
Margaret Robinson- PhD
- Professor (Assistant) at Dalhousie University
Margaret Robinson
- PhD
- Professor (Assistant) at Dalhousie University
About
45
Publications
58,838
Reads
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1,119
Citations
Introduction
Current institution
Education
January 2002 - September 2009
September 1997 - November 2001
September 1990 - April 1997
Publications
Publications (45)
This study reports the prevalence of cannabis use among bisexual women in Ontario, Canada, and identifies correlations among levels of cannabis use (no use, some use, active use) and measures of mental health and social support. Analysis focused on 262 bisexual women from a bisexual mental health study using respondent-driven sampling. Among networ...
Bisexuality is consistently associated with poor mental health outcomes. In population-based data, this is partially explained by income differences between bisexual people and lesbian, gay, and/or heterosexual individuals. However, the interrelationships between bisexuality, poverty, and mental health are poorly understood. In this paper, we exami...
In this article, we report experiences that bisexual and other non-monosexual people perceive as negative or threatening toward their sexual identity that may relate to mental health. A 28-day, daily diary study investigated whether participants encountered negative experiences related to their sexual identity. Using a constructivist grounded theor...
Bisexual women report high rates of illegal cannabis use relative to other women, yet little is known about what motivates such use. This community-based mixed-methods study draws on quantitative data from 92 bisexual women reporting past-year cannabis use in a large provincial study of bisexual mental health, and on qualitative data from 23 bisexu...
Education is a treaty right for Aboriginal people in Canada and the United States, and Aboriginal schools aim to provide a comprehensive education rooted in indigenous knowledge and culture. In an Aboriginal context, antibullying programs may address microaggressions against lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and two-spirited youth. Two-spirited...
While the need for research, policy and practice addressing the health equity issues of Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and other sexual and gender minority (2S/LGBTQ+) populations is increasingly recognized, we acknowledge that significant gaps remain in this area. As authors in this themed issue have consistently pointed ou...
Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and other sexual and gender minority (2S/LGBTQ+) populations continue to experience profound health disparities. In this article, we prioritize five issues in 2S/LGBTQ+ health equity and discuss policy interventions to address disparities in each area: (1) poverty in 2S/LGBTQ+ communities; (2)...
Introduction
This article reports on qualitative research findings from the first study to examine 2SLGBTQ+ populations’ experiences with social assistance (SocA) in Ontario, the most populous province in Canada. Using a relational poverty and intersectional framework, the role of the SocA system in producing and sustaining 2SLGBTQ+ poverty is arti...
Young bisexual people report disparities related to mental health and sexual violence compared to their heterosexual and gay/lesbian peers. However, the majority of research in these areas does not employ an intersectional design, despite evidence that health outcomes vary by race and gender within bi + populations. The goal of this paper is to pro...
In this article, we draw on a recent review of the Canadian literature on poverty in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, two-spirit, and other sexual and gender minority (LGBTQ2Sþ) communities to conceptualize social work interventions that may be used to address material inequities among these groups. Our literature review, which was based...
This study examines reactions to a recent evolutionary psychology article that uses self-report data to claim that same-sex attraction in women evolved because men find it a desirable quality in a mate. Our study explores a novel perspective on the article by interviewing 29 women with attraction to women in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Participants read...
Indigenous sexual and gender minority people have been identifying as two-spirit since 1990 and are reclaiming traditional Indigenous gender terms such as nádleehí or agokwe. At the same time, Settler-dominated communities are undergoing a cultural shift toward challenging binary categories of sex and gender, causing some Settler governments to ado...
Bisexual women report worse mental health outcomes compared to heterosexual and lesbian women. To explore potential factors related to bisexual women's mental health and wellbeing, we examined bisexual women's daily experiences with sexual identity microaggressions and microaffirmations as they relate to depression, suicidality, and happiness. We u...
