Seeing Race in the Research on Youth Trauma and Education: A Critical Review

Abstract

The growing body of scholarship on youth trauma in educational contexts has yielded promising discoveries about resources, programs, and practices that may improve success outcomes for trauma-exposed youth in U.S. schools. However, there is a lack of systematic review of this research from a race-conscious perspective. This article uses a racialization framework to examine how trauma is discussed in the literature with respect to youth in preK–12 educational contexts. This review sheds light on the potential ways a structurally racist and White supremacist system can shape students’ experiences with trauma and the dominant explanatory frames for discussing and addressing trauma. Finally, this article contributes ideas for conducting race-conscious trauma research, shifting trauma discourses, and building race-conscious pathways for supporting trauma-exposed youth.