Date

8-6-2025

Department

School of Behavioral Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)

Chair

Lisa Ansell

Keywords

African Americans, Chattel slavery, historical trauma, post-traumatic slave syndrome, trauma, Social Learning Theory, epigenetics

Disciplines

Counseling | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Abstract

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to understand the lived experiences of the ancestors of African Americans in the South and how generational trauma has affected them as it pertains to Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome (PTSS). Intergenerational trauma for African Americans in the South and Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome is a condition that many people are unaware of. The research examines how trauma passed from slaves to their ancestors and how the institution of slavery manifests itself into behaviors that lead to social problems in the African American community today. The theories that guide the study are Derrick Bell’s (1980) critical race theory, Albert Bandura’s (1963) social learning theory, and Conrad Waddington’s (1942) epigenetics. This triangulation explains how the undiagnosed and untreated trauma from the institution of slavery that is passed down generationally causes the social problems that are seen in the African American culture today. The findings in this study will bring awareness to the intergenerational trauma connected to the institution of slavery and passed down to African Americans and its cultural effects. Results from this research will bring awareness to the concept of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome to African Americans and counselors who deal with trauma and aid them in being more culturally competent. The lived experiences of the participants in this study suggested that there is awareness of intergenerational trauma in the African American culture and a strong desire to break the generational curses.

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