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center at UMN. Drexler is the primary investigator of the Health, Intersectionality, Essentialism, & Stigma research team. He received his Ph.D. in Social & Personality Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he also minored in Community Health Research. He completed his undergraduate studies in Psychology at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Drexler is a Health Equity and Disparities scholar who examines the social and psychological determinants of health among minoritized groups, particularly African American adults and men of color who have sex with men. Drexler also has interests in studying the health and social consequences of biological race essentialism.