Stress and Trauma in Marginalized Populations

Post ID: 3542795

Stress and Trauma in Marginalized Populations

Write a 3–4 page paper detailing the experience of stress for a marginalized group and providing recommendations for related services.

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Introduction

Stress and trauma are often intensified when you are a member of a marginalized group. In fact, just being a member of a marginalized group can be stressful, especially in certain situations. This is why it is so important that outreach and programs be tailored to the specific needs of these groups and their wellness.

In your second assessment, you will focus on a particular marginalized group—this group may be marginalized by race, gender, ethnicity, ability, or something else. You will write a paper about how being a member of this marginalized group can both create and add stress to a person's life, as well as how common stressors may be impacted and intensified by being a member of a marginalized group. Finally, you will search for programs and services that are tailored to meet the needs of this group. You may find that services are lacking—please make recommendations for how services could be improved.

Remember that there are small things that we can do each day to reduce our feelings of stress and enhance wellness.

You can make a list of everything that stresses you—which in itself can be stressful, but you can then take items from that list and start to brainstorm how you can potentially handle each stressor (Chunn, 2017). So, grab a pen and start a list today.
Therapists will often recommend to their clients that they keep a journal. Because of how the act of writing accesses areas of the brain, the simple act of writing down your thoughts and feelings begins to help you work through them and make sense of them. Try it for yourself and see! Consider placing some blank paper or an empty journal by your bedside—next time you feel a rush of emotions, try jotting down some of them (Sutton, 2018).

References

Chunn, L. (2017). The psychology of the to-do list—why your brain loves ordered tasks. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/may/...

Sutton, J. (2018). 5 benefits of journaling for mental health. Positive Psychology.https://positivepsychology.com/benefits-of-journal...

Preparation

To prepare for Assessment 1, take the following steps:

Identify a marginalized population to focus on in your paper.
Review this assessments readings as they relate to marginalized populations and their stress and trauma.
Using the Capella University Library, locate 2–3 peer-reviewed journal articles related to your selected group and experiences of stress or trauma. You'll need at least four articles for your paper, but you can use a couple journal articles from your reading list if you feel they apply.
Using the Internet, search for outreach organizations or programs that target your selected group. Be prepared to make recommendations for services that would be helpful in managing and addressing stress.

Assessment Instructions

Download the APA Paper Template.

Write a 3–4 page paper that addresses the following. Remember that your supporting evidence should come from your textbook and at least four peer-reviewed journal articles.

Identify a marginalized population. Explain why they are marginalized. Include supporting evidence.
Explain how being a member of this population serves to create or add stress in a person's life in general. Include supporting evidence.
- Note: You may use a group that you identify as a member of, or a group that you have interest in learning more about.
Describe how 2–3 common stressors may be impacted as a result of being a part of this marginalized population. Include supporting evidence.
- Feel free to refer back to the worksheet you completed for Assessment 1.
Make recommendations for outreach organizations, potential services, or programs that would be helpful to your selected population. Include supporting evidence.

Additional Requirements

Written communication: Written communication is professional, with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics.
Resources: Use a minimum of five sources—your textbook and at least four peer-reviewed journal articles found in the Capella University Library and your reading list.
APA formatting: References and citations are formatted according to APA style and formatting.
- Refer to Academic Writer for guidance in using the proper APA style. See the Evidence and APA section of the Writing Center for instructions on accessing and using Academic Writer.
Length: 3–4 pages.
Font and font size: use a minimum of 12-point font.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:

