Prof. Gómez Explores Best Practices for Trauma & Violence Research with Black Mothers
The joint effects of COVID-19 and the racial reckoning during the pandemic have led to significant impacts on the mental health of Black mothers who are also at risk for exposure to violence at home. Profs. Jennifer M. Gómez from BU School of Social Work and Robert Ty Partridge from Wayne State University explore if there is any added distress Black mothers research participants experience revisiting traumatic experiences in their paper, “But Is It Okay? The Need to Still Ask Black/African American Mothers About Violence Exposure During The COVID-19 Worldwide Pandemic.” Prof. Gómez, who created the cultural betrayal trauma theory framework, researched how Black women face added harm from within-group trauma. This new research builds on her theory by considering the views of researchers who don’t want to retraumatize participants.
For Black women, effects of trauma are compounded by cultural expectations of silence about abuse. Racial loyalty that exists in response to anti-Black racism often leaves sexist violence and abuse unaddressed, affecting the wellbeing of women the most. The authors state that “barriers to violence research, such as institutional review boards failing to approve trauma studies, may actually reinforce stigma related to violence exposure by removing autonomy from research participants.”
The study addresses three research questions on how violence research can impact participants who are Black mothers including:
- Do Black mothers experience distress while participating in violence research?
- Do Black mothers think conducting violence research is important?
- Do Black mothers think that it is a good idea to ask about violence in research?
The study found that 80% of all Black mothers reported low levels of distress while participating in violence research, while 1 in 3 mothers with experiences of violence reported transitory or mild levels of distress after participation. Notably, 100% of participants with experiences of violence indicated their support for such research.
The authors also explain that by pursuing research on people’s experience of trauma and violence, researchers can display institutional courage, providing that they engage in best practices for community engaged violence research.
Participants did not report significant distress when asked about their experiences with violence, and the authors propose that researchers ask such questions explicitly for better data collection. TraumaOutcomes from violence can be detrimental to Black mothers’ health and wellbeing; therefore, understanding the full experiences of a participant can help researchers build more effective resources and protocols to help survivors.
Some further research the authors propose includes looking at historical experiences of violence instead of only violence experienced during the pandemic, and comparing the data with similar data from Black communities in different countries. These studies may provide better insight into the long-lasting effects of trauma and experiences of racism in different contexts.