Instead of blaming rap for violence and negativity in the black community, let's take a look at PTSD

[iFightSeagullsForBread]

Having been involved in arguments with the noted paid shill that is often regurgitating his nonsensical, emotion based arguments, it has stirred a bit of intrigue as to what is a possible factor in regards to the violence that is effecting black communities .

I was thinking for awhile as to what possible could be the catalyst, I started a bit of google sleuthing and came across articles in which Iraq War veterans had committed heinous acts of grandiose violence outside the battlefield when I wondered if the same could be said for children in urban communities who experienced similar acts of violence.

But first let's go over the common symptoms and the more convert aspects of someone who has suffered or is afflicted with PTSD

Warning: TL;DR ahoy

• Re-experiencing the trauma through intrusive distressing recollections of the event, flashbacks, and nightmares.
• Emotional numbness and avoidance of places, people, and activities that are reminders of the trauma.
• Increased arousal such as difficulty sleeping and concentrating, feeling jumpy, and being easily irritated and angered.

Exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violation:

• directly experiencing the traumatic events
• witnessing, in person, the traumatic events
• learning that the traumatic events occurred to a close family member or close friend; cases of actual or threatened death must have been violent or accidental
• experiencing repeated or extreme exposure to aversive details of the traumatic events (Examples are first responders collecting human remains; police officers repeatedly exposed to details of child abuse). Note: This does not apply to exposure through electronic media, television, movies, or pictures, unless exposure is work-related.

Persistent avoidance of distressing memories, thoughts, or feelings about or closely associated with the traumatic events or of external reminders (i.e., people, places, conversations, activities, objects, situations)

• inability to remember an important aspect of the traumatic events (not due to head injury, alcohol, or drugs)
• persistent and exaggerated negative beliefs or expectations about oneself, others, or the world (e.g., “I am bad,” “No one can be trusted,” "The world is completely dangerous").
• persistent, distorted blame of self or others about the cause or consequences of the traumatic events
• persistent fear, horror, anger, guilt, or shame
• markedly diminished interest or participation in significant activities
• feelings of detachment or estrangement from others
• persistent inability to experience positive emotions

Two or more of the following marked changes in arousal and reactivity:

• irritable or aggressive behavior
• reckless or self-destructive behavior
• hypervigilance
• exaggerated startle response
• problems with concentration
• difficulty falling or staying asleep or restless sleep

http://www.adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/posttraumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/symptoms

So now that we see the fallout that comes with PTSD, we can now see if the same results can be attributed to children and see if there's any similarities between the disorder and youth violence in urban communities.

I came across this study done in 1994 (couldn't find anything more recent) by Erwin Randolph Parson and he highlights some very notable aspects with the subject.

He states:

From an early age, children living in the inner cities are exposed frequently to the use of drugs,guns, arson, and random violence. They witness injury, suffering, and death, and they respond to these events with fear and grief,often experiencing dramatic ruptures in their development.

It sadly doesn't get any better than this, but what I find fascinating next is the psychological symptoms that occur with them. If you've ever interacted around black conscious/pan-African circles, I'm sure you've heard their staunch, but ignorant disowning of the following:

hatred for self, profound loss of trust in the community and the world, tattered internalized, moral,values and ethics of caring, and a breaking down of the inner and outer sense of security and of reality.

And something I've even overlooked is how a child would be able to cope with all this transpiring and focus on their studies.

They are particularly vulnerable to traumatic stress illnesses and to related behavioral and academic abnormalities.

http://giftfromwithin.com/pdf/parson.pdf (page 1)

Now, from what we have learned so farm let's compare to a real life example.

Tierra Turner

's older brother was shot and killed on a busy Bayview street last summer.

By the time Tierra, 11, arrived at the scene with her mother, a yellow tarp covered 18-year-old Anthony Brooks' body. Nearby, a second tarp covered his friend, Monte Frierson.

Standing outside the police tape, Tierra broke down, her small body heaving with sobs.

Two weeks later, Tierra started the sixth grade.

Along with a Tinker Bell backpack and pink Princess cell phone, she carried the deaths with her to Visitacion Valley Middle School each day, absentmindedly writing "RIP Ant and Monte" on the cover of her notebooks and in sidewalk chalk on the playground. As the months passed, her grades slipped and her temper often flared.

At her school, the principal and staff see the signs and symptoms of trauma-related stress in many of their students - the hostile outbursts, the sliding grades, the poor test scores or the inability to pay attention.

They are among the countless children in San Francisco's toughest neighborhoods who experience murder, violence and trauma - an often unavoidable consequence of living in an urban war zone.

The violence, layers of it overlapping year after year, can eventually take up residence in the children's minds. Like combat veterans, they develop post-traumatic stress disorder - the soldier's sickness.

As many as one-third of children living in our country's violent urban neighborhoods have PTSD, according to recent research and the country's top child trauma experts - nearly twice the rate reported for troops returning from war zones in Iraq.

Los Angeles Unified officials conduct annual surveys, finding similar rates of PTSD within the schools in that city's most violent neighborhoods. Implementing a group treatment program, one developed by the district, has come in fits and starts, however.

