Black Women’s Culture of Social Support to Be Studied for Prevention of Military Suicides
From The Grio – Veterans Affairs officials have announced that studying the uniquely supportive culture of black women might provide a key to addressing the spike in suicides occurring in the armed forces. According to the Los Angeles Times, “Suicides among U.S. military members have spiked this year, with an average of one suicide a day — the highest rate so far during a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.” MSNBC reports that this is an 18 percent increase in military suicides compared to last year.
While the government does not break down military suicides according to race, among the general population African-American women have the lowest suicide rate of any group. Surprisingly, white men die most often by their own hand. “The suicide rate among white men was 25.96 per 100,000 from 2005 to 2009, according to the Center’s for Disease Control and Prevention,” related Government Executive magazine in its piece on studying black women to reduce soldier suicides. “By comparison, the rate for black women was less than three suicides per 100,000.”
Veterans Affairs mental health director for suicide prevention, Jan Kemp, told the publication that the specific social qualities black women exhibit will be examined by her group to determine how they might be applied for military personnel. Desirable features of how African-American women relate include open and honest communication, strong social support, and positive encouragement.
“The sense of community among themselves, and the … built-in support that they get from each other is something we’re paying a lot of attention to, and trying to find ways to emulate,” Kemp told Government Executive. “I think often that veterans and men don’t have that same sort of personal support, and we have to build that for them.”
Facets of black women’s intensely loyal communities were glimpsed in a recent Washington Post story that focuses on how we are faring. This in-depth article elaborates on the findings of the most extensive poll concerning black women to date. The ladies featured are positive, resilient, and dedicated to helping each other thrive with full awareness of the pervasive stereotypes and depressing statistics threatening their sense of efficacy.
The Washington Post/Kaiser Family Foundation poll detailed found that 67 percent of black women describe themselves as having high self-esteem, as opposed to only 43 percent of white women — among other surprising facts that demonstrate that black women maintain their self-esteem regardless of circumstances.
The main question that the Post story fails to answer is: why? Why do black women have better emotional outcomes than both white men and women in the differing areas of suicide and self-esteem? Kemp and her colleagues will need to know how black women have survived the “double burden” of female and racial oppression if this incredible coping ability is to be transferred to soldiers.
I do not understand how this could be offensive. They are saying that Black women are resilient in spite of the challenges they have faced and that is something worth replicating. Y’all find fault in everything.
Exactly. I wa thinking the same thing. I thought this was pretty intriguing. For once, instead of trying to figure out what’s wrong with us, they’re trying to find what’s right.
Why do people with the least amount to say talk the most? Thanks for pointing out the importance of applied research as it relates to community interventions. Thanks for not derailing the conversation to analyze media.
Thank you GFKAG….
And research into the social support systems of black women isn’t new either and has been going way before we had a black president.
Some abstracts below…
http://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.online.uchc.edu/pubmed/12710538
http://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.online.uchc.edu/pubmed/17696667
http://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.online.uchc.edu/pubmed/12710538
http://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.online.uchc.edu/pubmed/7076356
@Nic, thanks for understanding. I was going to point out that there is a difference b/w applied research and lab research, that the 2 are often conflated, that I written for newspapers before, that research is of course being done on hypertension and obesity with Af. Amer., (Ive worked on those projects in clinics and research hospitals myself), but I was beginning to realize that people were talking about another issue entirely, I didn’t feel like going that far. Besides, when someone is (1) convinced that they are right (2) taking things personally, arguing won’t win them over and you can’t have a real discussion. It’s whatever, really.
@all of you
Missing the point as usual.
As Anon said, what has all this *research*, that has been going on for years, as some of you said, of/on Black women achieved? How has it benefited Black women? WHO BENEFITS?
The demographics of this country is changing rapidly. How will this affect you all as Black women? Think about it.
You have this very restricted idea of what research is. I was trying to explain before but people got all offended before I could clarify and I get tired of explaining myself too much. There is research for publishing’s sake–mean “oh, put it in the newspaper and info that is good to know but that does not really help anything.” There is also research in which people literally go out into communities and start programs, interventions, etc to prove that hey, maybe trying things THIS way will help. They publish the findings of the community intervention not because it is “good to know,” but to prove to the gov’t that it was worth doing it for the community, that such programs such be replicated, and that more money should be earmarked for such programs in the future. At my job when kids can not afford to go to the doctor for an evaluation, we offer co-pays for free. Who benefits? Applied research is of a DIRECT benefit to the community.
@Jade Noelle
You are STILL missing the point. Please scroll back up and READ and COMPREHEND what ANON so eloquently stated.
SMH…it’s like the tanning salon phenomena. Some white folks want the color but not the trauma often associated with being black or brown. Now the military wants the “self-esteem” without helping to undo the bull-ish that black women around the world face on a daily basis. GTFOOHWTBS. If black women were killing themselves at a much higher rate and white men much less so would they care then? Black women might not be outrightly killing themselves but many sure do die way before their time. Tell them to study that and help to do something about it except going into our neighborhoods and recruiting our black men to sacrifice their lives usually killing other black or brown people for hardly a worthy cause. You can never understand the parts without understanding the whole. Puh-leaze…
Amen!
Well the trials of the international slave trade would naturally lead to such a result. We’re only left with the ones that didn’t jump off the boat after-all.
Finally some good news about us..well somewhat. I think we end up coping in other ways like complaining about articles that highlight one of the many great things about us.
Finally a more positve article about Black Women. We do have the lowest suicide rates, although I’m not sure why. White men have the highest rate…hmm. Perhaps if the media pushed more for Black women and White men to get together, we could benefit each other. All kidding aside, I love the idea; but I doubt if the media will ever push for that message. Funny, it’s what happens in secret anyway, so why not?
If you have time, could you explain to me how this is a positive thing?