Jewish Perspectives on Christian Privilege: a Consensual Qualitative Study

Although multicultural considerations, privilege, and oppression are of current interest across the field, much of the extant research has failed to explore religiosity as a component of the psychological literature. Using Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) the authors set out to gain an understanding of Christian privilege and the impact it has on Jewish Identity. A sample of 12 adult, American, non-Orthodox Jews were interviewed using a semi-structured interview protocol. The interview data was collected to better understand the manifestations of Christian privilege and the impact of said issues on participant’s lives and identities. Seven themes were identified (1) Personal Conceptualization of Jewish identity (2) Impact of Christian Culture (3) Experience of anti-Semitism/Marginalization in Dominant Culture (4) Coping Strategies for Marginalization (5) Thoughts and feelings about Christianity (6) Thoughts about Christian Privilege and (7) Expectations for Helping Professionals.