Abstract
The 7th edition APA Publication Manual (Manual) was released in October 2019. The significant changes between the 6th edition and 7th edition of the Manual were described in a previous issue of The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families. This article is written to expand on the substantial changes to the Manual’s guidelines and to focus on bias-free language and inclusivity. Using the International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors Code of Ethics as a cornerstone, this article will focus on such diverse issues as advocacy, bias-free language, gender, inclusivity, racial/ethnic identity, sensitivity (avoiding labels), socioeconomic, and intersectionality issues. Recommendations are made, and examples are provided to help couple and family counselors become cognizant of the changes.
For me, words are a form of action, capable of influencing change. Their articulation represents a complete, lived experience.
Words—so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become, in the hands of one who knows how to combine them!
Historically, words have been used to persecute diverse groups including couples and families. Counselors specializing in couples and family counseling must continually seek to improve their counseling and client advocacy. Consequently, counselors must constantly acquire information about counseling. The International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors ( IAMFC) Ethics Code (2017) states in C.2. “Couple and family counselors recognize the need to know current developments and research in couples and family counseling and actively pursue continuing education opportunities related to couples and family counseling” (Hendricks et al., 2018; IAMFC, 2017). One means of keeping up-to-date with the latest professional theory, techniques, and practice is The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families. This journal is noted for its coverage of research, theory, and practice. Essentially, it is a major source of imparting knowledge to couple and family counselors.
In the profession of couple and family counseling, counselors use The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families to obtain information about the most salient trends in the profession. The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families is a noted source of communication regarding current issues in couples and family counseling. Throughout its more than 25 years of existence, this journal has notably conveyed information through published manuscripts. Likewise, couples and family counselors should utilize all the latest tools at their disposal to advocate for couples and families. These tools include the IAMFC’s Code of Ethics and the American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics (ACA, 2014). In addition, couples and family counselors must be aware of counseling competencies that have been developed by ACA and its divisions. These include the Competencies for Counseling with Transgender Clients (Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues in Counseling Transgender [ALGBTIC] Committee, 2010), the Counseling Competencies for Counseling with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, and Ally Individuals (ALGBTIC LGBQQIA Competencies Taskforce, 2013), the Competencies for Counseling the Multiracial Population (Kenney et al., 2015), and the Disability-Related Counseling Competencies (Chapin et al., 2018).
The standard guide for manuscripts published in The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families is the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (American Psychological Association [APA] Publication Manual, Manual; APA, 2020). Whether as a reader or a writer of the journal, couples and family counselors need to be aware of the Manual, which is in its 7th edition (APA, 2020). Since the 6th edition was written 10 years ago (2010) and the latest edition was published in 2020, several changes occurred between the two editions. This article is written to describe the major changes between the 6th and 7th editions of the APA Publication Manual, especially changes related to advocacy, bias-free language, and cultural competence.
Advocacy and Bias-Free Language: Avoiding Bias and Labels
Throughout the APA Publication Manual 6th edition, the topic of avoiding labels and incorporating terms that individuals use to describe themselves is prevalent. Instead of using adjectives as nouns such as “the depressives,” the editors of the 6th edition recommended that writers use person-first language that lists the person first “followed by a descriptive phrase…(e.g., ‘people diagnosed with schizophrenia’)” (APA, 2010, p. 72). Using adjectives as nouns and labeling individuals as their diagnosis is not supported in the 7th edition Manual and in fact is rejected. Further, the editors of the 6th edition promoted avoiding terms such as “normal” because this implies that individuals who engage in behaviors outside of this group are “abnormal” or even “dysfunctional” (APA, 2010, p. 72). To continue promoting sensitivity, the editors of the 6th edition compel writers to consider the order of the group descriptor. For example, “the first-mentioned group is the norm or standard and the later mentioned groups are deviant” (APA, 2010, pp. 72–73). Authors must list groups in alphabetical order or by participant size. Throughout both the 6th edition and 7th edition of the APA Manual, there is a focus on providing parallel labels; instead of saying “man and wife,” which defines women in terms of their relationship to men, “husband and wife” or “man and woman” are more appropriate labels (APA, 2010, p. 72). Gender references should be used sparingly, if at all. Currently, in the 7th edition Manual, the terms “individuals,” “people,” or “persons” are recommended as appropriate terms to recognize nonbinary genders (APA, 2020, p. 132). While the 6th edition included information about bias-free language and historical and interpretive inaccuracies (APA, 2010), these concepts were expanded in the 7th edition (APA, 2020).
