Considering the Phenomenon of Violence in Black and Brown Communities

An Interview with Lawrence Stevenson and Dr. Alex Pieterse

Authors

  • Lawrence Stevenson
  • Alex Pieterse

Keywords:

race, race violence, violence, antiracism

Abstract

Editors Note: The United States of America (US) has a long history of racialized violence including the abhorrent historical record of genocide perpetrated against Native Americans, the violence of slavery and lynching and stated sanctioned violence in the form of police brutality (Ihaza, 2020). Couched in this historical record is the individual and community-based violence and the notable role of gun culture within the US (Branas et al., 2021). The narrative associated with community violence and mass shooting often reflect dominant racialized narratives which in turn influence how society views and reacts to violence as it occurs both in regard to mass shootings and racialized communities (Doxbury et al., 2018). The following interview therefore documents the perspective of an individual involved in violence intervention. 

Lawrence Stevenson (LS), BS, is interviewed by Alex L. Pieterse (ALP), PhD.

Author Biographies

Lawrence Stevenson

Lawrence Stevenson has worked for the last decade in areas of trauma response, racial equity, and violence prevention. He holds a BS in Psychology and Public Services from the Commonwealth Honors College at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Currently, he is a Doctoral student in Counseling Psychology at the Boston College Lynch School of Education and is a Research Assistant at the Institute for the Study of Race and Culture. His research interest lay at the intersection of racial trauma and community violence.

Alex Pieterse

Dr. Alex L. Pieterse is an Associate Professor and Director of the Institute for the Study of Race and Culture at Boston College. He received his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University. Dr. Pieterse’s scholarship focuses on psychosocial aspects of race and racism, racial trauma, and anti-racism training and advocacy. He is also a licensed psychologist and maintains a psychotherapy practice working with individuals and couples.

 

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Published

2022-10-02

How to Cite

Stevenson, L., & Pieterse, A. (2022). Considering the Phenomenon of Violence in Black and Brown Communities: An Interview with Lawrence Stevenson and Dr. Alex Pieterse. New England Journal of Relational and Systemic Practice, 2(3). Retrieved from https://www.nejournalrsp.com/index.php/mejrsp/article/view/48

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 3 (2022): Creating a More Intentional Healthcare System

Section

Reducing Violence

License

Copyright (c) 2022 New England Journal of Relational and Systemic Practice

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

 © 2021 New England Association for Family and Systemic Therapy. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons license (CC 4.0)