Abstract
For decades, Afro-American have been facing higher incarceration, higher poverty rate and lower income in the United States as compared to White American. In every city of U.S, Afro-American face similar problem, although such problems are worse in some part of the state. The Afro-American in the city of Miami also face problems such mental illness, poverty, poor access to health services, crimes, accidents, violence and others which impact their way of life negatively. Mental health is linked to socioeconomic status as the people who are homeless, or have the problem of substance abuse have a higher risk of poor mental health. Racial discrimination also has contributed majorly to poverty among the community. Besides, racism, racial segregation, consumption of drug and alcohol, social isolation and medical violence, mainly contribute to the violent and aggressive behavior among the Afro-American community in Miami. Thus, the paper analyses the problems experienced by the Afro-American community in the Miami city. It also discusses the ways used to identify those problems. Plan of actions has also been discussed that will assist to attain healthy people 2010.
Introduction
Miami is among the cities in the United States that contain the majority of the Afro-American community. The population of the Afro-American in the city of Miami is about 76% of the whole population. The community is faced with various problems such mental illness, poverty, poor access to health services, crimes, accidents, violence and others which impact their way of life negatively. This paper will focus on three problems affecting Afro-American in Miami including poverty, mental illness and violence and injuries and their impact on the community. It will also discuss the action of plans that have been put in place to control them to achieve healthy people 2020.
Mental health and mental illness
Mental health is a state of active performance of a psychological function, which results in fulfilling relationships with other members, productive activities, and ability to cope with challenges and adapt to change. Mental health is necessary for interpersonal relationship and family, personal well-being and ability to carry out community activities (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2016). Mental illness alters the mood, thinking and behaviour that are connected to impaired functioning and distress. It contributes to problems such as pain, death, and disability. Mental health is linked to socioeconomic status as the people who are homeless, improvised or have the problem of substance abuse have a higher risk of poor mental health.
The studies have shown that most of the Afro-American in Miami have mental health problems. Negative attitudes and stereotypes of the community contribute to the mental health problem. Contemporary and historical instances of adverse treatment have also contributed to this problem as the community perceive the authorities as not having the best interest of their community in mind.
Effect of mental illness on the Afro-American community
Mental health problems have resulted in pain, death, and disability to affected members. Also, the Afro-American are over-represented in the prisons and jails. Most of them are arrested over drugs because of mental problems. Since a small percentage is represented in the American Psychological Association, the member of the community do not trust the mental health practitioners as they think that they are not culturally fit to handle their specific problems. Besides, some of the patients experience micro-aggression and racism from the therapist.
Also, the most Afro-American do not seek treatment for their mental illness since judgment and Stigma prevent them from seeking the services. They believe that anxiety and mild depression may be considered crazy regarding their social circles. Further, they believe that discussing mental illness among the family is appropriate. The problem has also made the Afro-American to believe that psychological openness, stigma, and help-seeking affect their coping behavior thus, do not acknowledge their mental problems openly.
How mental health problems were identified among the Afro-American.
The problem of mental health problems among Afro-American was discovered because of the indicators.
• More adult Afro-American reported severe psychological distress as compared to whites.
• The African Americans below the poverty line reported the severe mental distress as compared to those above the poverty line.
• Afro-Americans were experiencing more the feelings of hopelessness, sadness, and worthlessness as compared to the whites.
• The number of African Americans teenagers who were committing suicide were more as compared to white teenagers.
• Most of the Afro-Americans were reported to be the victim of the violent crime which resulted in diagnosing them for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Plan of action to control mental health problems
Poverty
Poverty is another problem that affects the Afro-American community in Miami. Racial discrimination has contributed majorly to the problem. The members of the community, mostly get discriminated because of their race where they are denied good job opportunity and good education. Most members of the community fall below the poverty line which results in single adulthood, drug abuse, high school dropout and crime in that community.
