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Remembering the Cultural Trauma Legacies of Slavery: African American Young Adult Perceptions on Racism, Ethnic Identity, and Racial Socialization

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Remembering the Cultural Trauma Legacies of Slavery: African American Young Adult Perceptions on Racism, Ethnic Identity, and Racial Socialization Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 2013 Remembering the Cultural Trauma Legacies of Slavery: African American Young Adult Perceptions on Racism, Ethnic Identity, and Racial Socialization Kimya Pearl Barden Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss Part of the Social Work Commons Recommended Citation Barden, Kimya Pearl, "Remembering the Cultural Trauma Legacies of Slavery: African American Young Adult Perceptions on Racism, Ethnic Identity, and Racial Socialization" (2013). Dissertations. 660. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/660 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 2013 Kimya Pearl Barden LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO REMEMBERING THE CULTURAL TRAUMA LEGACIES OF SLAVERY: AFRICAN AMERICAN YOUNG ADULT PERCEPTIONS ON RACISM, ETHNIC IDENTITY, AND RACIAL SOCIALIZATION A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE SCHOOL IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM IN SOCIAL WORK BY KIMYA PEARL BARDEN CHICAGO, IL AUGUST 2013 Copyright by Kimya Pearl Barden, 2013 All rights reserved. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express the deepest appreciation to my committee chair, Dr. Janice Matthews Rasheed, who has the spirit and the substance of a social work genius: she continually and convincingly conveyed a spirit of active mentorship in regard to research and scholarship, and an excitement in regard to teaching. Without her guidance and encouragement, this dissertation would not have been possible. I would like to thank my committee members, Drs. Caleb Kim and Julia Pryce whose commitment to consistency and great writing, respectively, demonstrated to me that concern for African American young adult development should always transcend academia into service for the broader community. I would also like to thank the Gillespie Family for graciously offering me a space to collect data. Your uncompromising generosity is much appreciated. In addition, a special thank you to Dr. Lance Williams, who introduced me to the wonderful world of academia as an university instructor. I thank Alana Gunn, my friend and colleague, for her brilliance in both qualitative research and early morning brainstorming. I also thank Ruben Miller for supporting my publication endeavors. I also thank my friends who served as readers, analysts, and comforts: LaQuis Harkins, Tokumbo Bodunde, Keisha Hooks, Intaba Shauri, Sarah Guidone, Toya Sledd, and Mandisa Pearson. Last, I thank the wonderful ladies at Loyola University’s School of iii Social Work who became my “village” supportive of my doctoral completion: Doris Allen, Stephanie Chapman, Brenda Crawley, Jacqueline Anderson, and “Ms. Chedzy.” iv For mama, Zuri, and Pascal TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. ix LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ x CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1 Background ...................................................................................................................... 3 Racism............................................................................................................................ 11 Racial Socialization ....................................................................................................... 13 Ethnic Identity ................................................................................................................ 14 Cultural Trauma Theory ................................................................................................ 16 Purpose of the Study/Study Questions ........................................................................... 20 Significance of the Study ............................................................................................... 20 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................... 24 Young Adulthood: Theoretical Orientations ................................................................. 25 Trauma ........................................................................................................................... 27 Cultural Trauma and Slavery: A Historical Legacy ...................................................... 36 Cultural Trauma Impacts on African American Mental Health .................................... 48 Summary ........................................................................................................................ 68 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ......................................................................... 70 Study Variables .............................................................................................................. 71 Case Study Method ........................................................................................................ 73 Data Collection .............................................................................................................. 83 Validity and Reliability .................................................................................................. 91 Data Analysis ................................................................................................................. 91 Ethics.............................................................................................................................. 95 Summary ........................................................................................................................ 96 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS ......................................................................................... 97 Participant Demographics .............................................................................................. 97 Analysis of Research Questions................................................................................... 100 Cultural Trauma is Legitimate ..................................................................................... 107 The Legitimacy of Cultural Trauma Legacies ............................................................. 111 African American Pride: A Legacy of the Civil Rights Movement ............................ 115 Cultural Trauma Legacy is Non-Legitimate ................................................................ 117 Stereotype Stigmatization in African American Identity Development ...................... 121 Key Informant Comparisons with Young Adults’ Racism Experience ....................... 136 College Enrolled Young Adults and Racial Socialization ........................................... 141 GED Young Adults and Racial Socialization .............................................................. 148 vi Key Informant Comparisons to Young Adults’ Racial Socialization .......................... 153 The Role of Violence on Individual and Group Identity ............................................. 161 Key Informant Comparisons with Young Adults’ Ethnic Identity Development ....... 176 Summary ...................................................................................................................... 179 CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION ................................................................................... 182 Ethnic Identity Formation and Violence ...................................................................... 184 Stereotype Stigmatization and Identity Formation ...................................................... 187 Socialization and Group Responsibility....................................................................... 189 Significance for Theory Building ................................................................................ 190 Significance for the Social Work Profession ............................................................... 191 Limitations of the Study............................................................................................... 196 APPENDIX A: THEORETICAL PERCEPTIONS ........................................................ 199 APPENDIX B: VERBAL SCRIPT FOR PARTICIPANT RECRUITMENT (CENTER FOR HIGHER DEVELOPMENT) ............................................................ 203 APPENDIX C: VERBAL SCRIPT FOR PARTICIPANT RECRUITMENT (COLLEGE ENROLLED)........................................................................................... 205 APPENDIX D: VERBAL SCRIPT FOR PARTICIPANT RECRUITMENT (KEY INFORMANT) .................................................................................................. 207 APPENDIX E: CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE IN RESEARCH (YOUNG ADULT) ...................................................................................................... 209 APPENDIX F: CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE IN RESEARCH (KEY INFORMANT) ............................................................................................................ 213 APPENDIX G: YOUNG ADULT INTERVIEW QUESTION GUIDE .......................
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