Resilient Sacramento has recently committed to integrating an understanding of structural oppression into our definition of trauma. Members will likely find the following report to be of great interest, as we navigate this paradigm shift.
Berkeley Media Studies Group analyzed and reported on the social media conversation about trauma, with a focus on the degree to which this conversation includes intersections between trauma and race. The analysis demonstrated that very few online conversations make these connections, leaving us to consider:
Does this finding reflect similar fissures in the larger movement toward building a trauma informed and resilient communities? And as BMSG urges, how can we work harder to represent this conversation not only in on the ground work, but in the social media sphere as well?
Excerpt from the report:
"In a time of racially charged and divisive political rhetoric, it is vital to examine the intersections between racism and long-term trauma to improve how we communicate effectively about both. To explore if and how these intersections were being discussed on social media, we analyzed the content and networks of two categories of Tweets: Tweets about childhood trauma and race, and Tweets about Black Lives Matter and trauma.
We found that Twitter conversations about childhood trauma and race rarely intersected: Few Tweets about childhood trauma mentioned race, and very few Tweets about Black Lives Matter mentioned themes relating to trauma. Additionally, few Twitter conversations about race and trauma included solutions and strategies to address these issues.
But we know it is possible to link these issues, even in something as short as a Tweet. When Twitter users did talk about race and childhood trauma, they often made powerful connections between the experiences of kids of color and manifestations of structural racism, such as harmful rhetoric in the 2016 presidential election and police violence. In addition, Tweets that discussed both Black Lives Matter and trauma contained nuanced conversations about the scope and impact of trauma as a result of issues like police violence. However, most conversations happened among just a few people, and only a handful of Tweets had a wide reach.
Our findings suggest that there are opportunities to address the gaps between childhood trauma and structural racism in social media conversations. Taken as a baseline, our findings indicate that researchers and advocates working at the intersection of childhood trauma and structural racism could have a unique opportunity to shape the social media conversation by more frequently making those intersections explicit and by elevating authentic voices and conversations that are already taking place".
Read full report here.
Comments (0)