The highly publicized murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Ahmaud Arbery in 2020 sparked public outrage and widespread discussion around anti-Black violence. While some studies have examined the effects of anti-Black violence exposure on mental health outcomes, there is a paucity of research that explores how these racially charged events contribute to cumulative stress and "weathering" for Black people, particularly. Informed by racial battle fatigue theory, this in-depth qualitative study explored the lived experiences of 30 Black male and female undergraduate college students (aged 18-28) exposed to highly publicized acts of anti-Black violence. Thematic analysis revealed four predominant themes: (a) witnessing an endless cycle of anti-Black violence, (b) experiencing cumulative and prolonged psychosocial effects, (c) grieving while Black, and (d) navigating the tension between activism and burnout. Findings expose the cyclical and inescapable nature of anti-Black violence, including the toll of these events on the lives of Black college students. Research, practice, and policy implications underscore the need for culturally relevant interventions to support resilience among Black people in the aftermath of anti-Black violence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Through the broad use of technology such as phones and social media, people are more aware of various instances of police brutality. Specifically, police violence toward Black men continues to garner increased public scrutiny. The paper discusses the historical context of police violence toward Black men and the associated psychological trauma impact. The authors advocate for police reform using the Sanctuary Model of trauma-informed care approach to address the issue. Further, the implementations of trauma-informed care in police training for United States law enforcement and for Black men are presented.

"The 1619 Project," developed by journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones for the New York Times Magazine, examines ways the abolished institution of slavery is implicated in contemporary racial inequities in the U.S., as well as the accomplishments of Black Americans despite layered structural oppression. A school of social work at a Research I university deemed "The 1619 Project" an apt pedagogical tool for preparing social work students, across undergraduate and graduate programs, to address anti-Black racism at micro- and macro-levels. In this paper, the authors use Critical Race Pedagogy principles as a theoretical underpinning and present various coordinated learning activities utilizing "The 1619 Project" to elucidate manifestations of systemic racism. The paper concludes with implications for social work practice and education.

Trauma is a far too common familiarity in the lived experiences of Black Americans that can be traced back to the historical and contemporary vestiges of white supremacy and racism in the United States. However, little is known about how persistent trauma from racialized events (e.g. microaggressions, discrimination, anti-Black violence) erodes the mental and physical health of Black Americans, contributing to distress and cumulative exhaustion. In this paper, the authors discuss Racial Battle Fatigue in relation to the experiences of Black Americans as a result of living in a racialized society. Using two case examples, the authors examine and explain how Racial Battle Fatigue takes a toll on Black people, and conclude with implications for counseling professionals.

Given the repeated police killings of unarmed Black people and their increasing visibility because of recent technological advances, Black people are especially vulnerable to adverse mental health effects. However, little is known about how they attempt to cope with these incidents or how their efforts may affect their mental health. Informed by trauma theory and stress, appraisal, and coping theory, this study used semi-structured in-depth interviews with 30 Black male and female undergraduate college students (aged 18–28) exposed to police killings of other unarmed Black people to examine their coping efforts and the impact on their mental health. Students were recruited from four historically Black colleges and universities in South Carolina. Grounded theory analysis identified several emotion-focused coping and problem-focused coping employed by Black college students to cope with repeated police killings. Furthermore, findings suggest that proactive planning for police killings, at both individual and personal network levels, buffers students against the negative mental impacts of these events. Research and practice implications suggest the need for future studies to identify and develop culturally specific interventions that support effective coping skills to mitigate adverse health outcomes for Black people in the aftermath of police killings.

There is little research that explores the experiences of Black people exposed to police killings of other unarmed Blacks, despite the fact these incidents repeatedly and disproportionately affect this population. While some quantitative studies have examined the impacts of police violence exposure on mental health in recent years, there remains a dearth of in-depth qualitative research exploring the processes through which chronic exposures to police killings contribute to traumatic and complex life experiences for Black people, particularly. Informed by theories of critical race, stress and cognitive appraisal, historical trauma, and loss and grief, this qualitative study used in-depth semi-structured interviews to explore the experiences of stress, trauma, and grief among Black undergraduate college students exposed to police killings of other unarmed Black people, and to examine the perceived impacts of these experiences in the lives of students and their close personal networks.

