Original Article
The Trauma Lens of Police Violence against Racial and Ethnic Minorities
Thema Bryant-Davis,
Tyonna Adams, Adriana Alejandre, Anthea A. Gray,
Corresponding Author
Thema Bryant-Davis
Pepperdine University
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Thema Bryant-Davis, Department of Psychology, Pepperdine University, 16830 Ventura Blvd. #200, Encino, CA 91436 [e-mail: [email protected]].Search for more papers by this authorThema Bryant-Davis,
Tyonna Adams, Adriana Alejandre, Anthea A. Gray,
Corresponding Author
Thema Bryant-Davis
Pepperdine University
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Thema Bryant-Davis, Department of Psychology, Pepperdine University, 16830 Ventura Blvd. #200, Encino, CA 91436 [e-mail: [email protected]].Search for more papers by this authorAdriana Alejandre is now at the Pepperdine University Culture and Trauma Research Lab. This article was written by members of Pepperdine University's Culture and Trauma Lab.
This article is part of the Special Issue “What Social Science Research Says About Police Violence Against Racial and Ethnic Minorities: Understanding the Antecedents and Consequences,” Kristin N. Dukes, and Kimberly B. Kahn (Special Issue Editors). For a full listing of Special Issue papers, see: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/josi.2017.73.issue-4/issuetoc.
Abstract
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, racist-incident–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.
References
- American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders ( 5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596 Google Scholar
- AreHeart-Treschel, R. (2003). Unique challenges face psychiatrists at hospital for Alaskan Natives. Psychiatric News, 38(22), 13. http://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/pn.38.22.0013a
10.1176/pn.38.22.0013a Google Scholar
- Aymer, S. R. (2016). I can't breathe: A case studying-helping Black men cope with race-related trauma stemming from police killing and brutality. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 26(3-4), 367–376.
- Berg, A. (2009). Trauma and testimony in black women's civil rights memoirs: The Montgomery bus boycott and the women who started it, warriors don't cry, and from the Mississippi delta. Journal of Women's History, 21(3), 84–107, 206.
- Billies, M. (2015). Surveillance threat as embodied psychological dilemma. Peace And Conflict: Journal Of Peace Psychology, 21(2), 168–186. https://doi.org/10.1037/pac0000070
- Body-Gendrot, S. (2010). Police marginality, racial logics and discrimination in the banlieues of France. Ethnic and Racial Studies, (4), 656–674.
- Bonilla, Y. & Rosa, J. (2015). #Ferguson: Digital protest hashtag ethnography, and the racial politics of social media in the United States. Journal of the American Ethnological Society, 42(1), 4–17.
- Brave Heart, M. Y. (2003). The historical trauma response among natives and its relationship with substance abuse: a Lakota illustration. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 35(1), 7–13.
- Bridges, E. (2010). Racial identity development and psychological coping strategies of African American males at a predominantly white university. Annals of the American Psychotherapy Association. 13(1), 14–26.
- Briere, J., & Scott, C. (2015). Complex trauma in adolescents and adults: Effects and treatment. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 38(3), 515–527.
- Brunson, K., & Miller, J. (2006). Gender, race and urban policing: The experience of African American youth. Gender & Society, 20(4), 531–552.
- Bryant-Davis, T. (2007). Healing requires recognition: The case for race based traumatic stress. The Counseling Psychologist, 35(1), 135–143.
- Bryant-Davis, T., & Comas-Diaz, L. (2016). Womanist and Mujerista psychologies: Voices of fire, acts of courage. Washington, DC: APA.
10.1037/14937-000 Google Scholar
- Bryant-Davis, T., & Ocampo, C. (2005). The trauma of racism: Implications for counseling, research, and education. The Counseling Psychologist, 33, 574–578.
- Butts, H. (2002). The black mask of humanity: Racial/ethnic discrimination and post-traumatic stress disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 30, 336–339.
- Carter, R. (2007). Racism and psychological and emotional injury: Recognizing and assessing race-based traumatic stress. Counseling Psychologist, 35(1), 13–105.
- Cloitre, M., Stolbach, B. C., Herman, J. L., van der Kolk, B., Pynoos, R., Wang, J., & Petkova, E. (2009). A developmental approach to complex PTSD: Childhood and adult cumulative trauma as predictors of symptom complexity. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 22(5), 399–408.
