Historical Trauma

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Historical trauma (HT) refers to the cumulative emotional and psychological wounding across generations, including the lifespan, which emanates from massive group trauma (Brave Heart, 2003, 1998). Groups who suffer from HT can then have a number of different reactions to the trauma they have faced which includes and is not limited to: depression, substance abuse, anger, and difficulty expressing emotions or recognizing them. In the United States, two groups in particular suffer from depression as a result of historical trauma: American Indians and Black Americans. There have been hundreds of years of trauma placed upon these two marginalized groups; mass genocide of the American Indian people, slavery and abuse of Black Americans, restrictions …show more content…
These are among the many restrictions that are forced upon BA in ghettos that can lead to depression, anxiety or hypertension. These ghettos exist in almost every urban area of the country, a community of mostly Black Americans who live in rundown houses or the “projects”, they stay within their community, some have not completed high school and those who have did not go onto higher education. Here we have to see why is it that Black Americans are as limited as they are. Ghettos are created and controlled by external forces; powers that are made up of white men. They control the social, political, educational, and economical aspects of these communities and they have controlled them for a number of generations. Robert Blauner uses Kenneth Clark’s description of Harlem’s ghettos in his Internal Colonialism paper:
The community can best be described in terms of… a powerless colony. Its political leadership is divided, and all but one or two of its political leaders are shortsighted and dependent upon the larger political power structure. Its social agencies are financially precarious and dependent upon sources of support outside the community. Harlem’s schools are controlled by forces outside of the community. Programs and policies are supervised and determined by individuals who do not live in the community.
…show more content…
With the influx of Europeans, thousands of AI were forced from their lands and the process of acculturation was set in place that resulted in disastrous events which unfolded onto the AIs. The effects of these traumatic events are seen clearly through the chronic illnesses (depression, PTSD, hypertension) and disparities faced disproportionately by AI today. A report done on AI from a Northwest Coast village, it showed through a 20 year follow up that 30 percent of the respondents continued to experience a clinically diagnosable disorder, further proving the prolonged existence of mental health issues among AI (Peters, Green, Gauthier 2013). Just as the case is with Black Americans, AI are likely to receive inadequate care from the health care system. In addition to that, they have limited funding to mental health care, fewer health professionals near reservation areas, poverty, and a lack of culturally sensitive programs (Peters et al., 2013). The difference here is that if AI were given proper access to mental health care and it was culturally appropriate then they would be more likely to respond positively to therapy. Here we can then discuss why AI even need this kind of mental health care. The centuries of loss their people have faced at the hands of white Americans has certainly added up and is related to the social downfall and

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