The Effects of Historical Trauma on Learned Helplessness and Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

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Not everyone has equal opportunity to prosper in the U.S. Through no individual’s fault, some people have massive obstacles that hinder their development depending on their racial and/or ethnic background and socioeconomic status. However, if we wish to terminate the key issues that historical trauma perpetrates like generational poverty, learned helplessness, etc., we need to re-examine every institutional space in American society. In schools, for example, we have to examine explicit biases and the school-to-prison pipeline that can perpetrate learned helplessness and the self-fulfilling prophecy. We have to stop unequal and inadequate resource disbursement in educational spaces and teach comprehensive history about people of color. Based on the complexity of historical trauma and its ability to breach and affect many aspects of one’s life, there is obviously no universal solution; however, it is important to use this opportune time to make these changes and allow our actions to reflect our words.