The phenomenon of racism in the lives of African American men who grew up in inner city communities was studied through applying psychoanalytical theories of trauma to experiences of racism. Psychoanalytic theory has posited in-depth analysis of the effects of trauma, and recent research has illuminated the way in which trauma affects survivors of childhood abuse, the Holocaust, and the Vietnam War. This research has led to many important advances in the understanding of trauma; however, few studies have used psychoanalytic trauma theory to understand how urban African Americans are affected, many of who are exposed to trauma that is chronic and ongoing. In addition, few studies have approached the idea of understanding racism as traumatic experience.

This collective case study explored the phenomenon of racism qualitatively. Questions that arose from psychoanalytic theories of trauma, research on racism, and racial identity development were used as a guide to study the narratives of three African American men who were, to varying degrees, exposed to racism and trauma. Results of this study confirmed that the effects of racial trauma follow similar trajectories to what psychoanalysts conceive of as classic traumatic experience. This dissertation documented the effects of original experiences of racism by comparing them with traumatic incidents, studying each experience individually, and by tracing how the core meaning of the trauma was unveiled in subsequent encounters with trauma and racism. Common agents and responses to racism were documented. Results illustrate the pernicious effects of racist experience on a male African American's identity. One aspect of racism that appears to be uniquely traumatic to recipients, referred to in this paper as the double bind, is often the result of the inherent intransigency and pervasive denial of racism by those who are privileged, which continues to confound many African Americans who attempt to succeed within American institutions. Further research is needed to understand the way the trauma of slavery is reenacted interpersonally and institutionally and to further elucidate the unconscious dynamics that maintain racism.