Concerns and Coping of African-American Mothers After Youth Assault Requiring Emergency Medical Treatment (original) (raw)
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Previous research has shown that Black women use culturally specific ways to cope with stress. Using a Black feminist perspective, this qualitative study will focus on the informal coping mechanisms and resistant strategies that African American mothers use in everyday life to cope under environments with high levels of violence. Using data collected from one in-depth interview and a focus group of eleven African American mothers living on the Southside of Chicago, I identified three themes: (1) religiosity, (2) survival of self and (3) survival of children.
Identifying Risk Factors and Advancing Services for Violently Injured Low-Income Black Youth
Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
Violent exposure among low-income, Black youth has reached alarming rates. Using administrative data that centers racial equity to understand risk factors and aid in prevention is a promising approach to address this complex problem. Medical records were linked to a comprehensive county-level integrated data system using a case-control design. Chi-square tests, T-tests, and multivariate logistic regression assessed for between and within group differences among (1) youth who presented to an emergency department (N = 429) with an assault or gunshot wound (GSW) and a matched sample of non-injured youth (N = 5000); and, (2) youth with GSW injuries (N = 71) compared to assault injuries (N = 358). Injured youth present with greater early adversity, trauma, and prolonged poverty compared to non-injured peers. Youth with GSW injuries differ from assault in several key ways. An ecosystem of care is needed to address the multifaceted causes of Black youth's severe violence exposure that are rooted in systemic racism and poverty. Integrated data using a racial equity lens can help to illuminate opportunities in this ecosystem of care.
Family Medicine and Primary Care: Open Access, 2021
Background: Scholars are increasingly linking Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) to mental and physical health outcomes over the life course. However, the influence of ACEs and continuous traumatic stress on health outcomes is less understood, particularly in contexts with high concentrations of community and police violence. Methods: This study analyzes survey and interview data from 93 low-income Black mothers living in neighborhoods with high levels of violence on the South side of Chicago to better understand the life course consequences of ACEs and continuous traumatic stress exposure. Results: Our analysis demonstrates the conditions and events that give rise to trauma over the life course, participants’ layered meaning making about trauma at the intersections of stress and resilience, the consequences of trauma exposures in the lives of the mothers, and their culturally-rich healing resources. Discussion: The relationship between continuous traumatic stress exposure on phys...
Significance of Gender and Age in African American Children's Response to Parental Victimization
Health & Social Work, 2006
The United States is a violent country (Trickett & Schellenbach, 1998), and our children's exposure to this violence is a national public health issue (Glodich, 1998).Violence exposure, as either a witness or victim, is rampant among inner-city youths (Hien & Bukszpan, 1999). Although violence has decreased in recent years, youths in poor urban areas continue to be disproportionately exposed (Gorman-Smith & Tolan, 1998; Gorman-Smith, Tolan, & Henry, 1999). Children exposed to violence (either directly or indirectly) are vulnerable to serious long-term consequences, such as posttraumatic stress (Kilpatrick
Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2011
Adolescent mothers and their children are particularly susceptible to witnessing or directly experiencing violence. Such violence exposure predicts maternal distress, parenting, and child behavior problems. The current study examined how mothers' depressive symptoms, aggression, harsh disciplinary practices, and home environment independently explain the association between mothers' violence exposure and children's externalizing and internalizing behavior, controlling for their children's violence exposure. Data were collected from 230 African American mothers living in Washington, DC who gave birth as adolescents and whose children were 3 to 5 years old. Path analysis revealed that the effect of mothers' experienced violence on children's externalizing and internalizing behavior was mediated by mothers' depressive symptoms and aggression. However, neither harsh discipline nor stimulation in the home environment acted as significant mediators, and there were no direct or indirect effects of mothers' witnessed violence on child behavior. This study builds on previous work by identifying an association between maternal violence exposure and children's behavior, independent of children's own violence exposure that is explained by mothers' increased distress but not their parenting. These findings suggest that a potential means of preventing behavior problems in minority children born to adolescent mothers is to identify mothers who have been directly exposed to violence and treat their depressive symptoms and aggressive behaviors.
Purpose: The goal of this study is to better understand the factors that contribute to child welfare case outcomes among mothers who concurrently are involved in substance abuse treatment and child protective services. Substance abuse among mothers has led to increases in child maltreatment reports and the number of children involved with the child welfare system (Semidei, Radel & Nolan, 2001). Between one-third and two-thirds of all child abuse and neglect cases involve parental substance abuse (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999). About 80% of families who become involved with the child protective system resulting from substance abuse lose permanent custody of their children (Marsh, Ryan, Choi, & Testa, 2006), and African American families have the worst outcomes (Walker, Zangrillo & Smith, 1994). The implicit theory within child welfare practice is that the reason many substance-abusing mothers lose custody of their children is that they are more motivated by thei...
Improving Supports for Youth of Color Traumatized by Violence
2013
Many boys and young men of color live in communities where violence occurs too often and has a significant impact on their lives. This report examines the problem, offers strategies for various youth systems, and provides examples of approaches with strong outcomes for working with males of color who have witnessed or experienced violence
Child Abuse & Neglect, 2008
Objective: This study assessed the unique and interactive effects of child maltreatment and mothers' physical intimate partner violence (IPV) status on low-SES African American children's psychological functioning. Methods: Mothers were recruited from a large, inner-city hospital, and those who met eligibility criteria were asked to complete a lengthy face-to-face interview while their child was assessed separately but concurrently. The sample included 152 mother-child dyads. The children's mean age was 10 years, and 45% were male. Multivariate linear regression analyses tested the main and interactive effects of child maltreatment and mothers' exposure to physical IPV on children's psychological functioning (internalizing and externalizing symptoms, traumatic stress symptoms), while controlling for covariates. Results: Children who experienced child maltreatment and children whose mothers experienced physical IPV had higher levels of psychological distress than their respective counterparts. Post hoc analysis of significant interaction effects indicated that child maltreatment was associated with internalizing and externalizing problems and traumatic stress only when mothers reported higher levels of physical IPV. This finding did not hold true for youth whose mothers did not acknowledge elevated rates of physical IPV. Conclusions: African American youth from low-SES backgrounds who are maltreated and whose mothers experience physical IPV are at particularly high risk for psychological distress. Targeted prevention and intervention programs are needed for these poly-victimized youth.
Cumulative Violence Exposures: Black Women's Responses and Sources of Strength
Social Work in Public Health, 2016
Black women with cumulative violence exposures (CVE) may have unique needs for health care and safety. Qualitative data was analyzed from interviews with nine Black women with CVE to explore factors that motivated women to leave abusive relationships, women's sources of strengths, and their responses to abuse. Quantitative data (N = 163) was analyzed to examine relationships between CVEs by intimate partner and health among Black women to further characterize the challenges these women face in making changes and finding their sources of strengths. Findings highlight the need to assess for CVE and identify multiple motivators for change, sources of strengths and coping strategies that could be potential points of intervention for women with CVE.