Category Archives: ACEs

PREP SCHOOL NEGRO: Periscope of the discussion on Race, Racism and Leveraging Technology for Social Justice

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Post by Pat Shelly

Periscope by Nancy J. Smyth

 

flyer-prep-school-negro

 

 

 

Thirty years before our current election cycle’s talk about racial disparities, killings streamed on Facebook and the rise of the #Occupy and #Blacklivesmatter movement, a young Black man was offered an opportunity for what he hoped was a better life.  André Robert Lee’s full scholarship to attend a Philadelphia prep school was supposed to be his way out of the ghetto, but this elite education came at a high personal cost.

 

Prep School Negro documents André’s journey back in time to revisit the events of his adolescence while also spending time with present-day prep school students of color and their classmates to see how much has really changed inside the ivory tower. What he discovers along the way is the poignant and unapologetic truth about who really pays the consequences for yesterday’s accelerated desegregation and today’s racial naiveté.

 

A screening of Prep School Negro was held on September 19, 2016 as part of the University at Buffalo’s School of Social Work series on Social Work and Emerging Technologies, led by affiliated faculty member Mike Langlois, a clinical social worker and educator.  After the screening, Mike engaged André Lee, the director of Prep School Negro and producer, civil rights educator and activist, in a discussion on race, racism, the seismic shifts in technology and how to leverage emerging technologies in the fight for social justice.

 

André Robert Lee, filmmaker

André Robert Lee, filmmaker

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike Langlois, LICSW

Mike Langlois, LICSW

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full-length version of Prep School Negro is now available on PBS
(through Feb. 10, 2017):
http://www.pbs.org/video/2365172448/

 

Here are links to the Periscope recordings:

 

We welcome any comments, and will pass any received along to André and Mike.

The big picture: Infographics for social work

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by Pat Shelly

We’ve all heard the saying:

“A picture is worth a thousand words.”

splashes of paint in many colors erupting against a black background

image: TerrellCotton.com

Aristotle said, “The soul never thinks without a picture.”

Pictures can inform and inspire us.

One way to brighten and broaden the view of social work is through infographics.

An infographic is a visual representation of information or data. It combines data and design in a format that is easy to share and to understand.

Chart showing circles overlapping withthe elements of a good infographic: Data, Design, Story, Sharability

image: Daniel Zeevi – Dashburst

Given the role of technology and the internet in knowledge-production and dissemination, this educational tool is especially useful today.

Read more

ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) Basics

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by Pat Shelly

What Is the Adverse Childhood Experiences [ACEs] Study and What Is Its Significance? 

The ACEs Study [published in 1998] is important because it found links between childhood trauma and long-term health, behavior and social consequences among adults.

How Were These Links Discovered?

Per the below infographic, the authors – from Permanente Medical Group (Kaiser Permanente), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Emory University and the University of Arizona – asked adult patients about any exposure they had as a child to the following:

  • Recurrent physical abuse
  • Recurrent emotional abuse
  • Contact sexual abuse
  • Alcohol and/or drug abuser in the household
  • An incarcerated household member
  • Someone in the household who is chronically depressed, mentally ill, institutionalized or suicidal
  • Mother is treated violently
  • Parents are separated or divorced
  • Emotional neglect
  • Physical neglect
The Truth About ACEs - Robt. Wood Johnson Foundation

The Truth About ACEs –                     Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

A comparison to the participant’s adult health status was made, and strong links were found between high ACE scores (on a scale of 1 to 4+, having more than 2 or more adverse experiences) and impaired health/mental health.

In addition to the negative impact adverse childhood experiences are likely to have on a person, this graphic also shows the prevalence of ACEs and the three primary types of ACES: abuse, neglect and household dysfunction.

The ACE study has provided social workers and other clinicians with an invaluable tool to assess the types of trauma an individual had as a child. It is a way to begin to discuss, “What happened?” with a person. ACEs help establish a history that de-pathologizes the person and enhances a trauma-informed practice.

Below is a pyramid chart created by the CDC that illustrates the gaps that still exist in our knowledge of the full impact of ACE , emphasizing the need for ongoing research.

ACE Pyramid - CDC

ACE Pyramid – CDC

Longitudinal studies of the ACE Study participants continue through Kaiser and the CDC.

Find out your ACE score here:

Illustration credits:

The Truth About ACEs Infographic – Robert Woods Johnson Foundation

ACE Pyramid: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ACE Study site
                 Here you will find the pyramid, plus CDC ACE studies and updates.

Additional resources:

  • The ACE Study
    The original (1998) study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine
  • ACES Too High
    Great site for background, news and information about the ACE study, including
    developmental neurobiology — how severe stress and trauma affect a child’s developing brain and nervous system, and epigenetics — how our genes turn off and on in response to our experiences and social environment.

How has the ACE Study affected your practice? Teaching? Please share with us your use of or views on ACE.