Episode 75: Effects of Televised Lynchings

Featuring Effua Sosoo; a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at The University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. She has completed clinical work with people found not guilty by reason of insanity, a PTSD clinic, and in federal prison with group and individual therapy. Effua focuses heavily on racism, racial injustice, and their intersection with mental health.

 

Effua's study, Psychophysiological and Affective Reactivity to Media Images, implies that images of Black people in positions of pain, diminished authority, or suffering in other ways causes measurable negative shifts at a physiological level resulting in sadness and anxiety.

 

(2:42) We discuss the impact of televised lynchings and the effects they have on Black people. (13:38) We also discuss ways to mitigate the traumatic impacts, which include self care, not sharing the videos as much, while keeping ourselves and others informed. (26:50) During the interview, Effua gives us a quick overview of her study, what she hopes will come of the study, her outlook as we move forward, and the role the media plays in it.