NEWS & VIEWS IN THE RESEARCH
APA & PASC'S RESPONSE TO MASS SHOOTINGS IN TEXAS, OHIO
August 2019 - American Psychology Association
A message from our PASC President ~ "It is with great sorrow that we, PASC, send you this message. This previous weekend we were witnesses to great atrocities in Dayton, Ohio and in our own El Paso. The news cycle has released various information on the El Paso shooting, describing it as a racist, White supremacist terror attack to the Latinx and Mexican community of El Paso. Anti-immigrant attitudes, as well as messages of White superiority, are what led to the loss of life. As an organization, we as PASC, value the diversity of our nation and the life that resides within it. We condemn any acts of community violence, especially those motivated by racist ideology. We also condemn the media’s stigmatization of mental illness as a motivator for such atrocious acts of violence, because as clinicians and researchers, we know what mental illness is, and racism and massacre are not it. We also acknowledge the intersectional issues of gun violence with racist terrorism and the impact it has on marginalized communities. We also acknowledge the treatment of undocumented immigrants to the United States, and how the concentration camps lend to the dehumanization and continued violence towards Latinxs. We also acknowledge the plight and fear of many undocumented in El Paso who in fear of being sent to the camps and being deported, fled the scene without receiving medical attention. As an organization based on social justice, we must speak out when injustice occurs, and use the knowledge we are privileged to have acquired to address institutional forms of racism and cruelty. In the words of Fannie Lou Hammer, “nobody’s free until everybody’s free.”
APA President Rosie Phillips Davis, PhD also released a statement and various resources ~ "Our condolences are with the families and friends of those killed or injured in these horrific shootings and with all Americans affected every day by the twin horrors of hate and gun violence. As our nation tries to process the unthinkable yet again, it is clearer than ever that we are facing a public health crisis of gun violence fueled by racism, bigotry and hatred. The combination of easy access to assault weapons and hateful rhetoric is toxic. Psychological science has demonstrated that social contagion — the spread of thoughts, emotions and behaviors from person to person and among larger groups — is real, and may well be a factor, at least in the El Paso shooting.
That shooting is being investigated as a hate crime, as it should be. Psychological science has demonstrated the damage that racism can inflict on its targets. Racism has been shown to have negative cognitive and behavioral effects on both children and adults and to increase anxiety, depression, self-defeating thoughts and avoidance behaviors.
Routinely blaming mass shootings on mental illness is unfounded and stigmatizing. Research has shown that only a very small percentage of violent acts are committed by people who are diagnosed with, or in treatment for, mental illness. The rates of mental illness are roughly the same around the world, yet other countries are not experiencing these traumatic events as often as we face them. One critical factor is access to, and the lethality of, the weapons that are being used in these crimes. Adding racism, intolerance and bigotry to the mix is a recipe for disaster. If we want to address the gun violence that is tearing our country apart, we must keep our focus on finding evidence-based solutions. This includes restricting access to guns for people who are at risk for violence and working with psychologists and other experts to find solutions to the intolerance that is infecting our nation and the public dialogue."
Resources to help navigate recent shooting events include:
· Managing your distress in the aftermath of a shooting
· Helping children manage distress in the aftermath of a shooting
· How to talk to children about difficult news and tragedies
· How much news coverage is OK for children?
· Warning signs of youth violence
· Gun Violence: Prediction, Prevention and Policy (an expert panel report)
· APA's Gun Violence Prevention Efforts
Additional Resources for Education and Advocacy
Paul C. Stern - June 2011 - American Psychologist
Abstract: "Psychology can make a significant contribution to limiting the magnitude of climate change by improving understanding of human behaviors that drive climate change and human reactions to climate-related technologies and policies, and by turning that understanding into effective interventions. This article develops a framework for psychological contributions, summarizes what psychology has learned, and sets out an agenda for making additional contributions. It emphasizes that the greatest potential for contributions from psychology comes not from direct application of psychological concepts but from integrating psychological knowledge and methods with knowledge from other fields of science and technology."
Gilda Graff - Fall 2011 - The Journal of Psychohistory
Article excerpt: "Let us begin with Andrew Morrison's wonderfully evocative description of shame:
Of human emotions and affects, shame settles in like a dense fog, obscuring everything else, imposing only its own shapeless, substanceless impressions. It becomes impossible to establish bearings or to orient oneself in relation to the broader landscape. Like fog, shame distorts vision and influences what is seen. But more. Shame also feels like a weight, a heaviness, a burden, pressing down often at the top of the back, forcing the body into the characteristic posture that Tompkins (1962-1963) described—shoulders hunched, the body curved forward, head down, and eyes averted. The burden of shame can settle into different parts of the body—the pit of the stomach, the face or eyes, or externally, an aura encasing the entire self. Shame induces a wish to become invisible, unseen, to sink into the ground or to disappear into the thick, soupy fog that we have just imagined (Morrison, 1994, p.l9.)"
Ilan H. Meyer - 2003 - Psychological Bulletin
Abstract: "In this article the author reviews research evidence on the prevalence ofmentaldisorders inlesbians,gay men, and bisexuals (LGBs) and shows, using meta-analyses, that LGBs have a higher prevalence of mental disorders than heterosexuals. The author offers a conceptual framework for understanding this excess in prevalence of disorder in terms of minority stress—explaining that stigma, prejudice, and discrimination create a hostile and stressful social environment that causes mental health problems. The model describes stress processes, including the experience of prejudice events, expectations of rejection, hiding and concealing, internalized homophobia, and ameliorative coping processes. This conceptual framework is the basis for the review of research evidence, suggestions for future research directions, and exploration of public policy implications."
THE INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA OF SLAVERY AND ITS AFTERMATH
Gilda Graff - Winter 2014 - The Journal of Psychohistory
Article excerpt: "Refusal to remember, denial, disassociation, and disavowal are all echoed in the absence of slavery from the trauma literature and, until recently, from psychoanalytic literature. Trauma literature gives attention to the Holocaust, floods, earthquakes, sexual abuse, rape, etc. but not to slavery. Only recently has psychoanalysis turned any attention to slavery and racism."
Kalina Brabeck, M. Brinton Lykes, & Cristina Hunter - Summer 2014 - American Journal of Orthopsychiatry
Abstract: "Approximately 4.5 million U.S. citizen children live in mixed-status families, in which at least 1 family member is an unauthorized migrant and therefore vulnerable to detention and deportation from the United States (Passel & Cohn, 2011). This article critically examines the current state of the literature on the psychosocial consequences of detention and deportation for unauthorized migrants, mixed-status families, and their U.S.-born children. In particular, drawing on social and psychological theory and research, we (a) review the impact of parents’ unauthorized status on children; (b) summarize the literature on the impact of detention processes on psychosocial well-being; (c) describe the dilemma faced by a mixed-status family when a parent faces deportation; (d) examine the current social scientific literature on how parental deportation impacts children and their families; and (e) summarize several policy recommendations for protecting children and families."
NEDA - 2018
Information on Identity & Eating Disorders