In the Bay Area and across the country, meanwhile, PTSD in these urban children is generally undiagnosed, untreated and almost completely off the radar for policymakers and education officials.

http://www.sfgate.com/education/article/Children-who-survive-urban-warfare-suffer-from-2524472.php

Articles that go more in depth with the one in third theory
http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/types/violence/effects-community-violence-children.asp
http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/3/ptsd-mental-healthgunviolencetrauma.html (Opinion piece)

Cliff Notes: I believe that generational violence, psychological disorders, topped with declining support of mental health, on top of failing schools, medicore job market, inability to get quality food, inaedquate parenting, and easy access to firearms has more of a pro-found effect on the violence and negativity on the black community than Rap music.

Thoughts? @kp404

 

[Couth]

Yea our environment is our biggest issue. But its like the backwards mindset is what created that environment. And rap music just fuels that mindset.

So i wouldn't blame rap music directly, but i wouldn't claim its completely harmless either. And yea i'm a rap fan but i realize most of these rappers are just putting up a facade. i enjoy the music for what it is, music. But for some of these dudes thats like the blueprint to their life. Which does cause problems.

 

[HoloGraphic]

They always blame the product (rap, hip hop, black american culture) despite knowing the environment (poverty, systematic and engrained oppression, post-slavery rascism) is the cause.

 

[ridedolo]

Dr Joy theorizes that blacks suffer from post traumatic slave syndrome


http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_Traumatic_Slave_Syndrome

PTSS is an explanatory theory which posits that centuries of slavery in the United States, followed by systemic and structural racism and oppression, have resulted in multigenerational maladaptive behaviors, which originated as survival strategies. The syndrome continues because children whose parents suffer from PTSS will often be indoctrinated into the same behaviors, long after the behaviors have lost their contextual effectiveness. The author states that PTSS is not a "disorder" that can simply be treated and remedied clinically but rather must necessarily require a profound social and structural change in Americans and American institutions that continue to promote inequalities and injustice. The author holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication, a master's degree in Social Work (MSW), a master's degree in Clinical Psychology, and a Ph.D. in Social Work Research. She teaches social work at Portland State University and gives lectures on PTSS nationally and internationall

 

[Monster]

for me, an ti think most people who somewaht blame hiphop music.

it's not for kids that grow up in the worst of the wrost neighborhoos, they'll obviosly be inovleved in shyt naturally.

it's for the kis that grow up somehwere in bettween. nto compltely hood, but not suburban either.

parents aren't compltely absent, but not really role moels either.

music might shift them to go one way instead of another

 

[???]

America is a weird place, stop trying to figure shyt out or you will just end it all by jumping into the ocean.

 

[iFightSeagullsForBread]

America is a weird place, stop trying to figure shyt out or you will just end it all by jumping into the ocean.

But I'm actually interested if there's a connection between mental health and disorders in regards to the black community.

 

[Couth]

You can only have mental health disorders if you have money.

if you're poor you're just violent, vindictive, a menace to society, etc

 

[???]

But I'm actually interested if there's a connection between mental health and disorders in regards to the black community.

You already know the answer, what else do you need to know? Haven't you seen enough to make an irrefutable conclusion about this from your observation of day to day activities in our society today.

 

[Paper Boi]

sad thing is most people diagnosed with mental health issues are middle-upper class whites. minorities and those with lower SES are completely underrepresented. which probably just says that they aren't getting diagnosed, but clearly suffering from these issues. stress clearly effects the lifespan within the black community more than any. when controlling for SES there's still serious stresses that fukk with health that have to be linked to racism. for example, a black woman with a college education is more likely to suffer a miscarriage than a white high school dropout. that shyt has to be related to stress. also blacks are more likely to suffer heart attacks and get cancer at like 10-15 years younger than the typical white person. even when controlling for health factors such as drug use/diet/drinking/smoking etc.

i recommend you all read American Apartheid if you're interested in the history of health and racism within the african american community.

 

[IceManJones]

Its obvious that because Hip Hop is a huge facet in African American culture and life placing blame solely on that genre in an easy thing to do. Its clear though that problem is much more complex, the solution will obviously lie within the individuals living in the war-zones that were described in the article . And we can all come to an agreement here though that this problem is generational and will require a-lot of effort from everyone.

The key to starting I see it to fixing the problem is starting with the kids and literally reprogramming two generations to be leaders and build the future.

 

[Flash Thunderton]

All those words don't mean hip hop doesn't have a negative impact tho.

 

[Paper Boi]

all the people blaming rap are either smart-dumb pseudo intellectual morons who ignore statistics and can't think of broader contextual issues that lead to the violence.



or trolls. see: reinscarf

 

[MAKAVELI25]

All those words don't mean hip hop doesn't have a negative impact tho.

Can someone please explain to me why hip hop would have a more negative effect than violent movies? Crime has a rather strong correlation with poverty, sadly we as a demographic tend to be less fortunate than other demographics. If hip hop is so negative an influence, why don't we commit more crimes than other demographics that are unrelated to financial gain? Why is it that wanton/pointless violence, (mass shootings, serial killings, etc.) tend to be done overwhelmingly by whites?

And if someone is going to mention gang violence, I'd like to point out that turf wars usually occur over the profitability of operations within a particular neighborhood (and thus are usually related to financial gain)

 

[Mr swag]

Instead of PTSD, how bout we look at white supremacy?