Because repeated incidents of police violence against unarmed Black people are increasingly visible, as a result of technological advances, there is growing need to understand their potentially traumatic mental health effects for other Black people. This narrative review provides an overview of critical race theory, the stress, appraisal, and coping theory, trauma theory, racial trauma theory, and emotional contagion theory to develop an integrated conceptual framework for understanding and explaining psychosocial processes by which exposure to police violence against unarmed Black people affect the mental health of other Black people at individual and community-levels. Black and Blue, a new conceptual framework, adds to the social science literature on police violence in historically marginalized communities. The conceptualization of this framework suggests implications for practice, policy, and research about police violence and trauma exposure in Black communities. Future research is needed to expand and subsequently test the validity and rigor of the Black and Blue framework.

Recently, there has been a growing interest in the nexus of faith and the triumvirate of learning, practice, and research. Social work educators have not consistently challenged social work students to consider the importance of the constructs of faith, religiosity, and spirituality in their own learning and lives. The acknowledgment of racism as an unjust social construct is the essential social justice focus of this paper. The authors present an example of a course assignment that may be used to help students explore the significance and meaning of faith, equity, and spirituality in others and in their own lives. The Critical Race Theory (CRT) is used as a theoretical framework to discuss how educators can prepare students to have a generalist perspective that is humane and social justice driven. The ethical duty to acknowledge, explore, and teach students faith in the social work curriculum is a key aspect of the biopsychosocial-spiritual assessment.

Racism is a pervasive system that permeates all social activity within U.S. society and for over four hundred years has constantly reproduced systems of inequality and disparate outcomes for Black people. Increasingly, attention has been given to integrating anti-racist content and methods into social work education and practice. By integrating concepts from racial equity and liberatory education theories, and providing a case example of one university's process of critically assessing students' experiences of how anti-racist pedagogies manifest within social work's implicit and explicit curriculum, this paper offers insights into potential strategies to prepare social work students to adequately address the needs of Black clients upon graduation.

This study explores coping strategies and barriers to dementia care experienced by African American dementia caregivers in Kentucky. Utilizing a convergent mixed-method design integrating focus group and survey data on African American dementia caregivers recruited through churches in Kentucky (N = 28), we elucidate three coping strategies: love-based coping, religion-based coping, and family support. Results from survey data supported these themes, with over 90% of participants reporting that they provide care to give back to family members and for religious reasons. However, over half of the caregivers' reported strain due to three barriers identified by focus group data: time constraints, low support, and the high cost of formal care. This exploratory study highlights the importance of intervention tactics for African American dementia caregivers that focus not only on individual and family support but also community-based outreach and support.

Objective The importance of self-care for social workers as first responders is underscored in light of the sociopolitical, economic, and pandemic challenges that accompanied the presidency of Donald J. Trump, the 45th president of the United States. Methods We conducted an extensive review of the literature on the conceptualization, dimensions, benefits, importance, and indispensability of self-care for social workers, especially in stressful socio-political and toxic work environments. Chaos theory served as the theoretical scaffold of our research. Results Inevitably our research found that the ability of social workers to effectively serve as first responders during chaotic times depends on a proactive and consistent practice of self-care by social workers as an essential best practice. Conclusions The consequences of the policies of the 45th president of the United States have taken their toll on the citizenry, with the increase in stress in the nation. Undoubtedly, social workers as first responders, therapists, and educators are at the receiving end of ensuing political and socioeconomic uncertainties. We posit that for social workers to remain steadfast, unshakable, and abiding in the solemn pursuit of social justice and an egalitarian society, this is the era for social workers to embrace and persistently practice self-care.

This article examines the history of racism in the American presidency and the implications that it has had for Black residents of this country. The paper begins with a discussion of President Trump's racist rhetoric towards Blacks but notes that a history of racism is woven into the US presidency. We employ critical race theory as a theoretical framework to demonstrate why institutional racism has always been pervasive in the American presidency. Using a case study analysis, the authors conduct a comparative study of the history of racism of American presidents with the presidency of former president Donald J. Trump. The authors conclude that for most of the nation's history, racism and indifference to African Americans permeated the US presidency. It has only been since the advent of the second half of the twentieth century, for the most part, that there have been meaningful efforts by US presidents to address the concerns of African Americans.

