''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 List of ethnic groups of Africa, Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States of America from its founding in 1776 until 1865 ...

and the continued discrimination and oppression endured by

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

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 language, Greek σύνδρομον, meaning "concurrence". When a sy ...

common among present-day African Americans, manifesting as a lack of

self-esteem Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth, abilities, or morals. 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 Macki ...

, persistent feelings of

anger Anger, also known as wrath ( ; ) or rage (emotion), 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 experie ...

, and internalized racist beliefs. The book was first published by Uptone Press in

Milwaukie, Oregon Milwaukie is a city mostly in Clackamas County, Oregon, Clackamas County, Oregon, United States; a very small portion of the city extends into Multnomah County, Oregon, Multnomah County. The population was 21,119 at the 2020 United States Census, ...

, 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" (PTSS) by psychiatrist

Alvin Francis Poussaint Alvin Francis Poussaint (May 15, 1934 – February 24, 2025) was an American psychiatrist known for his research on the effects of racism in the black community. He was a noted author, public speaker, and television consultant, and dean of stude ...

and journalist Amy L. Alexander, DeGruy wrote in her 2001 doctoral thesis that

"sustained a 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 disorder that develops from experiencing a Psychological trauma, traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster ...

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 verbal, behavioral or environmental slights, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative attitudes toward members of marginalized groups. The term was coine ...

s). It manifests as a psychological, spiritual, emotional, and behavioral

that results in a lack of

, persistent feelings of

, and internalized racist beliefs. DeGruy states that PTSS is not a disorder that can be treated and remedied clinically but instead 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 human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well ...

and

black studies Black studies or Africana studies (with nationally specific terms, such as African American studies and Black Canadian studies), is an interdisciplinary academic field that primarily focuses on the study of the history, culture, and politics of ...

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, staged at the Henry Street Settlement Experimental Theater in 2001. Historian Ibram X. Kendi writes that the PTSS hypothesis pathologizes African Americans and is itself racist.

References

{{reflist 2005 non-fiction books Non-fiction books about American slavery Books about post-traumatic stress disorder Literature by African-American women Black studies publications Non-fiction books about racism

Post traumatic slave syndrome

Reception

See also

References