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Staying strong: Exploring experiences of managing emotional distress for African Caribbean women living in the UK

Graham, Rachel; Clarke, Victoria

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Authors

Rachel Graham

Profile image of Victoria Clarke

Dr Victoria Clarke Victoria.Clarke@uwe.ac.uk
Associate Professor in Qualitative & Critical Psychology



Abstract

The ‘strong Black woman’ (SBW) is a Western cultural stereotype that depicts African heritage women as strong, self-reliant, independent, yet nurturing and self-sacrificing. US research indicates that this stereotype negatively impacts the emotional wellbeing of African heritage women, while also allowing them to survive in a racist society. UK research has documented the significance of this stereotype in relation to African Caribbean women’s experience of depression around the time of childbirth and ‘attachment separation and loss’. However, research is yet to explore how UK African Caribbean women make sense of and negotiate the SBW stereotype in relation to their emotional wellbeing more broadly. Using five focus groups, with a total of 18 women, this research explored how these women experienced and managed emotional distress in relation to the SBW stereotype. The importance of ‘being strong’ consistently underpinned the participants’ narratives. However, this requirement for strength often negatively impacted their ability to cope effectively with their distress, leading them to manage it in ways that did little to alleviate it and sometimes increased it. This study offers important implications for understanding the experiences of emotional distress for UK African Caribbean women.

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Sep 16, 2020
Online Publication Date Feb 15, 2021
Publication Date Feb 1, 2021
Deposit Date Sep 23, 2020
Publicly Available Date Feb 22, 2021
Journal Feminism and Psychology
Print ISSN 0959-3535
Electronic ISSN 1461-7161
Publisher SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 31
Issue 1
Pages 140-159
DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353520964672
Keywords Black feminism, focus groups, mental health, racism, strong Black woman, thematic analysis, therapy
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/6702891
Publisher URL https://journals.sagepub.com/home/FAP

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