Dr. Jameca CooperForensic Psychology Consultant, Emergence Psychological Services · Board Certified Counseling Psychologist and Forensic Psychology Consultant

am I wrong? #trauma #blacktrauma #MentalHealth #clinicalpsychologist

18 Sept 2024 · 1 min

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In this monologue, a criminal psychologist reflects on the pervasive trauma experienced by Black individuals, attributing it to socioeconomic disadvantage, high‑crime environments, and the lived reality of being Black in a society that imposes systemic downsides. The speaker shares a personal history of juvenile‑court involvement—including assault charges, gun possession, school suspension, and being expelled—while noting that despite these setbacks they maintained good grades. This lived experience informs their current professional role, where they investigate the underlying factors that lead people to the criminal justice system and work to prevent clients from receiving life sentences. The narrative intertwines personal testimony with a broader critique of how Black trauma is often overlooked in conventional criminal‑justice assessments.

Chapters

What I know about Black people is a lot of us have experienced trauma. Sometimes it's trauma from, um, socioeconomic status. Sometimes it's trauma from growing up in a high-crime environment. It's a lot of that. Sometimes it's just trauma from being Black. Tell the truth, that's what it is. Being Black comes with a lot of stuff, downsides. So I see people in, in my role as a criminal psychologist, and I'm trying to figure out what the angle is. What is it that the other people are not going to try to find out? How did they land in this, in this position? That's what I do now. So what's funny is I started off in juvenile court. Remember I had assault charges, I had gun possessions, I got kicked out of the debutantes, I was suspended from school. I still had good grades, but I was damn sure kicked out from school. So fast forward, look at what I do now. I go in and try to help people not get life in prison.