Alvin Francis Poussaint

Last updated

Alvin Francis Poussaint
Born (1934-05-15) May 15, 1934 (age 90)
East Harlem, New York, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Columbia University
Cornell University
Known for The Cosby Show consultant
Scientific career
Fields Psychiatry
Institutions Harvard Medical School

Alvin Francis Poussaint (born May 15, 1934) is an American psychiatrist known for his research on the effects of racism in the black community. [1] He is a noted author, public speaker, and television consultant, and dean of students at Harvard Medical School. His work in psychiatry is influenced greatly by the civil rights movement in the South, which he joined in 1965.

Contents

While living in the South, Pouissant learned much about the racial dynamics. [2] He soon delved into his first book, Why Blacks Kill Blacks (1972), which looks at the effects of racism on the psychological development of blacks. Most of Poussaint's work focuses on the mental health of African Americans.

Biography

Alvin Francis Poussaint was born on May 15, 1934, in East Harlem, New York, to immigrants from Haiti. [3] He is the seventh child of eight children born to the parents of Harriet and Christopher Poussaint. The family was Catholic. [4]

At the age of nine, he became ill with rheumatic fever. While being hospitalized, he became very interested in reading and it soon became a passion of his. He carried this passion with him when he attended the science-based high school in New York called Stuyvesant. Stuyvesant was a predominately white institution. Pouissant was one of the few blacks and he encountered racism often. In addition to racist acts against him, he had to deal with losing his mother during high school. [5]

After high school, Poussaint attended Columbia University, where he continued to experience racism. At Columbia, the social scene was particularly disappointing for Poussaint, with him saying, “Social situations were awkward, there being a prevalent feeling among whites that blacks shouldn't come to social events.” [2] In 1956, he graduated from Columbia University with a bachelor's degree in pharmacology. [6] He immediately enrolled in medical school at Cornell Medical School, and he was the only African American admitted during that year. [5] Experiences with racism fueled his career areas of work which focused on the mental health of African Americans and their encounters with racial bias. He became chief resident at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute. However, in 1965 he left UCLA to become the Southern Field Director of the Medical Committee for Human Rights in Jackson, Mississippi. [5] Poussaint believed that racism was the major mental health problem of the black community. He believed helping desegregate the South, especially with medical facilities would be more helpful than doing research at the time.

He stayed in Mississippi for two years before going to Tufts University Medical program where he was the faculty director of psychiatry. In 1969, he left Tufts and began his long-time journey at Harvard Medical School. He was the associate dean of student affairs. At Harvard he felt a great passion for the affirmative action program and through that he helped 16 African- American students succeed at Harvard. During his tenure at Harvard, Poussaint never let his passion for the Civil Rights Movement fade. He became close friends with Jesse Jackson and was the co-chairman for Jesse Jackson's presidential campaign. In 1973, Poussaint married his first wife, Ann Ashmore. They had one son together. Their marriage lasted until 1988. [5]

In the 1980s, Poussaint became very well known for his work as a media consultant on scripts and storylines for many black sitcoms, such as The Cosby Show and A Different World . He became close friends with Bill Cosby to ensure that the show promoted a positive healthy and realistic image of black families. In this role he had, Poussaint addressed negative racial stereotypes in the media. [7] [ failed verification ] The entertainment industrial complex was not the only sector that called for Poussaint and his skills. The FBI, the White House and the Department of Health all summoned him for counsel. He continued his interest in media and founded the Media Center of the Judge Baker's Children's Center in 1994. In addition, Poussaint was the co-executive producer of Willoughby's Wonders . The children's show won a New England Emmy Award in 1997 and was praised for showing an urban soccer team that showed skills that children should exhibit, such as teamwork and inclusion. During this highlight of his career, Poussaint married Tina Young, and the two had a daughter in 1999. [5] Poussaint continues to work at Harvard Medical School and continues his research. On multiple occasions he has been heavily awarded for his contributions to psychology and a multitude of disciplines.