Competency 1: Apply current theory and research to specific topics in stress, trauma, and wellness.
- Explain why a specific population is considered to be marginalized.
Competency 2: Analyze ways in which stress and trauma impact the lives of individuals.
- Explain how being a member of a marginalized population serves to create or add stress to an individual's life.
- Describe how 2–3 stressors are impacted as a result of being a member of a marginalized population.
Competency 3: Recommend a variety of responses to stress and trauma to enhance wellness on personal, local, and global scales.
- Make recommendations for outreach organizations, services, or programs that provide support for individuals in a particular marginalized population.
Competency 4: Communicate with appropriate purpose, organization, evidence, tone, and sentence structure.
- Use APA style paper formatting with only minor errors.
- Use APA style formatting for citations and reference list with only minor errors.
- Address assessment purpose in a well-organized text, incorporating appropriate evidence and tone in grammatically sound sentences.
- Use the resources linked below to help complete this assessment.Collapse All
  Race, Gender, and Marginalized Populations
  Sociology of StressRead about stress as it pertains to social groups. This chapter examines stress in modern life and the high amount of stress we are subjected to on a daily basis as the result of advances in technology.
  - Seaward, B. (2022). Managing stress: Skills for self-care, personal resiliency and work-life balance in a rapidly changing world (10th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning. Available in the courseroom via the VitalSource Bookshelf link.
    - Chapter 2, "Sociology of Stress."
  Marginalized Populations
  Use this section of your reading list to access scholarly articles that highlight how the experience of trauma is impacted by culture, race, gender, and disability:
  - Marginalized Populations.
  Trauma and Victimology
  Trauma
  Our culture informs how we experience trauma, and it should also inform how we treat trauma. Review these articles that all deal with trauma, with a particular focus on culturally informed trauma therapy.
  - Assessment 2: Trauma.
  Victimology
  Trauma is a central topic of consideration in victimology. Learn more about this topic by visiting these interactive media pieces.
  - Systems Thinking in Victimology.
Systems thinking provides professionals a way to explore the relationships between different parts of the social and legal systems. Being able to recognize and analyze the interplay between actions and reactions within systems helps professionals get to the root cause of issues and make sound decisions to improve systems impacting victims of crime. As you explore the actions and impacts illustrated on the next page, bear in mind that these are examples and do not address all possible systems level impacts. Consider how these examples might ripple inward or outward and what other effects they might have on the criminal justice process, on support services, and on the social policies that ultimately impact victims of crime, their families, and their communities.Navigate through the carousel to learn more about systems thinking in victimology.

Scroll down through the timeline to see an overview of the timing of events that have shaped how victims of crime are understood and responded to within the United States. As you view and read the timeline think about how social occurrences shape legislation and consider how media plays a role in shaping social movements.

Late 1700s – early 1800s

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Changes the structure of communities from living in small groups near relatives and known others to increased transience and living in larger areas near unknown neighbors. As a result, crime increases and victims have less recourse through retribution. The criminal justice system emerges as a result. Victims become witnesses and society is seen as the aggrieved party.

1930

UNIFORM CRIME REPORTS (UCR)

Established the first mechanism to systematically collect and share data on crimes. Provided for annual collection of data through police records.

1940s

STUDY OF VICTIMOLOGY EMERGES

The relationship between the offender and victim is studied. Victims are first seen as contributing to their victimization. Studies are sporadic through the 1950s and 1960s, and begin to pick up in the late 1960s and 1970s. While the early studies opened the door to examining nuances in crimes and risks factors for victims, they were criticized for too heavily focusing on the victim without requisite attention to the offenders.

1941

VON HENTIG

von Hentig publishes The Criminal and His Victim outlining a 13 category typology of risk factors associated with becoming a victim. The continuum in the typology ranged from the victim as completely innocent through the victim serving an implicit role with the offender.

1956

BENIAMIN MENDELSON

Beniamin Mendelson coins the term victimology, and identifies types based on the degree to which the victim played a role in the offense. For example, the victim might have no role where there is no provocation, or may have a significant role by being the initial aggressor and winding up the victim.

1958

MARVIN E. WOLFGANG

Marvin E. Wolfgang publishes Patterns in Criminal Homicide identifying from a review of police records that 26% of homicides were victim precipitated.

1960s

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

Social movements (the civil rights movement, children’s movement, and women’s movement) address legalized abuse against women and children, and address civil rights issues based on race. These movements lead to defining discrimination as criminal, legally defining child abuse and neglect, and led to social and legal response in the form of services, such as shelters, protection agencies, and advocacy groups.

1964

CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964

Outlawed discriminatory practices in hiring, promoting, and firing employees based on race, gender, color, national origin, or religion.

1965

VICTIM COMPENSATION

California is the first of the United States to establish victim compensation. By 2002 all 50 states had adopted victim compensation laws.

1967

PRESIDENT’S COMMISSION

Established initiative to collect data on victims (since UCR collects data on crimes only). The National Opinion Research Center (NORC) was the first national or “first-generation” victim survey.

1968

STEPHEN SCHAFER

Stephen Schafer publishes The Victim and His Criminal outlining a typology of “functional responsibility” on the part of the victim.

1968

CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1968

Added anti–discrimination in access to housing to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

1970 — 1971

“SECOND-GENERATION” VICTIM SURVEYS

Addressed some of the methodological problems with first–generation surveys. Used both reverse and forward record checks. Concerns in telescoping (faulty memories on the timeframe of the crime) and household respondents relaying accurate information.

1971

MENACHEM AMIR

Menachem Amir publishes Patterns in Forcible Rape. The work controversially claimed that based on a review of Philadelphia police records that 19% of rapes were victim precipitated. The work met with heavy criticism for a skewed interpretation of records and lack of theoretical foundation, making the work a personal interpretation lacking in empirical substance.