- Collins, P. H. (2000). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment ( 2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.
- Comas-Diaz, L., & Jacobsen, F. M. (2001). Ethnocultural allodynia. Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research, 10(4), 246–252.
- Cooper, D. C., Thayer, J. F., & Waldstein, S. R. (2014). Coping with racism: The impact of prayer on cardiovascular reactivity and post-stress in African American women. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 47(2), 218–230.
- Costa, A. T. (2011). Police brutality in Brazil: Authoritarian legacy or institutional weakness? Latin American Perspectives, 38(5), 19–32.
- Courtois, C. A. (2008). Complex trauma, complex reactions: Assessment and treatment. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, S(1), 86–100.
10.1037/1942-9681.S.1.86 Google Scholar
- De Veaux, A. (2004). Warrior poet: A biography of Audre Lorde. New York, NY: W. & W. Norton Company Inc.
- Du Bois, W. E. B. (1953). The souls of Black folk. Greenwich, CT: Fawcett Publications.
- Essed, P. (1991). Understanding everyday racism: An interdisciplinary theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
10.4135/9781483345239 Google Scholar
- Finkelhor, D., Ormrod, R., & Turner, H. A. (2009). Lifetime assessment of poly-victimization in a national sample of children and youth. Child Abuse & Neglect, 33, 403–411.
- Foa, E. B. (1997). Psychological processes related to recovery from a trauma and an effective treatment for PTSD. Psychobiology of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, 821, 410–424.
- Ford, J. D. (2005). Treatment implications of altered neurobiology, affect regulation and information processing following child maltreatment. Psychiatric Annals, 35, 410–419.
- Ford, J. D., Chapman, J. C., Connor, D. F., & Cruise, K. C. (2012). Complex trauma and aggression in secure juvenile justice settings. Criminal Justice & Behavior, 39(5), 695–724.
- Fullilove, M., Heon, V., Jimenez, W., Parsons, C., Green, L., & Fullilove, R. (1998). Injury and anomie: Effects of violence on inner-city community. American Journal of Public Health, 88, 924–931.
- Fyfe, J. (1988). Police use of deadly force. Research and reform. Justice Quarterly, 5(2), 165–205.
10.1080/07418828800089691 Google Scholar
- Gabbidon, S. L. (2003). Racial profiling by store clerk and security personnel in retail establishments: An exploration of “Shopping while Black.” Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 19(3), 345–364.
10.1177/1043986203254531 Google Scholar
- Gayle, N. (2011). Black women's experiences of spirituality as a form of resistance and activism. Canadian Woman Studies, 29(1), 107–120.
- Gleiser, K., Ford, J., & Fosha, D. (2008). Contrasting exposure and experiential therapies for complex PTSD. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 45, 340–360.
- Grills, C., Aird, E., & Rowe, D. (2016). Breathe, baby breathe: Clearing the way for the emotional emancipation for Black People. Cultural Studies—Critical Methodologies, 16(3), 333–343.
- Harkin, D. M. (2014). The police and punishment: Understanding the pains of policing. Theoretical Criminology, 19(1), 43–50.
- Helms, J. E., Nicolas, G., & Green, C. E. (2010). Racism and ethnoviolence as trauma: Enhancing professional training. Traumatology, 16(4), 53–62.
10.1177/1534765610389595 Google Scholar
- Herman, J. (1997). Trauma and recovery: The aftermath of violence from domestic abuse to political terror. New York: Basic Books.
- Herman, J. (2015). Trauma and recovery: The aftermath of violence—from domestic abuse to political terror. New York, NY, US: Basic Books.
- Hughes, D., Rodriguez, J., Smith, E., Johnson, D., Stevenson, H., & Spicer, P. (2006). Parents' ethnic-racial socialization practices: A review of research and directions for future study. Developmental Psychology, 42(5), 747–770.
- Johnson, J. E. (1982). The Afro-American family: A historical overview. In B. N. Bass, G. E. Wyatt, & P. Powell (Eds.), The Afro-American family: Assessment, treatment and research issues (pp. 285–290). New York, NY: Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich.
