Welcome: From the Group
Greetings to each of you who have decided to visit our site and participate by sharing your comments and/or experiences!
Our goal is to provide an open public forum for those of you who strive to obtain the knowledge needed to understand, care for and address the mental health issues of children who have an African American and a Caucasian parent.
Our hope is that professionals and those families who are affected will also utilize this site to guide, support and aid us in our quest for understanding and respecting this population and the issues we should know exist for them.
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Sincerely,
Angela, Bailey, Doug, Echo, and Tish
The views and comments expressed on this site are not those of The University of Alabama, its staff or affiliates. This is a student project; the site was created by students.
Are bi-racial children at particular risk for mental health problems? Please Explain.
6 comments:
I think it depends on the community that bi-racial children are raised in. I have a background working with military communities. In these communities bi-racial children are a common occurance and not considered an unsual segment of that population. By nature of military life, active duty soldiers live all over the world. One consequence of this is that many of them marry spouses of different ethnicity than their own. The problems for these families develop when they eventually separate from the military communities they have lived in and transition into the civilian world. Often times bi-racial children from these families develop depression based on issues of acceptance in their new schools and social systems. This problem can vary regionally depending on where the families decide to begin their civilian lives. The military has looked into this issue and you should be able to find information on this topic through the "Family Services" divisions within the various services.
David B. Simpson, MSW student, Caucasion man in a bi-racial long-term relationship.
IN SOME CASES, THEY MIGHT FEEL SOME DEPRESSION BEHIND IT. FOR INSTANCE, THEY MIGHT NOT KNOW RATHER OR NOT THEY ARE BLACK OR WHITE. LIKE IF ANOTHER PEER TEASES YOU ABOUT WHICH ONE ARE YOU, IT MIGHT BOTHER THEM
Personally, I don't think bi-racial children are at any more risk for mental health issues than other children. So much depends on the environment that they were raised in, and if they were supported and educated about the heritage on both sides of the family.
If a child is reared in an environment that educates them on all of their racial heritages, they are more likely to develop a healthy racial identity. However, if a child is not provided that type of support they may be more likely to develop more mental health issues due to the racism that continues to exist in society.
L. Coleman, MSW student, African-American female
Yes, although I believe it tends to manifest itself at the onset of adolescence. I feel until then, biracial children move through the stages of development just as any other child. However, at adolescence, I think issues of acceptance, identity, self-esteem and stereotype can place biracial children at risk of mental health problems. Although these issues are typical during the adolescent stage of development, taunting, feelings of being different and not being accepted by neither the majority or minority population contributes to the issues mentioned above. Parental and familial support and intervention plays a pivotal role as to whether or not mental health problems develop.
When exploring this issue I think it is safe to say that when a person or group of people are different then the majority they face different problems, challenges and situations. Being Bi-racial denies a person the opportunity to fit in just one category but to be divided into two category (black or white or whatever the two races are) or choosing one race over another. This can cause many problems in the developmental, teenage, and even adulthood stages of life. To help confront these pressing issues it is important for the child to have a strong support network that will educate, support, and make the child aware of the difficulties that can occur due to them being bi racial. The family should push for the child to be knowledgeable about both races culture, customs, and history. Mental health issue can occur if proper support is not in place, but if it is I think the occurrences of mental health issue will be greatly reduce.
M Jackson Social Worker
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