A Meta-ethnographical review: How are Black British people coping with racism?

Cheryl Taylor

School of Human and Social Sciences

Supervisors:

Professor Caroline Lafarge

Graduate School

Dr Selam Kidane

School of Human and Social Sciences

Whilst all exposure to racism can have a deleterious impact on the psychological wellbeing of an individual, the persistent and repeated exposure to racism may result in the development of a complex form of racialised post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). There is currently a dearth of literature that explores how Black British people cope with racism. This meta ethnography bridges that gap.

Objective

This meta ethnography was designed to answer the question: How are Black British people coping with racism?

Method

Data were drawn from published peer reviewed literature hosted on the following databases: Psych Articles, PsycINFO, PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, and Scopus. The data are being systematically analysed with the seven-stage systematic approach developed by Noblit & Hare, (1988).

Findings

The Data collection is complete. 1029 articles were screened, 18 studies have been identified as meeting the inclusion criteria. Whilst the data analysis is still ongoing there are nevertheless a couple of themes that are at the preliminary stages of development, these are: ‘Needing to work harder’ and ‘Being an outsider.’ The comprehensive findings and final data analysis will be presented during the Doctoral conference.

Conclusion

Most research examining the traumatic impact of anti-Black racism has been conducted by American researchers who examine African American experiences. This results in American treatment practices being employed with Black British people without considering the cultural, political, and historical differences that exist. This research can provide insights into culturally appropriate coping practices and treatment approaches that are tailored to the Black British community.