1972

“THIRD–GENERATION” VICTIM SURVEYS

The National Crime Survey (NCS)Sample included 72,000 households and followed them in a panel design over a three year timeframe with check–ins each six months.

Late 1970s

GENERAL VICTIMOLOGY

Shift moves from focus on victims as contributors to a broader understanding of victimology. Mendelson publishes a “general victimology” typology of five types of victims: criminal, self, social environment, technological, and the natural environment.

1972

TITLE IX OF THE EDUCATION AMENDMENTS OF 1972

Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school that receives federal money. This includes prompt and equitable resolution of incidents of sexual violence, and reporting of sexual violence on college campuses.

1979

“FOURTH-GENERATION” VICTIM SURVEYS

Continued redesign of surveys to improve methods and accuracy, and to incorporate advances in technology, thereby increasing the sophistication of the types of data that can be extracted and the potential value of the surveys.

1982

VICTIM RIGHTS AMENDMENT

Proposed amendments to the constitution to include rights of victims began with a presidential task force. The task force was unable to gain full support for the federal amendment. However, the efforts led to the adoption of victim rights amendments at the state level, with the majority of states securing state’s rights for victims.

1984

VICTIMS OF CRIME ACT (VOCA)

Provided for victim compensation to victims of federal crimes.

1990

HATE CRIME STATISTICS ACT OF 1990

Intended to guide the collection of data about hate crimes.

2003

AMBER ALERT LAW

Created a network to facilitate quick response to child abduction.*

*For a more comprehensive list of key legislation on victims’ rights see Doerner and Lab (2017) Chapter 1, Table 1.5, Examples of Landmark Federal Victims’ Rights Legislation Enacted During the Twenty-First Century.

2005

STATEWIDE AUTOMATED VICTIM INFORMATION AND NOTIFICATION SYSTEM (SAVIN)

Following highly publicized deaths of women killed by a husband or boyfriend out on bond or furlough, the SAVIN was established as a system for notification to victims if offenders are released from jail or prison.

2006

ADAM WALSH CHILD PROTECTION AND SAFETY ACT

Expanded supervision of sex offenders, eliminates statute of limitations on federal prosecution of sex offenses against children and child abduction.*

*For a more comprehensive list of key legislation on victims’ rights see Doerner and Lab (2015) Chapter 1, Table 1.6, Examples of Landmark Federal Victims’ Rights Legislation Enacted During the Twenty-First Century, and Chapter 7, Table 7.8, Key Federal Victims’ Rights Legislation.

2007

U.S. SENATE RESOLUTION DEPLORING THE HANGING OF NOOSES

As a response to hate crime, the U.S. Senate defined the hanging of nooses as “reprehensible” and a potential crime. The Senate further states that hanging of a noose should be investigated by local, State, and Federal law enforcement, and can be vigorously prosecuted.

2008

HIGHER EDUCATION OPPORTUNITY ACT (HEOA)

Mandates safety and security requirements for institutions of higher education, which fall under the three categories of collecting and maintaining data on campus crimes, reporting of the data to the Department of Education, and to publish and make available the information to students in annual security report. The Act requires institutions of higher education to provide timely warnings of potential threats and to have emergency notification and evacuation procedures.

2009

MATTHEW SHEPARD AND JAMES BYRD JR. HATE CRIME PREVENTION ACT

Following the deaths of the two men for whom the act is named, a federal law enacted to expand the definition of hate crimes to include offenses based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability. The act supports investigation and prosecution of crimes as hate crimes.

2012

UNIFORM CRIME REPORTS

Redefines rape to include any gender as the perpetrator or victim, and defines victims who are incapable of giving consent due to a mental or physical disability.

2016

CRIME VICTIMS’ RIGHTS ACT

United States Department of Justice updates the 2004 list defining rights for victims, which includes the right to timely notification of the release of the accused perpetrator as part of the right to be informed.

2019

COURTNEY WILD CRIME VICTIMS’ RIGHTS REFORM ACT OF 2019 (LEGISLATION IN PROCESS)

The Courtney Wild Crime Victims’ Rights Reform Act of 2019 is a bill introduced in Oct. 2019 that looks to protect victims from revictimization during court proceedings. The bill was introduced after victims of Jeffrey Epstein were kept uninformed during the prosecutorial negotiations of a plea deal, which resulted in a light sentence. The legislation is meant to protect the dignity of victims by creating stronger judicial and administrative processes for victims to assert their rights (Representative Jackie Speier, 2019).

Stress and Trauma in Marginalized Populations