Bisexual women experience higher rates of sexual victimization relative to heterosexual and lesbian women, and worse sexual health outcomes. Though these health disparities are well documented in the literature, few empirical data have been published on what factors are driving these disparities. Further, research documenting sexual victimization a...
In order to better serve bisexual women, clinicians and researchers need tools that accurately reflect and capture bisexual women’s experiences of stigma and affirmation. These tools are essential as research indicates that bisexual women experience poorer mental health than either heterosexual or lesbian women. Our community-based study developed...
Despite the prominence of poverty in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, two-spirit, and other sexual and gender minorities (LGBTQ2S+) in Canada, studies that centre the material conditions of these groups as sites of inquiry remain scant. Accordingly, in this paper we present an intersectional narrative review of the limited Canadian liter...
In spring 2015, Robinson's article entitled, “The role of anxiety in bisexual women's use of cannabis in Canada,” was published in Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, presenting findings from a mixed-methods study of bisexual women's cannabis use. The study found that 33.6% of bisexual women in the province of Ontario, Canada, ha...
This research examines (1) the association between risk drinking and religious affiliation and (2) differences between religions for risk drinking among adults living in Ontario, Canada, for Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, Jews, other religious groups and the non-religious. Data are based on telephone interviews with 16,596 responden...
This paper focuses on negative identity experiences reported by young bisexual people in a 28-day daily study, and the implications of these experiences for social work practice. Participants ranged in age from 18–30 years, had Internet access, could read and write in English, and identified as bisexual or felt the label applied to them. Participan...
The Bisexuality Disclosure Kit helps women prepare to disclose their bisexuality to friends and family members. This kit was designed in 2016 by bisexual women ourselves and aims to increase the social support available to members of our community.
Increasingly, two-spirit identity is being included as one of the identities under the bisexual umbrella, yet there has been very little discussion about how this inclusion might affect two-spirit people, the research that pertains to us, or the services shaped by such data. This article draws upon personal experience as a two-spirit and bisexual w...
In this study we examine how discourses of obesity and eating disorders reinforce cissexist and heteronormative
body standards. Sixteen queer women in Canada produced autobiographical micro-documentaries over the
course of two workshops. We identifed three major themes across these flms: bodily control, bodies as sites
of metamorphosis, and celebra...
The majority of LGBTQ psychological research focuses on dysfunction. The exclusion of strengths-based perspectives in LGBTQ psychology limits the understanding of LGBTQ mental health. In this paper we report experiences that young bisexual and other nonmonosexual people perceive as affirming of their sexual identity. A 28-day, daily diary study was...
Bisexuality is defined in a plethora of ways, including definitions based on behavior, attraction, or desire and may employ binary or nonbinary definitions. Research has not adequately addressed how young bisexual people themselves define bisexuality, whether those definitions change with social context, or whether bisexual people define bisexualit...
This speculative philosophical essay explores how the advent of in vitro meat might impact Mi’kmaq culture, particularly our understanding of animals as our relatives and our duties toward them in regard to cultural protocols of respect and gratitude. I argue that a Mi’kmaq perspective on cultured meat can be inferred from our philosophy and tradit...
The Bisexuality Disclosure Kit (Book A) helps women prepare to disclose their bisexuality to friends and family members. This kit was designed by bisexual women ourselves and aims to increase the social support available to members of our community.
This document is meant to work together with Book B of the Bisexuality Disclosure Kit: https://www....
Bisexual people constitute the largest sexual minority group in North America and experience significant mental health disparities in relation to heterosexuals, gays, and lesbians. In this article, we will examine the process and experience of help seeking among bisexuals. This was a community-based study that collected qualitative interview data f...
In this article, we report experiences that bisexual and other nonmonosexual people perceive as negative or threatening toward their sexual identity that may relate to mental health. A 28-day, daily diary study investigated whether participants encountered negative experiences related to their sexual identity. Using a constructivist grounded theory...