Work interest

Alvin F. Poussaint is well known in psychology regarding race relations. Much of his work deconstructs theories of race models by white psychologists previously in the field. Through his research he addresses blatant and subtle forms of racism. This is why Poussaint insist that blacks instill self-esteem and black pride into children growing up in this society. [2] In his controversial book, Why Blacks Kill Blacks, he turns the theory of racial self-hatred on its head. He developed his "aggression-rage" theory to show the psychological issues that may plague African Americans. [2] In his book he states, " [The theory of racial self-hatred] allows whites to feel that [blacks] are psychologically deranged while [whites are] posing as models of mental health. In fact, it must be whites who are insecure and filled with self-hatred, since they are the ones who need to oppress blacks in order to cope with life." [2] [8] Another interest of Poussaint is media consulting. He wants to use media to construct positive role models for children. [9]

"Black Power: A Failure for Integration within the Civil Rights Movement" (1968)

In Alvin Poussaint's article, "Black Power: A Failure for Integration within the Civil Rights Movement" he discusses how the concept of BLACK POWER emerged. Poussaint discusses how Blacks had a complicated relationship with Whites regarding Whites trying to integrate themselves in the Civil Rights Movement. [10] He argues that blacks had a distrust in whites and even had jealousy of them. He observed that Blacks believed Whites had a superiority complex even while being involved in the movement. Poussaint questioned whether this was because Blacks felt inadequate. During the civil rights movement sexual relations between Blacks and White began to form, and so he says from 1964 to 1965 many of the projects "disintegrated" because of these feelings each race had towards one another. Eventually, BLACK POWER came to be as a "psycho-socio-political" concept that removed whites from working in the black community.[ citation needed ]

"The Stresses of the White Female Worker in the Civil Rights Movement in the South" (1966)

While working as the Southern Field Director of the Medical Committee for Human Rights in Jackson, Mississippi, Poussaint was very observant of those around him. In his article, "The Stresses of the White Female Worker in the Civil Rights Movement in the South" he looks at the social and psychological stressors that white women could possibly encounter in their work and social life during the Civil Rights Movement. [11] The stress that white women could encounter come from two fronts - the white community and the blacks whom they work around. Poussaint describes how white women helping in the civil rights movements appears like a rejection that they have of their own communities. So, white communities may label them as "white trash". The black community did not want white female workers to help in the first place because they believed their presence would cause inherent problems. Many white women were not greeted or welcomed by most blacks there because they did not want whites taking over their movement. Some white female workers coped with this, but a majority went back home because they couldn't handle the stress. [12]

Editorial boards

Awards and honors

Publications

Books

Articles

Related Research Articles

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. It has more than 38,000 members who are involved in psychiatric practice, research, and academia representing a diverse population of patients in more than 100 countries. The association publishes various journals and pamphlets, as well as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The DSM codifies psychiatric conditions and is used mostly in the United States as a guide for diagnosing mental disorders.

Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their race, ancestry, ethnicity, and/or skin color and hair texture. Individuals can discriminate by refusing to do business with, socialize with, or share resources with people of a certain group. Governments can discriminate explicitly in law, for example through policies of racial segregation, disparate enforcement of laws, or disproportionate allocation of resources. Some jurisdictions have anti-discrimination laws which prohibit the government or individuals from being discriminated based on race in various circumstances. Some institutions and laws use affirmative action to attempt to overcome or compensate for the effects of racial discrimination. In some cases, this is simply enhanced recruitment of members of underrepresented groups; in other cases, there are firm racial quotas. Opponents of strong remedies like quotas characterize them as reverse discrimination, where members of a dominant or majority group are discriminated against.

Institutional racism, also known as systemic racism, is defined as policies and practices that exist throughout a whole society or organization that result in and support a continued unfair advantage to some people and unfair or harmful treatment of others based on race or ethnic group. It manifests as discrimination in areas such as criminal justice, employment, housing, healthcare, education and political representation.