- Johnson, K., Hoyer, M., & Heath, B. (2014, August 15). Local police involved in 400 killings per year. USA Today News. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/14/police-killings-data/14060357/
- Jones, J. (1997). Prejudice and racism ( 2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
- Jones, & Shooter-Gooden. (2003). Shifting: The double lives of Black women. Harper Publications
- Kira, I., Templin, T., Lewandowski, L., Hammad, A., Clifford, D., Al-Haidar, A., & Mohanesh, J. (2006). The effects of torture: Two community studies. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 12, 205–228.
10.1207/s15327949pac1203_1 Google Scholar
- Leary, J. G. (2005). Post traumatic slave syndrome: America's legacy of enduring injury and healing. Milwaukee, OR: Uptone Press.
- Levin, A. (2006). Battling depression among Blacks means confronting racism's legacy. Psychiatric News, 41(24), 4–27.
10.1176/pn.41.24.0004a Google Scholar
- Levin, A. (2009). How much does historical trauma add to Indians’ health problems? Psychiatric News, 44(16), 9–11.
- Lewis-Coles, M. E. L., & Constantine, M. G. (2006). Racism-related stress, Africultural coping, and religious problem-solving among African Americans. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 12(3), 433–443.
- Lindblom, D., Bayona, S., Seals, D., & Seals, B. (2000). Creating social activism against police brutality: Adopt-a-spot. Social Marketing Quarterly, 1(3), 104–107.
10.1080/15245004.2000.9961131 Google Scholar
- Manson, S. M., Walker, R. D., & Kivlahan, D. R. (1987). Psychiatric assessment and treatment of American Indians and Alaska natives. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 38(2), 165–173.
- Milville, M. L., & Ferguson, A. D. (2006). Intersections of sexism and heterosexism with racism: Therapeutic implications. In M. G. Constantine & D. W. Sue (Eds.), Addressing racism: Facilitating cultural competence in mental health and education settings (pp. 87–103). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
- Muhammad, K. G. (2010). The condemnation of blackness: Race, crime, and the making of modern urban America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
10.2307/j.ctvjsf4fx Google Scholar
- Napoli, J. (1999) Post traumatic stress disorder in adult offspring of the Holocaust survivors. American Journal of Psychiatry, 156(11), 1838–1839.
- National Child Traumatic Stress Network. (n.d.). Effects of complex trauma. Retrieved from http://www.nctsn.org/trauma-types/complex-trauma/effects-of-complex-trauma.
- Patel, N. R. (2007). The construction of South Asian American womanhood: Implications for counseling and psychotherapy. Women & Therapy, 30(3-4), 51–61.
- Peoples, W. A. (2008). “Under construction”: Identifying foundations of hip-hop feminism and exploring bridges between black second-wave and hip-hop Feminisms1. Meridians, 8(1), 19–52.
10.2979/MER.2008.8.1.19 Google Scholar
- Petersen, N., & Ward, R. (2015). The transmission of historical racial violence: Lynching, civil rights–era terror, and contemporary interracial homicide. Race & Justice, 5(2), 114–143.
- Pieterse, A. L., Carter, R. T., Evans, S. A., & Walter, R. A. (2010). An exploratory examination of the associations among racial and ethnic discrimination, racial climate, and trauma-related symptoms in a college student population. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 57(3), 255–263.
- Pressley, J., & Smith, R. (2017). No ordinary life: Complex narratives of trauma and resilience in under-resourced communities. Journal Of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 26(2), 137–154. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2016.1246500
- Pieterse, A. L., Todd, N. R., Neville, H. A., & Carter, R. T. (2012). Perceived racism and mental health among Black American adults: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 59(1), 1–9.
- Porter, M., & Haslam, N. (2005). Predisplacement and postdisplacement factors associated with mental health of refugees and internally displaced persons-A meta-analysis. Journal of the American Medical Association, 294(5), 602–612.
- Rich, W. A., & Grey, C. M. (2005). Pathways to recurrent trauma among Black men: Traumatic stress, substance abuse and the “code of the stress.” American Journal of Public Health, 35(5), 816–824.
- Robin, R.W., Chester, B., & Goldman, D. (1996). Cumulative trauma and PTSD in American Indian communities, in Ethnocultural aspects of posttraumatic stress disorder. In A. J. Marsella, M. J. Friedman, E. T. Gerrity, & R. M. Scurfield (Eds.), Ethnocultural aspects of posttraumatic stress disorder: Issues, research, and clinical applications (pp. 239–253). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
10.1037/10555-009 Google Scholar
- Robinson, O. (2014). Characteristics of racism and the health consequences experienced by black nursing faculty. ABNF Journal, 25(4), 110–115.