Age Range
Although the 6th edition of the Manual referred to age and terms related to age-related bias, the 7th edition expanded on its coverage of unacceptable terms. The editors of the latest edition wrote that it is unacceptable to include such terms as “the aged” and “aging dependents” (APA, 2020, p. 135). The editors of the 7th edition acknowledge “that aging is a normal part of the human experience and is separate from disease or disorder” (APA, 2020, p. 135), and therefore, age should not be treated as such.
Advocacy for Disabilities
The 7th edition of the APA (2020) Publication Manual may be used by couples and family counselors to advocate for clients through the use of people-first language. According to the 6th and 7th editions of the Manual, authors must avoid language that objectifies individuals by their condition. For example, a person with autism must not be referred to as “an autistic person” unless the individual chooses to reclaim the term using identity-first language. Instead, an example of people-first language is “an individual diagnosed with autism.” Using identity-first language allows individuals to reclaim their disability and demystify negative beliefs surrounding their disability status. Furthermore, the use of identity-first language shows the positive aspects of belonging to a disability culture (Dunn & Andrews, 2015). The editors of the 7th edition of the Manual further advocate for the use of language which acknowledges the heterogeneity of individuals who identify as sharing the same disability. For example, persons who have “different symptom severities of autism spectrum disorder” (APA, 2020, p. 137). Writers must also avoid focusing on deficits as they describe individuals with physical and emotional challenges. The editors of the 7th edition consistently advocate that authors write about individuals’ capabilities and advantages.
Gender
The greatest advocacy emphasis in the 7th edition is the emphasis on gender inclusivity. Considering that couple and family counselors avoid bias and stereotypical family roles (Hendricks et al., 2018), the Manual’s guidelines on gender inclusivity are especially important for couple and family counselors. While the editors of the 6th edition of the APA Publication Manual (2010) recognized the need to provide definitions for the terms “gender” and “sex,” an increasing advocacy in the 7th edition focused on the differences in these terms. The 6th edition defined gender as “cultural and is the term to use when referring to women and men as social groups” and sex as “biological; use it when the biological distinction is predominant” (APA, 2010, p. 71). The editors of the 7th edition now state, “gender is a social construct and a social identity” (APA, 2020, p. 138). Many of the recommendations in the bias-free language guidelines now are related to the goal of recognizing inherent cultural bias. For example, the term cisgenderism is the preferred term denoting normative culture “that gender is automatically linked to an individual’s sex assigned at birth” (APA, 2020, p. 138). Terms such as “opposite gender” should be avoided because of the unnecessarily implied differences in genders.
In order to further increase advocacy of nonbinary genders and to promote inclusivity, the editors of the 7th edition suggest adding further specificity when using gender descriptions such as “cisgender women,” “cisgender men,” “transgender women,” “transgender men,” and “nonbinary” (APA, 2020, p. 138). The 7th edition defines the term cisgender as referring “to individuals whose sex assigned at birth aligns with their gender identity” (APA, 2020, p. 138). A section of the 7th edition of the Manual’s gender portion is devoted to “transgender and gender-nonconforming people” (APA, 2020, p. 138). This section provides definitions and describes genders outside of the binary identities. The generally agreed-upon umbrella term for this group is “transgender and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) people” (APA, 2020, p. 139). Examples of identities that are nonbinary genders are “genderqueer, gender-nonconforming, gender-neutral, agender, and gender-fluid” (APA, 2020, p. 138).
Endorsement of the singular “they” and pronouns
Perhaps the most notable change in the bias-free language guidelines of the 7th edition of the Manual is the endorsement of the singular “they” (APA, 2020). The editors of the 7th edition are adamant about avoiding gender assumptions through using the singular “they” “when referring to individuals whose identified pronouns are not known or when the gender of a generic or hypothetical person is irrelevant within the context” (p. 140). The editors of the 7th edition also advocate that authors use the pronoun that an individual uses to describe themselves such as “he/him/his,” “she/her/hers,” “they/them/theirs,” “zie/zim/zir,” or any other number of alternative pronouns. Further the editors of the 7th edition of the Manual denounce the term “preferred pronouns” because it implies a choice regarding an individual’s gender identity. Alternatives to this term are “identified pronouns,” “self-identified pronouns,” and simply “pronouns” (p. 140).
