The Seasoned Clinician’s Notebook: Increasing Adaptive Racial Socialization for Black Boys: A Psychodynamic Analysis

Saturday, February 22, 2025
10:00 am to 12:00 pm
via zoom

Presented by Huey Hawkins, PhD, LCSW

Program Description:

Black men living in America have been referred to as an “endangered species” due to being targeted and subjected to violence by the police. This has led to parents of young Black boys constantly worrying about their son’s safety. Although few scholars have studied the unconscious effects of this worry on the young Black child’s experience of the environment and subsequent self-identifications, a recent qualitative research study has inspired this presentation. The talk focuses on exploring the psychological effects of cultural trauma and aims to prepare clinicians to 1) understand the typical psychological experiences of racism for Black boys, 2) foster a positive racial identity for Black boys, and 3) empower Black boys to navigate safely in harmful racist environments.

About the Presenter:

Dr. Huey Hawkins, LCSW, obtained his doctorate degree in clinical social work from the Institute for Clinical Social Work. His research and clinical interests are centered on the intersection of culture, race, and the unconscious. His dissertation delved into unconscious messages of endangerment that mothers send to their African American sons. With extensive experience as a clinician, Dr. Hawkins has a rich history of providing psychotherapy services to African American boys and men in various public and private settings, including his own psychotherapy practice in St. Louis and Oklahoma City. He currently works as a full-time faculty lecturer at the University of Oklahoma School of Social Work and as Core Faculty at the Institute for Clinical Social Work.

This event is free of charge, but registration is required by February 19, 2025.

1. Describe cultural trauma, endangerment, and racial socialization for Black male children.
2. Explain how psychodynamic therapy can help Black male children navigate safety in
systematically racist environments.
3. Identify how to create a holding environment where Black male children can develop a positive racial identity.
4. Summarize the harmful effects of societal systems on the unconscious development of Black boys.
5. Explain how the intersection of class, gender, familial history, and geographic location
affect the Black male child’s experience of race.

Questions:

1. Recent developmental science research illustrates racial socialization to include
(1) cultural socialization, or the way parents teach their children about their
heritage and culture; (2) preparation for bias—raising a child’s awareness of
racism; and (3) _______________________________________.
A. The promotion of mistrust.
B. The promotion of trust
C.  Inspector bias
D. None of the above

2. According to Kohut, the cultural selfobject experience uplifts, provides a sense of
belonging and support, that lends a set of guiding ideals on which one can rely

A. True
B. False

3. Racial socialization for black boys often encourages the suppression of emotions
to preserve a sense of physical safety.
A. True
B. False

4. Adaptive racial socialization creates a necessary and unique holding
environment for the black male in treatment.
A. True
B. False

1. Adams, C. J. (2022). Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Psychosocial Dimensions of
Adversity among Black Youth. Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy,
1-17.

2. Adams, C. J. (2021). Black youth: Self-making, creativity and the assertion of hybrid
Black identities. The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 74(1), 59-76.

3. Grier, W. H., & Cobbs, P. M. (1968). Black rage. Basic Books.

4. Hawkins, H. (2023). Maternal Love in the Warzone: Exploring How Mothers Socialize
Black Sons to Manage Racism. Clinical Social Work Journal, 51(3), 283-293.

5. Reynolds, R. (2010). “They think you’re lazy,” and other messages [B]lack parents
send their [B]lack sons: An exploration of critical race theory in the examination of
educational outcomes for Black males. Journal of African-American Males in
Education, 1(2), 144-163.

6. Stout, B. (2019). Racial Socialization and Thwarted Mentalization: Psychoanalytic
Reflections from the Lived Experience of James Baldwin’s America. American Imago,
76(3), 335-357.

7. Vaughans, K. C. (2021). Black Boys in the Eye of the Storm. The Psychoanalytic Study
of the Child, 74(1), 47-58.

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