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Historical and Race-Based Trauma: Resilience Through Family and Community

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Abstract

Historical and race-based trauma (HRBT) is a cross-cutting, intergenerational source of adversity that rarely is included in categories of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Unlike ACEs, HRBT is adversity that is embedded intersubjectively in family, kinship networks, and community as well as in society; that is, its negative impacts are systemic, as are the intergenerational resilience strategies families and communities develop to counter trauma. Racial socialization is one such strategy used to build resilience and coping skills necessary to thrive in a culture of implicit and explicit racism, and when reconceptualized as a systemic process, also contributes to effective resistance against institutional racism. Articles in this special issue illustrate the importance of positive parenting practices, family dynamics, kinship networks, community, and Indigenous Theory through the narrative voices of formerly incarcerated women, refugees, immigrants, Indigenous people, and first-generation Latinx students.

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Acknowledgements

During preparation of the manuscript, Dr. Allen was supported, in part, by National Institute of Mental Health (U19MH113138) Alaska Native Collaborative Hub for Resilience Research (ANCHRR) Rasmus, Wexler, Allen; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (RO1AA023754 Qungasvik (Toolbox): Prevention of Alcohol/Suicide Risk in Alaska Native Youth, Rasmus, Allen; and National Institute of General Medical Sciences (S06GM123552) American Indian Wellness through Research Engagement (AIWRE), Skewes, Rasmus.

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  1. Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, 700 Windy Rush Lane, DeWitt, MI, 48820, USA

    Hiram E. Fitzgerald

  2. Westbank Curtin Economics Centre, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, 6102, Australia

    Hiram E. Fitzgerald

  3. Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    Deborah J. Johnson, Francisco A. Villarruel & Desiree Baolian Qin

  4. Duluth Campus, University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth, MN, 55812, USA

    James Allen

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Fitzgerald, H.E., Johnson, D.J., Allen, J. et al. Historical and Race-Based Trauma: Resilience Through Family and Community. ADV RES SCI 2, 215–223 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42844-021-00048-4

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