Haitian and Haitian American experiences of racism and socioethnic discrimination in Miami-Dade county: At-risk and court-involved youth

Fam Process. 2023 Mar;62(1):216-229. doi: 10.1111/famp.12764. Epub 2022 Mar 10.

Abstract

We examine how juvenile justice-involved youth of Haitian descent in Miami-Dade County cope with structural racism and its impact on their mental health. Drawing on longitudinal ethnography, psychosocial assessment data, and a family-based clinical intervention funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, this article explores youth narratives of discrimination prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We use critical race theory and theory of practice to understand youths' perceptions as racialized bodies and stigmatized selves, highlighting the experiences and perspectives of a particular black immigrant group, ethnic beings caught up in the everyday practices of racialization, sociocultural marginalization, and racism. We frame these experiences as a variation of the complex continuum of structural racism and racial domination in the US. These experiences have caused anger, fear, anxiety, chronic anticipatory distress, and hopelessness among youth of Haitian descent. We conclude with some recommendations for therapeutic support that encourages youth to process their experiences, promotes their development of a positive self-concept, and provides them with mind-body techniques to attenuate the physical impacts of discriminatory events. The clinical trial registration number for this study intervention is NCT03876171.

我们研究了青少年司法应对结构性种族主义及其对他们心理健康的影响,涉及的相关人群主要是迈阿密-戴德县海地裔青年。本文利用纵向民族志研究方法、心理社会评估数据和国家药物滥用研究所资助的以家庭为基础的临床干预项目,探讨了COVID-19大流行期间年轻人关于对种族歧视的叙述。我们使用批判种族理论和实践理论来理解年轻人如何看待对自己的身体被种族化和自我被污名化,突出表现一个特定的黑人移民群体的经历和视角,这个少数族裔在日常生活中被种族化、社会文化边缘化和应对种族主义。我们将这些经历视为美国结构性种族主义和种族统治这一复杂连续统一体的变体。这些经历在海地裔青年中引起愤怒、恐惧、焦虑、长期的预期痛苦和绝望。最后,我们提出了一些治疗支持建议,以鼓励青少年处理自己的经历,促进他们形成积极的自我概念,并为他们提供身心技术,以减轻歧视类的事件对身体的影响。本研究干预的临床试验注册编号为NCT03876171。.

Keywords: 心理健康; 海地美国人; 社会种族性歧视; 结构性种族主义; 警察暴力; 高危青年; Haitian Americans; at-risk youth; mental health; police violence; socioethnic discrimination; structural racism.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • COVID-19*
  • Haiti
  • Humans
  • Mental Health
  • Pandemics
  • Racism* / psychology
  • United States

Associated data

  • ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT03876171