The African American Experience Psychoanalytic Perspectives

by Akhtar, Salman; Akhtar, Salman; Wright, Jan; Blue, Shawn; Bonovitz, Jennifer,; Campbell, David; Drake, Christin; Hamer, Forrest; Holmes, Dorothy; Leary, Kimberlyn, Ph.D; Miles, Carlotta; Pittman, LaShawnDa; Powell, Dionne; Thompson, Cheryl; Watson, Claren

• ISBN13: 9780765708359
• ISBN10: 0765708353
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-06-21
• Publisher: Jason Aronson, Inc.

Summary

The African American Experience: Psychoanalytic Perspectives edited by Salman Akhtar brings together the contributions of distinguished mental health professionals and scholars of humanities to offer a multifaceted perspective on the transgenerational trauma of slavery, the hardship of single parent families, the ruthlessness of anti-black racism, and the crushing burden of poverty and social disenfranchisement on the African American individual. The book also sheds light on the resilience of spirit, the dignity of perseverance, and the glow of talent that is widespread in this group. It contains penetrating and informative biographical essays on Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Mohammad Ali, Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey. Such discourse on human greatness is balanced by the considerations of daily joy and anguish on clinical and societal levels. This wide-ranging and nuanced volume on the history, culture, and psychosocial struggles of African American people fills an important gap in the literature on psychotherapy and psychoanalysis.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. xi
Core Stories	p. 1
The Five Hundred Year History of African Americans	p. 3
Psychoanalysis and African Americans: Past, Present, and Future	p. 59
Character Studies	p. 85
Command and Legacy: Martin Luther King, Jr.	p. 87
Ideology and Identity: Malcolm X	p. 117
Power and Meaning: Muhammad Ali	p. 145
Resilience and Influence: Oprah Winfrey	p. 173
Synthesis and Leadership: Barack Obama	p. 193
Cultural Spectrum	p. 215
Anti-Black Racism and the Conception of Whiteness	p. 217
African American Families: Still a Band of Slaves?	p. 229
Personality Development in Different African American Cultures	p. 271
Hollywood and African Americans	p. 297
Clinical Strands	p. 319
An African American's Becoming a Psychoanalyst: Some Personal Reflections	p. 321
The African-American Patient in Psychodynamic Treatment	p. 337
Racial Transference Reactions in Psychoanalytic Treatment: An Update	p. 363
White Analysts Seeing Black Patients	p. 377
Racial Enactments in Dynamic Treatment	p. 403
References	p. 417
Index	p. 441
About the Editor and Contributors	p. 461
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