The contribution of social media toward racial trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder in Black Americans: a forensic perspective

ABSTRACT

In recent years, there has been a barrage of social media posts about police brutality toward Black Americans. While the posting of police brutality videos on social media can certainly have a positive impact on legal cases and public policies, what effect does the exposure have on the mental health of Black Americans? This article uses a review of the literature to investigate the reasons why Black Americans can be significantly impacted by exposure to police brutality videos. It also includes a case study of a Black American male who developed posttraumatic stress disorder in response to such videos in the context of a forensic evaluation.

KEYWORDS:

• Social media
• racial trauma
• PTSD
• police brutality
• Black American
• forensic

Acknowldgement

I thank Loren Russel, M.A. for his insights on PTSD during the inception of this case report; Nicole Hill, M.A., Hattie Jean Isen, Ph.D., and Antoinette E. Kavanaugh, Ph.D. for draft reviews and editing suggestions; and Aniefiok Isen, DPT for his support throughout this process.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.