There are many contributing components that cause them to be more susceptible to contracting HIV/AIDS. The main cause is through unprotected sex, secondly I.V. drug use, and lastly the occurrence of poverty (HIV and AIDS among African Americans, web, (http://www.avert.org/hiv-african-americans.htm). In the U.S African Americans account for 13% of the population, yet they make up 49% of the HIV/AIDS
The drug addicts lose all respect for themselves and these addictions end up taking over their lives. Maybe the addicts are right when they say the addictions are their own fault and aren’t a reflection towards their troubled childhood. Addicts may just get caught up in the wrong situation at the wrong time and end up getting addicted to a drug just to fit in with peers. Drug addictions will create emotional distress no matter whose fault it
Another example of how strain applies to these women can be seen in Agnew’s writings when he said “Data suggest that child abuse and neglect negative school experiences, chronic unemployment, and residence in deprived communities are important causes sate anger and that such anger explains much of the effective of strains on crime.” (Agnew, Chp. 9) The presentation of negative stimuli or in the case of the African American battered women this was the abuse they received, regularly, which will cause large amounts of strain. The way most of these women dealt with the abuse was through drug and alcohol
Education vs. Incarceration In today’s society our minority youth are lacking their education because of poor guidance, poverty, and poor decision making. Today every decision they may will have an impact on them for the rest of their lives. Our youth are caught in crossfire of war on drugs and are prosecuted, incarcerated and denied access to education opportunities. The drug war has resulted in the institutionalized persecution of Black, Latino, and Native American young people. More and more young minority men and women are being ushered into the criminal justice system under the guise of fighting drugs.
I do believe that the media can be held partially liable for the discrimination against African-Americans in the school system. Since I have witness much discrimination against the African-Americans, I wanted to understand their perspective and why there was so much animosity. In the African American population the amount of discrimination that takes place can steer them into poverty. Olzak, (1992) stated
1. African American history is filled with many psychological effects that have influenced the lives of African Americans including the time of slavery, racism, and separation. The racism and discrimination they have experienced in their lifetime has had a negative effect on their mental health. The book clearly states, “Racism discrimination is associated with anxiety, anger, frustration, resentment, somatization, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, interpersonal hypersensitivity, fear, paranoia, helplessness-hopelessness, and depression among African Americans” (Clark et al, 1999; Klonoff, Landrine, & Ullman, 1999). Many African Americans still live in the past and feel they are not treated fairly despite the belief that racism is now a thing of the past.
Retrieved from http://campaignforyouthjustice.org/documents/AfricanAmericanBrief.pdf Beresin, E. (). The Impact of Media Violence on Children and Adolescents: Opportunities for Clinical Interventions. Retrieved from https://www.aacap.org/aacap/Medical_Students_and_Residents/Mentorship_Matters/DevelopMentor/The_Impact_of_Media_Violence_on_Children_and_Adolescents_Opportunities_for_Clinical_Interventions.aspx The Opportunity Agenda. (2011). Media Representations and Impact on the Lives of Black Men and Boys.
The author describes experiences with vulnerable populations in her own life. Vulnerable Population Recent periodical discussing a vulnerable population The manuscript by Sanders, Schneiderman, Loken, Lankenau, and Bloom (2009) identifies gang youth as a vulnerable population. Sanders et al. (2009) discusses risk factors of being in a gang, examples of which are deprived socioeconomic backgrounds, living in communities with a long history of drug sales, crime, and gang activity. This gang youth are considered vulnerable as are 60 times more likely to be killed than the rest of the population.
Each year, the U.S. Census Bureau counts the number of "poor" persons in the U.S. In 2005, the Bureau found 37 million "poor" Americans. Presidential candidate John Edwards claims that these 37 million Americans currently "struggle with incredible poverty." Edwards asserts that America's poor, who number "one in eight of us…do not have enough money for the food, shelter, and clothing they need," and are forced to live in "terrible" circumstances.However, an examination of the living standards of the 37 million persons, whom the government defines as "poor," reveals that what Edwards calls "the plague" of American poverty might not be as "terrible" or "incredible" as candidate Edwards contends. Poverty is an important and emotional issue.
Research has shown that there is an over representation of young black men in mental health services including secure services and the under representation in ‘care’ setting (SCMH, 2002). From my experience of working in and around a mental health setting for a number of years, I observed highly inconsistent approaches towards young black men with mental health problems. This suggests that there is a lack of understanding amongst professionals of the way young black men experience mental health care. Hence professionals tend to rely on assumptions regarding their needs, diagnosis and the potential risk that may or may not be present. The stigma of mental illness although often linked to context than an individual appearance, is an influential factor in all social interaction (Thompson, 2009).