This research systematically synthesizes the conceptual understanding, guiding theological, or denominational orientations, and the most promising pedagogical models for integrating faith and spirituality into social work education curricula. Accordingly, we reviewed published peer-reviewed journals in the last 35 years (1985-2020). This systematic review answers three main research questions: 1) What is the array of conceptual definitions of faith and spirituality integration in social work education; 2) Are there theological, and or, denominational orientations influencing the definitions, and integration, of faith and spirituality in social work education? and; 3) What are the available pedagogical models for integrating faith and spirituality into social work education? A conclusion is presented with implications for pedagogy, research, and policy in Christian social work programs

This article provides an in-depth discussion of social distancing and its socio-behavioral implications on church gatherings in the era of COVID-19. We posit that social distancing has redefined, reshaped, and reconfigured Christian religious gatherings in a way that was hitherto unimagined. The unintended consequences (positive and negative) indicate that social distancing has impacted church gatherings in some positive ways such as reducing the spread of COVID-19 among congregants, and enabling technological innovations for virtual Church services and programs. Conversely, social distancing has negatively impacted the social cohesion and overall social capital value of churches, and imprinted a long lasting disruptions to age-long ecclesiological identities, denominational practices, and liturgies of contemporary churches. We utilized Game Theory as the theoretical scaffold of our propositions. In addition we delineated the implications of social distancing on Christian religious gathering during pandemics such as COVID-19 and lessons from a socio-behavioral perspective for religious institutions.

Abstract:Senior Black faculty make a valuable contribution to the professorate by serving intentionally and vicariously as mentors to junior Black faculty and doctoral students. The authors of this research discuss the outcomes of a project consisting of two panel seminars that were provided to junior Black faculty and doctoral students at a Research I urban university. Topics covered included department politics, the publication process, developing a research agenda, submission of the tenure “package,” and the review process. This article concludes with implications for Black doctoral student retention and increasing the number of Black faculty in higher education who attain promotion and tenure.

To date, 110,000+ people in the United States have died from the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper, the authors will discuss COVID-19 relative to Black people and their overrepresentation among those who are infected and died from the disease. Their dying, death, and grief experiences are explored through a cultural and spiritual lens. The physical distancing, social isolation, misinformation, and restrictive burials and cremations now elicited by this unprecedented pandemic have had diminished familial, cultural, emotional, and economic impacts on the Black community. Implications for public health and Black peoples' involvement in the political process are also addressed.

The chapter begins with an overview of the growth of the prison population from the end of the civil war to the Obama administration. The authors describe all of the structural inequalities African Americans faced that stymied their growth economically and socially as a people, and subsequently led to the mass incarceration of Black men. The authors discuss the historical underpinnings of the factors that lead to mass incarceration and how these factors ultimately fueled the prison-industrial complex. The chapter also discusses the ways in which the Black Church contributes to the rehabilitation of former incarcerated persons, and, lastly, the authors discuss the implications for social work education.

Abstract African American caregivers face unique challenges and strengths in addressing the needs of dementia care recipients. The purpose of the current study was to explore the roles of the familism and faith and service preferences and needs for African American dementia caregivers. Through collaborative partnerships among the research team, Alzheimer’s’ Association, Area Agency on Aging, and local churches, we obtained focus group and survey data (N=30) from African American dementia caregivers. Most caregivers were female (90%) and older than 51 years and had provided care more than 3 years. CGs showed strong cultural reasons (e.g., faith, duty, paying back) for providing care (range 0-40;M= 34.5; SD= 5.2). Focus groups data, which was audio taped, transcribed, and analyzed by three researchers using content analysis, revealed three major themes related to dementia care experiences and needs. First, caregivers explained positive aspects of caregiving for both the individual caregiver and family (growth in faith, sense of self -efficacy, feeling of gratefulness). Second, caregivers also described negative aspects that pose substantial challenges such as lack of services, lack of balance in life, family conflicts over care, and mistrust based on their previous experiences with existing health care systems. Third, caregivers described their knowledge of dementia and shared their self-care and coping strategies and a need for support group services. The findings show an urgent need to implement culturally responsive services, especially in undeserved areas and populations, for caregivers to maintain or improve their emotional well-being and quality of care as well as family relationships.