Bisexuals are at greater risk for poor mental health compared with heterosexual, gay, and lesbian people. This increased risk has been attributed to biphobia yet the relationship between biphobia and mental health has been understudied. Data were collected from an Ontario-wide survey of bisexuals, broadly defined, using respondent-driven sampling (...
Research suggests an elevated level of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among bisexuals. The PTSD Checklist–Civilian version (PCL-C) is a self-report measure used to assess PTSD symptoms in nonmilitary persons, closely following Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) criteria. In a study of 405 bisexuals in Ontario, Cana...
Research has shown that bisexuals have poorer health outcomes than heterosexuals, gays, or lesbians, particularly with regard to mental health and substance use. However, research on bisexuals is often hampered by issues in defining bisexuality, small sample sizes, and by the failure to address age differences between bisexuals and other groups or...
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to outline the use of intersectionality theory in research with gender and sexual minorities – that is, with lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ) people, and lesser-studied groups such as two-spirited people.
Design/methodology/approach
– First, the paper note the limited way that LGBTQ research h...
Increasingly, challengers to antipolygamy legislation have framed polyamory as a sexual orientation, arguing that some people are immutably predisposed toward forming multiple relationships. Drawing on a qualitative study of 40 bisexual women in Toronto, Canada, this article argues that polyamory and monogamy are better viewed as strategies of sexu...
This paper proposes a postcolonial ecofeminist reading of Mi’kmaq legends as a basis for a veganism rooted in Aboriginal culture. Mi’kmaq legends portray animals as siblings to humanity. These legends offer an alternative to the colonial stewardship/domination model of human-animal relations. The development of an Aboriginal veganism is complicated...
This book emerges from three symposia held at Loyola University in Chicago, and the majority of its contributors are professors at that institution. The essays in this collection respond to recent social and political developments such as legally recognized same-sex marriage, passing of hate crime legislation, increasing visibility of intersex, tra...
This article examines the queer theology of Marcella Althaus-Reid in light of the author's recent qualitative research with bisexual women in the Greater Toronto Area. Althaus-Reid identifies herself as a “queer among queers,” and her work builds upon postcolonial and liberation theology. Five themes in her work offer a framework for constructing a...
In this study we examine how discourses of obesity and eating disorders reinforce cissexist and heteronormative body standards. Sixteen queer women in Canada produced autobiographical micro-documentaries over the course of two workshops. We identified three major themes across these films: bodily control, bodies as sites of metamorphosis, and celeb...
This article examines masochistic constructions of masculinity in The Passion of The Christ and Fight Club. Reviewers of The Passion have evoked films such as Raging Bull or Rocky. Alastair McKay justly dubbed the film “Fight Club in sandals." Both films have remarkable similarities, with their masochistic masculinity and proliferation of religious...
Questions
Questions (3)
My institution's REB has directed that we not tell potential interview participants how much they would receive for participating.
This is an issue for me as it contravenes the principle of transparency. I am particularly concerned that this practice may prevent poorer participants from determining whether or not they can afford to participate in research (e.g., whether the honoraria will be sufficient to cover childcare, transport, etc). Are there any scholarly works I could cite to make my case?
A journal requires that we submit our data to a public depository. Does anyone know of data repositories based in Canada?
I published an article in which I included quotes from a qualitative study. The journal now holds the copyright to that article.
I'm writing a paper using the same data set. How should handle previously-used participant quotes so as to not violate the copyright which I signed over to the journal that published the first article?
E.g.: Suppose the first article read: "One participant reported 'the wait time was too long and I had no way to complain about the service,' indicating her dissatisfaction with the intake system."
Now suppose the second article reads: "One participant noted the lack of agency she felt when negotiating the system: 'The wait time was too long and I had no way to complain about the service.'"
If I were reiterating a concept I'd just cite the first article, but I'm not sure what the process is around participant quotes, since they're also data.
How do (or would) you deal with this? I've sent off an email to the journal editor, but I'd like to get a sense of what the common practice is within the field.