Description

Analyzing the Cascading Impact of Racism on the Mental Health of African American Adults

African Americans have a long, distinctive, and traumatic collective history in the United States for being targets of racial aggression, racial violence, denial of access to services, equitable treatment under the law, and intimidation. Racial injustices towards African Americans are well documented in the literature and the modern media in the United States. The cost of racism extends beyond the marginalized population and yet there remains no successful prevention effort to halt racist behavior. To better understand the complex and compounded impact of racism there must a deeper understanding of how racism harms African Americans and impacts our larger institutions and systems.

The harm of the social problem cannot be overstated in the 21st century. Researchers have not identified a universal rationale for racist behaviors. There is no universally accepted intervention to arrest racism in its many forms. And even as the United States becomes more racially and ethnically diverse – racial animus continues. The residual impact of racism contributes to health and mental health disparities, distrust across racial groups, undermines the workforce, and even has a financial impact on the economy.

A careful review of the existing literature yielded evidence of a cascading negative impact of racism toward African American adults. Therefore, the guiding question for this systematic literature review was ‘To what extent does racism impact the mental health of African American adults?’ This capstone highlights the pervasive nature of racism does indeed cascade from individuals to families, and from families to communities, including impacting the larger society.

Learning Objectives:

1. Develop greater understanding of the social problem of racism and its impact on the mental health of African American adults
2. Gain theoretical insight to the connection of both a macro and micro level response to racism
3. Increase awareness of the implications for social work practice

Delivery Method: Live Interactive Training via Zoom Video Conferencing

Credit Hours: 1.0 (ACE)

Target Audience: This conference is intended for social workers and students.

 

Accreditation: University of Kentucky College of Social Work, Provider # 1377, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 9/29/22-9/29/25. Social workers participating in this conference will receive up to 15 general continuing education credits.

Claiming CE Credit: Instructions for claiming CE credit will be disseminated at the beginning of each session.

Questions: If you have any questions regarding CE credit or to report a grievance, please contact Melissa Whitaker at melissa.whitaker@uky.edu. For technical assistance, please contact lmshelp@uky.edu.