''Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America's Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing'' is a 2005 theoretical work by
Joy DeGruy Leary.
The book argues that the experience of
slavery in the United States
The legal institution of human chattel slavery, comprising the enslavement primarily of Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States of America from its founding in 1776 until 1865, predominantly in the South. Sl ...
and the continued discrimination and oppression endured by
African Americans
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
creates
intergenerational psychological trauma, leading to a psychological and behavioral
syndrome
A syndrome is a set of medical signs and symptoms which are correlated with each other and often associated with a particular disease or disorder. The word derives from the Greek σύνδρομον, meaning "concurrence". When a syndrome is paired ...
common among present-day African Americans, manifesting as a lack of
self-esteem
Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth or abilities. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Mackie (2007) d ...
, persistent feelings of
anger
Anger, also known as wrath or rage, is an intense emotional state involving a strong uncomfortable and non-cooperative response to a perceived provocation, hurt or threat.
A person experiencing anger will often experience physical effects, su ...
, and
internalized racist beliefs. The book was first published by
Uptone Press in
Milwaukie, Oregon
Milwaukie is a city mostly in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States; a very small portion of the city extends into Multnomah County. The population was 20,291 at the 2010 census. Founded in 1847 on the banks of the Willamette River, the city ...
in 2005, with a later re-release by the author in 2017.
Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome
Expanding on a hypothesis of "post-traumatic slavery syndrome" by psychiatrist
Alvin Francis Poussaint and journalist
Amy L. Alexander, DeGruy wrote in her 2001 doctoral thesis that
African Americans
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
"sustained traumatic injury as a direct result of slavery and continue to be injured by traumas caused by the larger society's policies of inequality, racism, and oppression." This is summed up in ''Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome'' as:
In the book, DeGruy argues that PTSS is a result of unresolved
post-traumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on ...
arising from the experience of slavery,
transmitted across generations down to the present day, along with the stress of contemporary racial prejudice (e.g. via racial
microaggression
Microaggression is a term used for commonplace daily verbal, behavioral or environmental slights, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative attitudes toward stigmatized or culturally marginalized group ...
s). This manifests as a psychological, spiritual, emotional, and behavioral
syndrome
A syndrome is a set of medical signs and symptoms which are correlated with each other and often associated with a particular disease or disorder. The word derives from the Greek σύνδρομον, meaning "concurrence". When a syndrome is paired ...
that results in a lack of
self-esteem
Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth or abilities. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Mackie (2007) d ...
, persistent feelings of
anger
Anger, also known as wrath or rage, is an intense emotional state involving a strong uncomfortable and non-cooperative response to a perceived provocation, hurt or threat.
A person experiencing anger will often experience physical effects, su ...
, and
internalized racist beliefs.
DeGruy states that PTSS is not a disorder that can simply be treated and remedied clinically but rather requires profound social change in individuals, as well as in institutions, that continue to reify inequality and injustice toward the descendants of enslaved Africans.
The theory has been generative of subsequent academic work in
clinical psychology
Clinical psychology is an integration of social science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and persona ...
and
black studies.
Reception
In addition to forming the basis of public lectures and workshops offered by DeGruy and her contemporaries, the research described in ''Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome'' inspired an eponymous play, which was staged at the
Henry Street Settlement Experimental Theater, New York, in 2001.
Critical scholars say that the PTSS hypothesis pathologizes African Americans and is itself racist.
See also
*
Historical trauma
Historical trauma (HT), as used by psychotherapists social workers, historians, and psychologists, refers to the cumulative emotional harm of an individual or generation caused by a traumatic experience or event. Historical Trauma Response (HTR) ...
*
Sociology of race and ethnic relations
The sociology of race and ethnic relations is the study of social, political, and economic relations between races and ethnicities at all levels of society. This area encompasses the study of systemic racism, like residential segregation and ...
*
Weathering hypothesis
The weathering hypothesis was proposed to account for early health deterioration as a result of cumulative exposure to experiences of social, economic and political adversity. It is well documented that minority groups and marginalized communities ...
References
{{reflist
2005 non-fiction books
Non-fiction books about American slavery
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Literature by African-American women
Black studies publications
Non-fiction books about racism