%0 Journal Article
%T African American Health and Posttraumatic Slave Syndrome: A Terror Management Theory Account
%A Michael J. Halloran
%J Journal of Black Studies
%@ 1552-4566
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0021934718803737
%X The aim of this article is to explicate a terror management theory (TMT) analysis of the poor social and psychological well-being of African Americans by drawing upon a model of cultural trauma to explain the antecedents and effects of posttraumatic slave syndrome. Cultural trauma is defined as a state that occurs when a people¡¯s cultural worldview has been destabilized to the point where it does not effectively meet its TMT function of providing a buffer against basic anxiety and uncertainty. The article outlines how the impact of slavery was a significant trauma to African American people, which was carried forward through successive generations; providing an explanation of their current anxiety-related conditions, poor health, and maladaptive behaviors. Findings from health and justice research and qualitative data from narratives of African Americans are presented to substantiate the adaptation of a model of cultural trauma for understanding the contemporary situation of African Americans
%K cultural trauma
%K posttraumatic slave syndrome
%K African American Health
%K prejudice
%K social justice
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0021934718803737