Racist incidents are potentially traumatizing forms of victimization that may lead to increased psychiatric and psychophysiological symptoms in targets. The magnitude of the problem of racist incidents in the United States is difficult to estimate; however, data from several sources permit the inference that the prevalence of racist incidents, particularly among people of color, is high. This article (a) distinguishes traumatic stress from nontraumatic stress and (b) draws parallels between experiences of racist incidents and experiences that are acknowledged to be traumatic, such as rape or domestic violence. Conceptualizing the symptoms of some survivors of racist incidents as trauma responses may help inform treatment when these individuals are clients in psychotherapy.
National-, community-, and college-based studies have documented the high prevalence of sexual assault among African American women. Although African American women experience sexual assault at alarming rates, they are less likely to disclose or seek help in the aftermath of sexual assault. The purpose of this literature review is to provide a critique of the current literature examining the barriers to disclosure for African American women, such as intrapsychic factors, the damaging effect of an unsupportive response to initial disclosure, stigmatization of African American female sexuality, apprehension regarding racism, and racial loyalty. The authors provide a summary of the literature, gaps in current empirical studies, and needs for future study. Culturally relevant intervention recommendations are described. Finally, implications for sexual assault policy are provided.
Police violence against racial and ethnic minorities has been researched through the lens of multiple social science disciplines including psychology. Within psychology, the study of trauma lends itself to understanding the dynamics of unjustified violence perpetrated by some law enforcement agents. These acts of aggression are not only examples of interpersonal trauma but also the trauma of racism, which is examined through the lens of intergenerational trauma, racistincident-based trauma, and complex trauma. There is a history of violence against racial and ethnic minorities that contextualizes the traumatic experience of police violence. Additionally, the framework of trauma illuminates the causes and consequences of police brutality as a racist-incident trauma. Finally, survivors of police violence targeting racial and ethnic minorities are often persons who have been exposed to multiple traumas resulting in a cumulative effect. Filling a current gap in the literature, we discuss the clinical implications of applying trauma theories to police violence, as well as diverse ways racially and ethnically marginalized persons have coped with and resisted these acts. There is attention given to the need to attend to the intersecting identities of persons who are targeted such as ethnic minority women. Finally, we describe the need for further study of this complex and devastating phenomenon.Feminist scholar, Audre Lorde, wrote, "this woman is Black so her blood is shed in silence" (De Veaux, 2004 p. 243). The blood of many racial and ethnic minorities has been shed by police officers who have sworn to protect and serve them. The trauma of police violence, or police brutality, has been attended to by some in the social science community but increased attention is needed to exploring
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