- Sabina, C., Cuevas, C. A., & Schally, J. L. (2012). Help-seeking in a national sample of victimized Latino women: The influence of victimization types. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 27(1), 40–61.
- Sagi-Schwartz, A., van IJzendoorn, M. H., Grossmann, K., Joels, T., Scharf, M., Koren-Karie, N., & Alkalay, S. (2003). Attachment and traumatic stress in female Holocaust child survivors and their daughters. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160(6), 1086–1092.
- Scurfield, R. M., & Mackey, D. W. (2001). Racism, trauma and positive aspects of exposure to race-related experiences: Assessment and treatment implications. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 10, 23–47.
10.1300/J051v10n01_02 Google Scholar
- Sherman, L. W. (2010). Defiance, compliance and consilience: A general theory of criminology. In E. McLaughlin and T. Newburn (Eds.), Sage Handbook of Criminological Theory (pp. 360–390). London/Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
10.4135/9781446200926.n20 Google Scholar
- Snyder, C. R. (2012). Racial socialization in cross-racial families. Journal of Black Psychology, 38(2), 228–253.
- Spanierman, L. B., & Poteat, V. P. (2005). Moving beyond complacency to commitment: Multicultural research in counseling psychology. The Counseling Psychologist, 33, 513–523.
- Staggers-Hakim, R. (2016). The nation's unprotected children and the ghost of Mike Brown, or the impact of national police killings on the health and social development of African American boys. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 26(3-4), 390–399.
- Straus, S. (2012). ‘Destroy them to save us’: Theories of genocide and the logics of political violence. Terrorism And Political Violence, 24(4), 544–560. https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2012.700611
- Sue, D., & Sue, D. (2012). Counseling the culturally diverse: Theory & practice. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
- Terrill, W. (2005). Police use of force: A transactional approach. Justice Quarterly, 22(1), 107–138.
- Terrill, W., & Mastrofski, S. D. (2002). Situational and officer based determinants of police coercion. Justice Quarterly, (2), 215–248.
- Thomas, A. J., Speight, S. L., & Witherspoon, K. M. (2008). Gendered racism, psychological distress, and coping styles of African American women. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 14(4), 307–314.
- Toomey, R. B., Umaña-Taylor, A. J., Williams, D., Harvey-Mendoza, E. C., Jahromi, L. B., & Updegraff, K. A. (2014). The impact of Arizona's S.B. 1070 Immigration Law on utilization of health care and public assistance among Mexican-origin teen mothers and their mother figures. American Journal of Public Health, 104(s1), S28–S34.
- Violanti, J. M., Burchfiel, C. M., Fekedulegn, D., Andrew, M. E., Hartley, T. A., Charles, L. E., & Miller, D. B. (2009). Cortisol patterns and brachial artery reactivity in a high stress environment. Psychiatry Research, 169(1), 75–81.
- Weine, S., Ware, N., & Klenic, A. (2004). Converting cultural capital among teen refugees and their families from Bosnia-Herzegovina. Psychiatric Services, 55(8), 923–927.
- Westmarland, L. (2005). Police Ethics and Integrity: Breaking the Blue Code of Silence. Policing & Society, 15(2), 145–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439460500071721
10.1080/10439460500071721 Google Scholar
- Wilby, M. L. (2009). When the world is white. International Journal of Human Caring, 13(4), 57–61.
- Yehuda, R., Daskalakis, N. P., Lehrner, A., Desarnaud, F., Bader, H. N., Makotkine, I., Flory, J. D., Bierer, L. M., & Meaney, M. J. (2014). Influences of maternal and paternal PTSD on epigenetic regulation of the glucocorticoid receptor gene in Holocaust survivor offspring. American Journal of Psychiatry, 171, 872–880.
- Yehuda, R., Schmeidler, J., Wainberg, M., Binder-Brynes, K., & Duvdevani, T. (1998). Vulnerability to post traumatic stress disorder in adult offspring of Holocaust Survivors. American Journal of Psychiatry, 155(9), 1163–1171.
