Conceptualizing racism through a systemic trauma lens: Impacts on Black college students.

Abstract

Systemic trauma is a perspective that extends the traditionally narrow view of trauma into a framework that includes systems, institutions, and contextual factors into the conceptualization of trauma. This framework captures the effects of racism, systemic barriers (e.g., racial climate, cultural mistrust, stereotype threat), and contextual factors (e.g., technology, social media) as these mechanisms inform experiences of trauma for marginalized populations. Some scholars argue that there is a need for research that conceptualizes sy/stemic racism as a way to capture the intensity of the corresponding stress and to draw attention to the impact of cumulative, vicarious, and intergenerational effects. Conceptualizing racism through the lens of systemic trauma provides an opportunity to enhance how we understand the impacts of racism, as it encompasses contextual factors that amplify Black Americans’ experiences in the current sociopolitical climate. This article highlights Black students’ experiences of racism, the manifestation of trauma symptoms, systemic barriers, and contextual factors that amplify such experiences and possible effects on their psychological and academic functioning. In this theoretical article, systemic trauma is used as a framework to conceptualize racism, describe how Black students experience systemic trauma, offer a case illustration, and provide clinical interventions and suggestions that foster transformation and posttraumatic growth.

Intersected discrimination through the lens of COVID-19: The case example of Christian minority in Iraq.

“…The results underscored the association of group-based discrimination like racism and COVID-19 different stressors and infection (e.g., Khazanchi et al, 2020). They replicated a rich literature on the mental health effects of racism (e.g., Williams et al, 2021). They confirmed and expanded on previous studies that found that experiencing even subtle racial discrimination had adverse cognitive effects (Ozier et al, 2019;Zahodne et al, 2016).…”

“…The present study did not test for dissociation and psychotic symptoms; however, there is strong empirical evidence that ethnic minority position and migrant status are risk factors for psychotic symptoms (for review and meta-analysis see, Leaune et al, 2019). There is empirical evidence of the higher suicidality in immigrants/refugees (for meta-analysis, see Amiri, 2020) and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer [LGBTQ] (for meta-analysis, see Williams et al, 2021).…”

Gendered Racial Microaggressions, Psychosocial Resources, and Depressive Symptoms among Black Women Attending a Historically Black University

“…Few practitioners identify as black women, and thus, nonblack and male providers must be culturally competent and comfortable with offering safe, affirming, and non-judgmental spaces for black women to share and process their experiences (Bryant-Davis 2007; Comas-Dı ´az, Hall, and Neville 2019). Second, healing from gendered racial microaggressions will require the use of culturally appropriate treatment (Sue and Sue 2015; T. R. Williams, Walker, and Wyatt 2022). In other words, clinicians' treatment approach must address cultural or other diversity factors that inform black women's experiences.…”

Campus Racial Climate, Psychological Well-being, and Race-Based Traumatic Stress Symptoms Among Monoracial Black and Biracial Black Students Following Heightened Exposure to Police Brutality

“…First, the relatively small sample of monoracial Black and biracial Black students limit its generalizability and our ability to probe diversity within the monoracial Black and biracial Black groups. Exploring how factors related to ethnic identity [ 31 ], skin tone [ 37 ], community support [ 38 ], and others [ 39 ], moderate the impact of exposure to police brutality on race-based trauma symptoms and well-being will be critical to better understand the diversity of Black student experiences. In terms of generalizability, it is also worth acknowledging the unique geo-political context of the current institution relative to other small private institutions.…”