On the bus ride to work this morning, I found myself thinking about the extraordinary contributions of the ACEs framework. Soon my thoughts led to the necessary inclusion in this framework, of systemic structures, such as racism and other forms of oppression, as a source of toxic stress. As worthy of an ACEs score point, perhaps.
There is research that shows us that the experience of racism alone can reduce life expectancy. In order to treat individuals with a high ACEs score, it’s critical that the advocacy part of this movement (as Nadine Burke Harris defines it), includes strategic planning to cure structures of their role in providing the doses of racism that increase the overall load of toxic stress.
These thoughts turned into a blog post upon reading this sad, sad story of Kalief Browder, who committed suicide after being released from a long-term, morally reprehensible if not actually unconstitutional incarceration as a teen, for a crime for which he was never tried.
As a recently retrieved research paper he wrote indicates, he himself recognized that the onset of his mental health struggles were a direct result of surviving the brutal physical and psychological trauma while he was incarcerated among men, as a boy. The series of structures within systems that landed and trapped Kalief in prison with no trial or conviction, have to be addressed in addition to other sources of ACEs.
This includes identifying ways of treating the impact of racism using a trauma-informed lens- as a source of PTSD. Such a focus might have been the kind of treatment needed to help Kalief survive after release. He had so much wisdom left to share.
Read the article at the link below to read more about Kalief. The research he wrote about his experiences in Rikers is attached to this blog post.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...paper_n_7646492.html
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