Premature Deaths of Young Black Males in the United States

Abstract

In the United States, generations of young Black males, ages 15 to 24 years, are prematurely dying from homicide and suicide. Between 1950 and 2010, the average death rate for young Black males due to homicide was 81.7 per 100,000 and suicide was 11.8 per 100,000. Ages 15 to 24 years are the intersecting developmental stages of adolescence and young adulthood when premature death should not be expected. The trauma and ceased procreation prospects stemming from Black males’ premature deaths represent a public health crisis in America. Heightened public health approaches are needed to bring attention to a young racial-gender group that is dying five to six decades prior to their life expectancy. The mass suicide-homicide killings, premature deaths, and death disparities among young Black males, ages 15 to 24, in the United States is not a paranoid propaganda. It is undeniably a disturbing public health crisis that requires an urgent national response to reverse and ultimately eradicate the premature death of young Black males.

Strengths despite stress: Social-structural stressors and psychosocial buffers of depressive symptoms among U.S. Black men.

“…Finally, our study underscores the need for more theory and research on the assets of Black men. Depression is often a precursor to suicide, an act from which young Black men (i.e., ages 15–24) are prematurely dying (Goodwill et al, 2021; Jones-Eversley et al, 2020). Goodwill et al (2021) further indicates that the impact of daily encounters with discrimination extends beyond depressive symptoms and is related to increased suicide ideation in a sample of Black young men.…”

Adherence to African-Centered Norms and Help Seeking for Emotional Distress Among Black Men

“…In the United States, Black men are disproportionately represented among those experiencing disabling and persistent episodes of emotional distress that, when left untreated, correlate with higher incidences of morbidity and premature mortality (Jones-Eversley et al, 2020). Yet, increasing attention has been given to mental health issues among Black men only recently, a phenomenon that Thorpe (2022) describes as a health disparity, decades in the making and hidden in plain sight .…”

A Technology-Enhanced Intervention for Violence and Substance Use Prevention Among Young Black Men: Protocol for Adaptation and Pilot Testing

“…Similarly, violence prevention programs in hospital EDs, schools, juvenile justice facilities, child welfare systems, faith-based and street outreach initiatives continue to have substantial wraparound effects in reducing violence [19,20]. However, in resource-limited communities, these programs lack 24/7 staff coverage, follow-up services, and trauma-informed training and report high employee turnover [16][17][18]21]. Furthermore, injured young Black men perceive hospital violence intervention programs-and other formal institutions-as places of interface with law enforcement and thus avoid using these services [16,[22][23][24], even though EDs are increasingly recognized as a critical intervention venue for youth at risk for future violent injury [4].…”