Scientific racism, sometimes termed biological racism, is the pseudoscientific belief that the human species can be subdivided into biologically distinct taxa called "races", and that empirical evidence exists to support or justify racism, racial inferiority, or racial superiority. Before the mid-20th century, scientific racism was accepted throughout the scientific community, but it is no longer considered scientific. The division of humankind into biologically separate groups, along with the assignment of particular physical and mental characteristics to these groups through constructing and applying corresponding explanatory models, is referred to as racialism, race realism, or race science by those who support these ideas. Modern scientific consensus rejects this view as being irreconcilable with modern genetic research.

Kenneth Bancroft Clark and Mamie Phipps Clark were American psychologists who as a married team conducted research among children and were active in the Civil Rights Movement. They founded the Northside Center for Child Development in Harlem and the organization Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited (HARYOU). Kenneth Clark was also an educator and professor at City College of New York, and first Black president of the American Psychological Association.

Racism has been reflected in discriminatory laws, practices, and actions against "racial" or ethnic groups throughout the history of the United States. Since the early colonial era, White Americans have generally enjoyed legally or socially sanctioned privileges and rights which have been denied to members of various ethnic or minority groups at various times. European Americans have enjoyed advantages in matters of education, immigration, voting rights, citizenship, land acquisition, and criminal procedure.

Reverse racism, sometimes referred to as reverse discrimination, is the concept that affirmative action and similar color-conscious programs for redressing racial inequality are forms of anti-white racism. The concept is often associated with conservative social movements and reflects a belief that social and economic gains by Black people and other people of color cause disadvantages for white people.

Internalized racism is a form of internalized oppression, defined by sociologist Karen D. Pyke as the "internalization of racial oppression by the racially subordinated." In her study The Psychology of Racism, Robin Nicole Johnson emphasizes that internalized racism involves both "conscious and unconscious acceptance of a racial hierarchy in which a presumed superior race are consistently ranked above other races. These definitions encompass a wide range of instances, including, but not limited to, belief in negative stereotypes, adaptations to cultural standards, and thinking that supports the status quo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Feagin</span> American sociologist

Joe Richard Feagin is an American sociologist and social theorist who has conducted extensive research on racial and gender issues in the United States. He is currently the Ella C. McFadden Distinguished Professor at Texas A&M University.

Carl Compton Bell was an American professor of psychiatry and public health at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Bell was a National Institute of Mental Health international researcher, an author of more than 575 books, chapters, and articles addressing issues of violence prevention, HIV prevention, isolated sleep paralysis, misdiagnosis of Manic depressive illness, and children exposed to violence.

Laissez-faire racism is closely related to color blindness and covert racism, and is theorised to encompass an ideology that blames minorities for their poorer economic situations, viewing it as the result of cultural inferiority. The term is used largely by scholars of whiteness studies, who argue that laissez-faire racism has tangible consequences even though few would openly claim to be, or even believe they are, laissez-faire racists.

Research shows many health disparities among different racial and ethnic groups in the United States. Different outcomes in mental and physical health exist between all U.S. Census-recognized racial groups, but these differences stem from different historical and current factors, including genetics, socioeconomic factors, and racism. Research has demonstrated that numerous health care professionals show implicit bias in the way that they treat patients. Certain diseases have a higher prevalence among specific racial groups, and life expectancy also varies across groups.

Minority stress describes high levels of stress faced by members of stigmatized minority groups. It may be caused by a number of factors, including poor social support and low socioeconomic status; well understood causes of minority stress are interpersonal prejudice and discrimination. Indeed, numerous scientific studies have shown that when minority individuals experience a high degree of prejudice, this can cause stress responses that accrue over time, eventually leading to poor mental and physical health. Minority stress theory summarizes these scientific studies to explain how difficult social situations lead to chronic stress and poor health among minority individuals.

Psychiatry is, and has historically been, viewed as controversial by those under its care, as well as sociologists and psychiatrists themselves. There are a variety of reasons cited for this controversy, including the subjectivity of diagnosis, the use of diagnosis and treatment for social and political control including detaining citizens and treating them without consent, the side effects of treatments such as electroconvulsive therapy, antipsychotics and historical procedures like the lobotomy and other forms of psychosurgery or insulin shock therapy, and the history of racism within the profession in the United States.

David Rudyard Williams is the Florence Sprague Norman and Laura Smart Norman Professor of Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, as well as a professor of African and African American Studies and of Sociology at Harvard University.

