Arya Allender-West – författare

This important book considers how youth of color and other marginalized youth experience socio-cultural deprivation from the repetition of traumatic socio-historic experiences as well as from the institutions they interact with such as schools, mental health organizations, and social services agencies. Focusing on the importance of connection to cultural heritage, the book shows how young people’s cognitive development can be mediated in educational settings through humanizing and culturally sustaining rituals that build rapport and facilitate learning and healing.

The authors define socio-cultural deprivation and locate its origins for marginalized youth in post-traumatic slave syndrome, post-apocalyptic stress syndrome and similar socio-historic trauma, epigenetic trauma, and contemporary trauma. They weave theory and research, autobiography, and professional anecdotes to identify and elaborate upon socio-cultural deprivation and to provide rituals for rapport-building that can be applied to classrooms, group counselling, social work practices, and other human-centred work. Rituals include those acknowledging indigeneity; exploring personal ancestry and alternative forms for those who have no connection to their biological family; healing experiences through yoga, meditation, progressive relaxation, and visualization practices; and explicit relationship-building activities.

From Cultural Deprivation to Cultural Security will be a crucial text for training and practising psychologists, educators, social workers, youth workers and counsellors, concerned with the positive development of children, adolescents, and young adults.