Effect of poverty on the Afro-American community in Miami
Poverty has reduced education attainment of the Afro-American in Miami. Most parents do not afford to pay the school fees which make most students to drop out school. The number of people in the community with bachelor’s degrees and a high school diploma is limited because of poverty (American community survey, 2013). Thus, increasing poverty among the Afro-American community reduces education attainment opportunity. It also makes the Afro-American to receive poor quality education as compared to whites.
Poverty also has resulted in the high rate of unemployment among the Afro-American Community. Due to few number of people in the Afro-American community who access education, the rate of unemployment is high as they do not possess the skills that are needed for most jobs. The people who are employed mostly work part-time in the industries. White collar job is only for the educated individuals. The few who work in the white collar jobs have limited wages and benefits. Poverty also promotes mental illness to the involved individuals as they feel hopeless and distressed.
Poverty also makes the Afro-American to receive poor health services because of high unemployment rate and low income. They have no health insurance because the majority are not employed. When the people from this group become ill and require medical treatment, they experience financial hardship to cater for the hospital bills.
How poverty was identified among the Afro-American in Miami.
Plan of action to reduce poverty
Various plans have put in place to reduce poverty among the Afro-American. First, there is an intervention to seek for equity and fairness, opportunities for local government and agencies to enhance participation of Afro-American in the workforce by starting training programs. Also, there is the plan of developing an asset and earnings program to increase the self-sufficiency of low-income families. The program includes employment programs that target services of employment to the entire community. Family strengthening programs have also been planned to enhance educational outcomes and health as well as to link benefit services and essential support to those families. Those programs include home visitation programs, family development, and healthy child programs as well as the parenting education program. Moreover, neighborhood strengthening programs have been put in place to enhance the collaboration and community development among service providers and to involve the resident in the neighborhood affairs.
Injury and violence
Injury and violence are other issues that are facing the city of Miami including homicide, motor vehicle crashes, domestic and school violence, suicide, child abuse and neglect and unintentional drug overdoses. Violence has become a major public issue. Research has proven that violence is more prevalent among the Afro-American community (CDC, 2010). Racism, racial segregation, consumption of drug and alcohol, social isolation and medical violence, mainly contribute to the violent and aggressive behavior. Also, many young men from the community suffer from black self-hatred which results from years of training in the social environment. Many of them grow without role models where they seek to learn behavior from the movies and televisions. The police also confronts them regularly, which strengthen this practice.
How injury and violence affect the Afro-American community
Injury and violence affect the well-being of Afro-American apart from immediate health consequences. They result in premature death, and potential life lost among the community. They also lead to poor mental health and high cost of paying medical bills. Some individuals end up being disabled due to injuries which make them live disability adjusted life (U.S department of health and human services, 2017). Due to loss of life and disabilities, productivity, reduces among the community which in turn increase the poverty. The violence and injuries impact extend beyond the injured victim violence to affect friends, family members, employers, friends and the entire communities.
How violence was identified among the Afro-American community
African Americans teenagers who were committing suicide were more as compared to white teenagers who were an indication of violence. Also, most of the Afro-Americans were reported to be the victim of the violent crime which resulted in diagnosing them for post-traumatic stress disorder. They were over-represented in the prisons and jails. The productivity of the Afro-American was reduced in the city because most of them were in jail because of committing the violent crime.
The action plan of reducing injury and violence among the Afro-American community.
Therefore, poverty, mental health issues, and violence are some of the problems affecting the Afro-American community. Several plans of action have been put in place to control this issue. If the plan is carried effectively, the Afro-American community is likely to achieve the vision of healthy people 2020.
References
American community survey (2013). Income & Poverty in Miami-Dade: 2013. ACS.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2010). National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) [Internet]
U.S department of health and human services (2017). The Healthy People 2020 initiative. Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/default.aspx
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Mental Health. (2016). Mental health and African Americans. Retrieved from http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=4&lvlid=24
