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Colorism and historical trauma are part of the lived experiences of many racialized and marginalized groups. However, few studies have examined the meaning and function of colorism and historical trauma among clinical social workers and how prepared they feel to support healing from these experiences in their practice and lives. To address this gap, 42 clinicians of diverse racial, ethnic, gender, and regional identities from the United States were surveyed, of which 35 were interviewed, to explore their experiences of colorism, historical trauma, healing, and clinical social work education. Key themes will be presented: 1) Invisibilized healing & wounds: Black, Asian, mixed race, Latine, and people of color (POC) clinicians identified a need to heal personally from intrafamilial and societal experiences of historical trauma and colorist microaggressions, 2) Closing the gaps in clinical education, and 3) Clinical supervision as a compounded barrier or stepping stone. Implications for decolonial clinical social work education and practice will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the population becomes more diverse, social work educators will bear a larger responsibility for educating culturally competent practitioners. To enhance student learning, research should consider those factors that influence students' multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills. This information potentially can help students better prepare for cultural competency courses and improve student outcomes. The focus of this study was to evaluate BSW and MSW students' (N = 191) multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills at the beginning and end of a required cultural diversity course. The results indicate that more previous diversity trainings at different sites consistently predict higher pre-test scores while previous diversity training sites and pre-test scores predict post-test scores. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of research, practice, and teaching implications.

Effective social work practice with diverse populations requires the successful incorporation of multicultural knowledge, awareness, and skills. As a result, there is a pressing need for innovative and evidence-based teaching strategies and methods that provide social work students with these key multicultural tools. This paper describes one such teaching model and presents the findings of an exploratory study to empirically evaluate its effectiveness with undergraduate social work students (N=23) enrolled in a multicultural social work course. Based on pre-and post-test composite scores, the findings suggest that this new model of multicultural instruction and assignments increases students' multicultural awareness and knowledge. (Contains 2 tables.)

The author sought to identify differences in kinship social support, self-esteem, and coping responses between African American college students who identify themselves as adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs) and adult children of nonalcoholics (non-ACOAs) at 2 separate universities. The results indicate that there were no differences in levels of self-esteem, kinship social support, and coping responses among ACOAs and non-ACOAs. The author addresses implications for practice, policy, and research. (Contains 3 tables.)

Summary: An evolution of thought and practice regarding the relationship of racism to well-being, healing, and trauma continues within social work and the helping professions. Additionally, empirical research on colorism as a key dimension of racism suggests that colorism negatively impacts the psychological and physical well-being of African Americans. However, few studies have examined well-being among African Americans in the context of historical trauma, through the lens of colorism. In this paper, the intersectionality of colorism and historical trauma is explored to inform culturally responsive social work education, practice, and research regarding African American well-being. It is the first step toward developing a colorist-historical trauma framework. The impact of colorism as a function of historical trauma response transmission among African Americans is presented. Findings: Advances in culturally responsive practice in social work address the impact of social determinants of health, such as racism. However, the impact of colorism within systemic racism is often unacknowledged. The authors assert that social work practice must attune to the differentiated socioemotional, political, and economic needs that exist among African Americans due to the impact of colorism and historical trauma. An intersectional lens, such as the colorist-historical trauma framework, is essential for culturally responsive practice. Applications: The colorist-historical trauma framework contributes to the professional social work discourse aimed at strengthening effective micro-, meso-, and macro-level practice with African Americans for well-being. Implications for social work practice, research, and education are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Approximately 1.8 million people were displaced in northern Uganda as a result of the LRA conflict. This paper explores risk and protective factors as well as examples of resilience among women in northern Uganda resettling after armed conflict and internal displacement. The risk and resilience ecological framework is used to identify and understand these factors along the multiple levels of the ecological social system. Risk factors included poor health, loss of instrumental and emotional support networks, and land vulnerability. Protective factors included engagement in livelihood and sociocultural activities with others. Resilience was located in the women's coping and maintenance of family and social relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stress is a significant contributor to disease and often worsens pre-existing conditions. Little research to date has focused on stress and coping in black families, particularly black women. The present study examined how self-esteem affects family coping and problem solving among mothers and daughters (N = 119). Results indicate that black mothers had significantly higher amounts of self-esteem than did daughters, potentially signifying that many issues that reduce self-esteem have been resolved for mothers, whereas daughters might still be dealing with issues that lower their self-esteem. Black mothers scored significantly lower than their daughters on perception of ability to solve problems, suggesting that black daughters might still be facing issues that they are actively using problem-solving skills to address. A significant difference between mothers and daughters on the amount of stress they experienced further supports the intergenerational nature of stress, problem solving, and lower self-esteem in the sample of daughters. The results suggest that black women with spouses or domestic partners are better able to adapt to stress than those who are not in partnerships or married. This study provides a more in-depth understanding of intergenerational family processes related to stress and coping among black women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how kill and fictive kinship relationships help to ameliorate or buffer responses to parental alcoholism and the breakdown in parenting. This qualitative study investigated coping responses developed by college students, who self-identified as adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs) who lived with an alcoholic parent or caregiver. In-depth interviews and follow-up participant checks were used. A descriptive model was developed describing conditions that affected the development of positive self-esteem, the phenomena that arose from those conditions, the context that influenced strategy development, the intervening conditions that influenced strategy development, and the consequences of those strategies. Subcategories of each component of the descriptive model are identified and illustrated by narrative data in relation to the ACOAs' psychological well-being. Implications for research, policy, and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]