Paper Title
IT’S COMPLICATED: COMPLEXITIES AND CRISES AMIDST AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL PLASTICITY IN THE FACE OF DEATH, GRIEF AND MOURNING IN COMMUNITIES OF COLOR

Abstract
Abstract - The research study examines and evaluates the complexities of grief and trauma effecting American communities of color and resiliency efforts of minorities to prevent, intervene and heal through survival strategies unique to their respective cultures and communities. Insight is drawn from police reports, national violence data, cultural protective factors and intergenerational failures resulting in a lack of cohesive stability for survival. Selected interpretive analyses and inference are used to define and qualify the meanings and realities of the various types of grief, trauma experiences and psychopathological implications relative to various external and internal effects on people of color. A qualitative methodology was utilized consisting of interviews, literature analyses and public reports as well as law enforcement incident records involving community and personal crises. The research findings reflect rising rates of black deaths, continued mistrust between law enforcement and neighborhoods and the necessity for specific enforcement of community values, behavior patterns and strategies to be utilized to ensure cultural plasticity and resiliency amidst death, dying, grief and mourning. Keyword - Crises, Grief, Mourning, Trauma, Psychopathology