Date of Award
Spring 4-4-2022
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
PHD - Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Counseling & Psychology
First Advisor
Rakhshanda Saleem, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Sus Motulsky, Ed.D.
Third Advisor
Natalie Watson-Singleton, Ph.D.
Abstract
Suicide is a multi-faceted human experience that threatens and harms Black communities. Historical data, critical theories, and extant research literature suggest that such threats and harms result from interactions between macrosystemic systemic forces and individual level meaning-making processes. To explore the dynamic and nuanced complexities between systemic forces and deaths often labelled “suicides” in contemporary U.S. Black communities, this project centered and amplified the critical perspectives of fourteen Black female clinicians. Because of their marginalized identities, intersectional lived experiences, critical orientation, and clinical training, these participants were well-positioned to analyze and understand the degrees to which suicides in Black communities are associated with oppressive macrosystemic dynamics and/or individual-level psychological factors. Narrative inquiry and aspects of the Listening Guide voice-centered method (LG)—specifically I poem development—highlighted voices of intersectional consciousness, systemic shaming, and internalized anti-Black shame. These voices illuminated six central themes for critically understanding suicide in Black communities: shame, hopelessness, trauma, racism, systemic problems, and fear. Participants also noted that violence, anger, and guilt shaped their perspectives to a lesser degree. To address these themes’ harmful, suicide-potentiating effects on Black communities, language, research, policy, professional association, and psychosocial assessment and intervention reforms are discussed.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Language
English
Number of Pages
311
Recommended Citation
Hightower, Heath, "Black Deaths Matter: Critically Understanding Black Female Clinicians’ Perspectives About Suicide In Black Communities" (2022). Counseling and Psychology Dissertations. 14.
https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/counseling_dissertations/14
