I am seeking literature that explores the dimension of Black Male survivors. I am a survivor myself and work as a Counsellor with male survivors.

This area has been difficult to locate in the Uk where I live....any suggestions?

it is hard enough to get material on male survivors, start with what you can find.
Do you think race changes how someone feels about being abused? Hurt is Hurt. I am not saying that there might not be differences due to ethnic backgrounds, I just think abuse is abuse all over the world. Men hurt, keep it to themselves for years, hopfully get help. No matter what it is a mess. You may want to find articals to support the problems black men have due to abuse, but for the most part the problems seem to be universal. Keep intouch-I also help with a coed group of survivors. Take care.

Michael thank you for your reply.

I agree with you and I have started to seek out articles etc. I suppose that I have been looking for books that somehow hold information from a Black male survivor perspective. i also realise that looking for information in this I have, in a sense, handed over some of teh responsibility to 'anmother'person to do the hard work of reflective and / or comparative learning.

There is no easy answer to deeping awareness. So....I'll keep on learning.

Thank you.

Ebony,

I know a woman in the Seattle area that may be able to help. I'll talk to my wife today to see if she can find out for us.

I realize that you're not looking for a woman's perspective, but her story is rather may change your mind.

She is a black woman that has overcome a horrible childhood. From what I've read, there is a difference that seems to be due to a difference in the black ethenic culture... especially for black men. She may know of some reference material you can start with.

I don't know what the black culture is in the UK. I do know that in the US the black culture places much more pressure on black men to be emotionless and 'strong.' Every reason why men have difficulty facing the abuse, and ourselves, is multiplied 10x over in the US black culture.

I'll get back to you on this topic as soon as I find an answer.

Hello Ebony. There is an EXCELLENT piece by M.E. Hart in Mike Lew's Leaping Upon the Mountains that discusses race. It's on pages 26-32 in the paperback edition. I'll type out a few paragraphs so you can have an idea of how well-written and thought-provoking it is: (the typos, of course, will be mine)...

A Person of Color: Overcoming Barriers to Group Participation
by M.E. Hart, Attorney-at-Law

I am an African-American male whose sexual abuse, perpetrated by multiple abusers, began at age four and lasted for fifteen years. The camaraderie and understanding of the support groups I worked with over a three-year period helped me rebuild my self-esteem and regain control of my life.

During my recovery, however, I noticed a troubling trend. I was, in most cases, the only African-American in the groups I attended. Other African-Americans would not stay in the groups for more than three or four meetings. In response, I immediately began reaching out to persons of color when they would first come to a meeting. I tried to be supportive and encourage each to continue in the program. In most cases, I was not successful.

As a former Legal Advisor to the Director of the Office of Human Rights in Washington, D.C., and an avid student of civil rights, I have spent well over ten years studying and specializing in discrimination and race relations as it applies to employment and other opportunities for people of color. When I began group work, in 1987, to advance my recovery process, I was initially surprised at the extent that race affected that process as well.

In professional settings, I could objectively evaluate cultural differences and keep my emotions separate--or so my legal training led me to believe. But when issues of race intimately affected my recovery process, I could not move forward until I put those issues in their historical perspective in relation to events in my life.

From my experiences, and in discussion with other African, Latin, or Caribbean survivors, I have identified barriers that persons of color may have to overcome to reap the full benefits of group participation in the recovery process. These barriers may arise through having to face OUR own EXTERNAL and INTERNAL prejudices....



M.E. Hart has also written a first-person account that can be found at:
http://movingforward.org/v1n2-firstperson.html

Be careful, this could trigger some people.

I hope this helps!

I apologize if this is off-topic, but stuff came up this weekend, that has made me face this. This topic is so closely related to these issues, that I feel my post fits here.

One of my best friends had to stop another of our friends from attempting suicide over the weekend. The depression of our friend is more likely attatched to issues of his brother being killed in a car accident 12 years ago (when we were all in high school), than to any SA (so again, I apologize for off-topic-ness).

But our friend is Asian, and he has been extremely reluctant to accept help. He gets pissed off at his friends when we try to help out, and he will absolutely not seek help from a professional therapist.

I have noticed that the healing process for my SA has been (so far) similar to the healing process for grief. As michael Joseph said "Hurt is Hurt." It's been tough for me to be supportive for my friend when he pushes me away, when I know he needs the support most. And I'm the one in our group of friends who has the most patience with this kind of thing...

So please add "asian culture" to the list of ethnicities requested.

J
We're in this together.