Mental health inequality refers to the differences in the quality, access, and health care different communities and populations receive for mental health services. Globally, the World Health Organization estimates that 350 million people are affected with depressive disorders. Mental health can be defined as an individual's well-being and/or the absence of clinically defined mental illness. Inequalities that can occur in mental healthcare may include mental health status, access to and quality of care, and mental health outcomes, which may differ across populations of different race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, sex, gender, socioeconomic statuses, education level, and geographic location. Social determinants of health, more specifically the social determinants of mental health, that can influence an individual's susceptibility to developing mental disorders and illnesses include, but are not limited to, economic status, education level, demographics, geographic location and genetics.

The weathering hypothesis was proposed to account for early health deterioration as a result of cumulative exposure to experiences of social, economic, and political adversity. It is well documented that minority groups and marginalized communities suffer from poorer health outcomes. This may be due to a multitude of stressors including prejudice, social alienation, institutional bias, political oppression, economic exclusion, and racial discrimination. The weathering hypothesis proposes that the cumulative burden of these stressors as individuals age is "weathering", and the increased weathering experienced by minority groups compared to others can account for differences in health outcomes. In recent years, the biological plausibility of the weathering hypothesis has been investigated in studies evaluating the physiological effects of social, environmental and political stressors among marginalized communities. This has led to more widespread use of the weathering hypothesis as a framework for explaining health disparities on the basis of differential exposure to racially based stressors. Researchers have also identified patterns connecting weathering to biological phenomena associated with stress and aging, such as allostatic load, epigenetics, telomere shortening, and accelerated brain aging.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aggrey Burke</span> British psychiatrist and academic (born 1943)

Aggrey Washington Burke FRCPsych is a British retired psychiatrist and academic, born in Jamaica, who spent the majority of his medical career at St George's Hospital in London, UK, specialising in transcultural psychiatry and writing literature on changing attitudes towards black people and mental health. He has carried out extensive research on racism and mental illness and is the first black consultant psychiatrist appointed by Britain's National Health Service (NHS).

Danielle Hairston is an American psychiatrist who is Director of Residency Training in the Department of Psychiatry at Howard University College of Medicine, and a practicing psychiatrist in the Division of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland. Hairston is also the Scientific Program Chair for the Black Psychiatrists of America and the President of the American Psychiatric Association's Black Caucus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Racism against African Americans</span>

In the context of racism in the United States, racism against African Americans dates back to the colonial era, and it continues to be a persistent issue in American society in the 21st century.

References

  1. ↑ "Dr. Alvin Poussaint - The HistoryMakers". thehistorymakers.com. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Alvin F. Poussaint facts, information, pictures - Encyclopedia.com articles about Alvin F. Poussaint". encyclopedia.com. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Poussaint, Alvin". Britannica Encyclopedia's Guide to Black History.
  4. ↑ "Dr. Alvin Poussaint's Biography". The HistoryMakers. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Alvin Poussaint: Visionary Videos: NVLP: African American History". visionaryproject.org. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  6. ↑ "CCT Donors 2006–07". Columbia College Today. October 2007. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Alvin Poussaint, social/psychiatrist born - African American Registry". aaregistry.org. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Poussaint, Alvin F. (1934 --) - The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed". blackpast.org. March 11, 2008. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Alvin Poussaint - Book for Speaking, Events and Appearances". apbspeakers.com. January 5, 2016. Archived from the original on December 24, 2016. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  10. ↑ Poussaint, Alvin F. (April 1, 1968). ""Black Power"". Arch Gen Psychiatry. 18 (4): 385–391. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1968.01740040001001. PMID   5645147 . Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  11. ↑ "The Stresses of the White Female Worker in the Civil Rights Movement in the South - The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change". thekingcenter.org. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  12. ↑ "The Stresses of the "White Female Worker in the Civil Rights Movement in the South", 1966.
  13. 1 2 3 Administrator. "Exclusive Interview With One of the finest psychiatrists in America: Dr. Alvin Poussaint, M.D". megadiversities.com. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.