DSW Showcase Student Presentation

This capstone presentation will explore how intergenerational trauma has affected African Americans more than any other race throughout history. The trauma began with slavery and has been passed down through generations without proper treatment for the abuse endured. The majority of African American culture describes mental health services as poor and inadequate, which has resulted in increased diagnoses of depression and anxiety. Research shows mental health professionals, including social workers, are not educated or trained properly on how to treat African Americans suffering from intergenerational trauma created from systemic oppression. The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) has created several policies to ensure cultural competence in the profession, but it is not enough as African Americans continue to suffer from poor treatment. This capstone project examines the literature documenting the history of oppression in African Americans and inadequate mental health treatments, proposes a new framework that provides a new lens to social work educators and leaders to prepare social workers, and presents a new training model that focuses on increasing cultural competence in social workers. Keywords: Cultural competence, intergenerational trauma, social work, mental health, African Americans