Wounds of the Spirit: Black Women, Violence, and Resistance Ethics

by Traci C. West

Overview

A collection of first-person accounts documenting a historical legacy of violence against black women in the U.S.

In Wounds of the Spirit, Traci West employs first person accounts-from slave narratives to contemporary interviews to Tina Turner's autobiography-to document a historical legacy of violence against black women in the United States. West, a black feminist Christian ethicist, situates spiritual matters within a discussion of the psycho-social impact of intimate assault against African American women.

Distinctive for its treatment of the role of the church in response to violence against African American women, the book identifies specific social mechanisms which contribute to the reproduction of intimate violence. West insists that cultural beliefs as well as institutional practices must be altered if we are to combat the reproduction of violence, and suggests methods of resistance which can be utilized by victim-survivors, those in the helping professions, and the church.

Interrogating the dynamics of black women's experiences of emotional and spiritual trauma through the diverse disciplines of psychology, sociology, and theology, this important work will be of interest and practical use to those in women's studies, African American studies, Christian ethics, feminist and womanist theology, women's health, family counseling, and pastoral care.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814793350
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	03/01/1999
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	249
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Traci C. West is Professor of Ethics and African American Studies at Drew University Theological School. She is the author of Disruptive Christian Ethics: When Racism and Women’s Lives Matter and Wounds of the Spirit: Black Women, Violence and Resistance Ethics (NYU Press).

Editorial Reviews

"Wounds of the Spirit is a complex book about a complex and difficult topic."

Hypatia

West, a professor of ethics and African American studies at Drew University and a United Methodist clergyperson, employs first person accounts, from slave narratives to contemporary interviews to Tina Turner's autobiography, to document a historical legacy of violence against black women in the US. She confronts the ways that racism and sexism can intensify black women's anguish in the wake of intimate assault, situating spiritual matters within a discussion of the psychosocial impact of violence against women. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknew.com)

Booknews