CUTTING CANE: A CULTURAL STUDIES-INFORMED APPROACH TO TRAUMA AND CULTURAL COMPETENCE

Co-authored with Carlos A. Larrauri. In HPHR Journal (formerly the Harvard Public Health Review), PRISM: Mental Health Through the Lens of Difference, September 2023.

Cultural studies can provide a window into understanding the transmission of trauma between generations of racial and ethnic minority groups. By engaging theories from cultural studies in examining the experience of a Cuban-American family seeking mental health care, we see how shared cultural identities between patients and providers do not necessarily translate into culturally competent care. Cultural studies-informed analysis could help us critique and improve our understanding of care for Cuban Americans and, similarly, be applied to improve the care of other racial and ethnic minority groups.