IDENTITY ERASURE and PSYCHOLOGY


The Identity Eraser 2025
Geoffrey W. Sutton

IDENTITY ERASURE and PSYCHOLOGY


Identity erasure refers to the systematic denial, omission, or removal of specific identities from discourse, representation, or institutional recognition. Erasure not only silences individuals but also eliminates the possibility of their inclusion in cultural memory, policy frameworks, or historical accounts (Sutton, 2025, September 24).

In the SCOPES model of human functioning, Identity is a key feature at the center of the SELF. Self-Identity is our way of presenting ourselves to others. There are select aspects of our identity others see and interpret from their frame of reference unless we take control of our own narrative.


CITE THIS POST

Sutton, G. W. (2025, September 24). Identity erasure and psychology. Psychology Concepts and Theories. https://suttonpsychology.blogspot.com/2025/09/identity-erasure-and-psychology.html


Related Post

IDENTITY INVISIBILITY and PSYCHOLOGY

Recommended reading: (Dembroff & Saint-Croix, 2019; Richardson, 2023).Key Idea: The identity is not just unseen—it is actively erased from categories, narratives, or policies.

Social Psychology Examples:

  

Media that excludes or misrepresents certain ethnic or gender identities.

 

Policies that don’t even recognize the existence of trans people, making it impossible for them to be acknowledged within institutional frameworks.


School Psychology Examples


Curriculum Gaps: Students of color often find their histories and cultures absent from textbooks, leaving them unseen in the classroom narrative (e.g., African American or Indigenous histories minimized in U.S. history courses).


Native American Boarding Schools (19th–20th c.) Christian missionary schools in the U.S. and Canada explicitly sought to erase Indigenous languages, spiritual practices, and cultural identities, replacing them with Christian norms and English-language education.


Since 2021, U.S. schools have seen a sharp rise in book bans targeting LGBTQ+ content, with a particular focus on transgender and genderqueer representation (Alexander, 2025, September1; PEN America, 2025, February 27; Walk, 2024, November 22).


I/O Psychology Examples


Name Erasure: Employees with non-Western names were pressured to adopt “easier” English nicknames, erasing cultural identity markers (Wayne, 2024).


Policy Exclusions: Until recently, many workplaces did not recognize same-sex partners in benefits packages, effectively erasing LGBTQ+ families from institutional recognition.


Psychology of Religion Examples


Suppression of Hindu and Muslim Practices under Colonial Missions.  In British India, missionary education often framed local religious practices as “superstition” and actively sought to erase them from public life, replacing them with Christian moral frameworks.


RELATED POSTS

Identity Erasure


Identity Foreclosure


Identity Formation

Identity Invisibility

Identity Salience


Self-Concept and Self-Identity



Note

This page is for education and not personal advice. Consult health care providers for the most recent information and personal concerns.


Post Author

Geoffrey W. Sutton, Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Evangel University, holds a master’s degree in counseling and a PhD in psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. His postdoctoral work encompassed education and supervision in forensic and neuropsychology and psychopharmacology. As a licensed psychologist, he conducted clinical and neuropsychological evaluations and provided psychotherapy for patients in various settings, including schools, hospitals, and private offices. During his tenure as a professor, Dr. Sutton taught courses on psychotherapy, assessment, and research. He has authored over one hundred publications, including books, book chapters, and articles in peer-reviewed psychology journals. 
His website is https://suttong.com 

You can find Dr. Sutton's books on   AMAZON    and  GOOGLE. 

Many publications are free to download at ResearchGate   and Academia  

 

References


Alexander, A. A. (2025, September 1). Can parents say no to LGBTQ+ books in public schools? APA Monitor on Psychology, 56, https://www.apa.org/monitor/2025/09/parental-rights-lgbtq-books

Dembroff, Robin and Catharine Saint-Croix (2019). ‘Yep, I’m Gay’: Understanding Agential Identity. Ergo: an Open Access Journal of Philosophy, 6(20), 571–99.  http://doi.org/10.3998/ergo.12405314.0006.020

Myles, K. (2022, September 6). Black visibility matters: The inconvenient truths of bias and erasure. Learning for Justice. https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/black-visibility-matters-the-inconvenient-truths-of-bias-and-erasure


PEN America. (2025, February 27). Book bans in schools sweep across reading levels, genres and topics while censorship erases stories about people of color and LGBTQ+ topics most often. https://pen.org/press-release/book-bans-in-schools-sweep-across-reading-levels-genres-and-topics-while-censorship-erases-stories-about-people-of-color-and-lgbtq-topics-most-often/

Richardson, K. (2023) “Exclusion and Erasure: Two Types of Ontological Oppression”, Ergo an Open Access Journal of Philosophy. 9(0). doi: https://doi.org/10.3998/ergo.2279

Sutton, G. W. (2025, September 24). Identity erasure and psychology. Psychology Concepts and Theories. https://suttonpsychology.blogspot.com/2025/09/identity-erasure-and-psychology.html

Walk, T. (2024, November 22). School book bans undermine democratic values in US education. Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/11/22/school-book-bans-undermine-democratic-values-us-education


Wayne, S. (2024). Name changing among immigrants. EBSCO. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/law/name-changing-among-immigrants


I write about Psychology and Culture--especially religion and spirituality and the places I have visited. I also write "how-to" books on research and statistics.

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