Cultural Competence
Culture has broad implications for research writing. The editors of the 7th edition address culture in many ways throughout the Manual. For example, when describing participants in a study, the editors of the 6th edition of the Manual provided clear guidelines stating, “when describing racial and ethnic groups, be appropriately specific and sensitive to issues of labeling” (APA, 2010, p. 71). In contrast, the 7th edition provides expanded recommendations for writers as they write about race and ethnicity to ensure that readers understand the differences in the two concepts. Not only are the concepts of racial and ethnic identities defined and expanded in the 7th edition of the Manual, but in addition, the 7th edition has detailed descriptions of terms for specific ethnic and racial groups. These descriptions provide guidance to authors as they write about ethnic and racial groups (APA, 2020).
Sexual Orientation
The editors of the 6th edition of the Manual describe the term “sexual preference” as inappropriate because this phrase implies that orientation is simply a preference instead of an aspect of an individual’s identity that is not chosen (APA, 2010, p. 74). Similarly, the term “homosexual” should be replaced by more specific terms such as “lesbian,” “gay,” or “bisexual” (APA, 2010, pp. 74-75). Throughout the 7th edition of the Manual, gender identity is clearly defined as distinct from sexual orientation (APA, 2020). The editors of the 7th edition of the Manual note that while “all people choose their partners regardless of their sexual orientation,…the orientation itself is not a choice” (APA, 2020, p. 146). The editors of the 7th edition of the Manual describe sexual orientation as having two essential components. The first is feeling a “sexual or emotional attraction toward some or all types of people” (APA, 2020, p. 146). The second component is who a person is attracted to sexually. An individual’s attraction “may be directed toward people who are similarly gendered, differently gendered, and so on. That is, sexual orientation indicates the gendered directionality of attraction, even if that directionality is very inclusive (e.g., nonbinary)” (APA, 2020, p. 146). The 7th edition of the Manual provides abbreviations and examples of various sexual orientations. The editors advocate using terms such as LGBTQIA, which stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual.
Socioeconomic Status (SES)
The editors of the 7th edition of the Manual define SES as encompassing “not only income but also educational attainment, occupational prestige, and subjective perceptions of social status and social class” (APA, 2020, p. 147). Specifically, the editors advocate that the writer avoid using stereotypical language; instead, writers are directed to report as much detailed information about educational attainment, occupational prestige, and perceptions of social status and social class as are available.
Intersectionality
In contrast to the 6th edition of the Manual, the 7th edition of the Manual focuses on intersectionality. “Intersectionality is a paradigm that addresses the multiple dimensions of identity and social systems as they intersect with one another and relate to inequality, such as racism, genderism, heterosexism, ageism, and classism, among other variables” (APA, 2020, p. 148). The editors include information about the concepts of privilege and oppression as well as including several examples of individuals experiencing privilege in some identities while simultaneously experiencing oppression in other identities (APA, 2020). The editors of the 7th edition also advocate reporting participants with demographic information and multiple identities (e.g., “20 participants were African American women, 15 participants were European American women…”) instead of “35 participants were women and 41 were men; 43 were African American and 33 were European American” (p. 149). Through providing this intersectional data, the writer provides more descriptive clarity for the reader.
Conclusions
Given the increasing recognition of the need for multicultural perspectives throughout the counseling profession, the editors of the APA (2010, 2020) Publication Manual (7th edition) significantly expanded their guidelines on bias-free language from 8 pages to nearly 20 pages. SES and intersectionality are new to the 7th edition (APA, 2020). In this article, the authors described significant changes in the 7th edition related to the headings described above.
Specifically, this article has implications for couple and family counselors in the areas of sensitivity to labels, appropriateness with level of specificity, and considerations among specific identities. In addition, the authors highlighted some of the most notable advancements in the Manual’s guidelines for bias-free language and gender inclusivity language. Further, the authors emphasized the endorsement of the singular “they,” as paramount to gender inclusivity. The editors of the 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual (2020) advocate for the need for researchers to incorporate the bias-free language guidelines in their writings because “long-standing cultural practice can exert a powerful influence over even the most conscientious writer” (p. 131). Through incorporating bias-free language into communication, couple and family counselors can successfully advocate for diverse populations.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
