CNMN > PCM Hub > Tips & Tools > Incar­cer­a­tion and racial­ized trau­ma

Incarceration and racialized trauma

Menakem explores the inter­gen­er­a­tional heal­ing of racial­ized com­mu­ni­ties through his work as a somat­ics prac­ti­tion­er. Through sto­ry-based expe­ri­ences, he illu­mi­nates his approach to a deep­er under­stand­ing of the cul­tur­al, polit­i­cal, his­tor­i­cal and social impacts of trau­ma, specif­i­cal­ly on Black and racial­ized bod­ies. By under­stand­ing how trau­ma is stored in the per­son­al and col­lec­tive bod­ies, we can tap into somat­ic-based approach­es and body-cen­tered psy­chol­o­gy to heal as indi­vid­u­als and communities.

An inter­view with Man­akem that ref­er­ences mate­r­i­al in the book “My Grandmother’s Hands” (in entry above), help­ing to fur­ther illu­mi­nate the impact of colo­nial and state-sanc­tioned incar­cer­a­tion, while bring­ing ideas of embod­i­ment to repair and healing.

[French ver­sion: L’Ombre du Monde: Une Anthro­polo­gie de la Con­di­tion Car­cérale]

This book is based on a four-year study of a short-stay prison in France, fol­low­ing inmates from tri­al to release. Includ­ed is an ethno­graph­ic analy­sis of social and racial inequal­i­ties and their inter­ac­tions with the prison envi­ron­ment, cor­rec­tion­al staff, and the role of the prison in society.