LMU | LA - BCLA

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Office:

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e-mail:

Professor

University Hall 4743

(310) 338 - 2995

rbarrett@lmu.edu

Education:

B.S., Morgan State University, 1970
M.S., University of Pittsburgh, 1974
Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh , 1977

Specialty:

Death, Dying, bereavement and Black funeral rites, bereavement burnout, stress management, and urban youth homicidal violence.

Dr. Ronald K. Barrett is a professor of psychology at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles where he created and teaches a course with an accompanying lab on the Psychology of Death & Dying among other topics. He is an internationally recognized specialist on the study of cross-cultural differences in death, dying and funeral rites and has published widely on African American funeral practices and multicultural perspectives. He has served as a consultant to groups locally and nationally including the Open Society Institute, Los Angeles and Philadelphia County coroner's offices, the Mayor's Office of the City of Baltimore, the New York City, Compton, Inglewood, and Flint School Board Districts. He is widely known for his expertise on urban homicidal violence and youth. He has been a featured national teleconference speaker on the Hospice Foundation of America's 1995 ("Children Mourning, Mourning Children"), the Service Corporation International 1997 ("Communities in Crisis: Safeguarding our Kids at School and on the Streets"), and the Hospice Foundation of America's 1998 ("Living with Grief: Who We Are - How We Grieve"). He is a speaker, social advocate, researcher, and author of numerous scholarly projects on children, youth and death and dying. He has ten years of "hands on" experience as the founder and project director of a grass-roots urban anti-gang, drug and violence prevention program in South Central Los Angeles (The United Methodist Junior Basketball League & Youth Employment & Development Project). The project received numerous citations and awards. In 1998 he was recognized and honored for this work as a Expert in Residence via a grant from the Kellogg Foundation. He has worked on the treatment end as well working in research and design of grief support groups and methodologies in the treatment of traumatic loss in young inner city children. He is also actively involved in the HIV/AIDS community as well and is widely known nationally for his work and consultations on "Bereavement Burnout Prevention." His international reputation has involved him with research and teaching in Germany and for the summer of 1998 he conducted research and conducted a series of lectures in Melbourne, Australia. Most recently during the summer of 1999 Dr. Barrett has begun to study funeralization and aftercare practices among West African Akan and all Blacks of African descent including Blacks in the Caribbean. Dr. Barrett was an invited speaker and consultant for the Barbados National Assistance Board and is scheduled to be a keynote speaker for an international African and Caribbean Bereavement conference in the summer of 2000. Dr. Barrett is a member of the Association of Death Education and Counseling and is the founder and chair of its People of Color Forum and Multiculturalism Committee. He is also a member of the Association of Traumatic Stress Specialists, and the International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement.

Recent Publications:

Barrett, R. K. (In Press) "Can We Provide Better Aftercare to Blacks?"

Barrett, R. K. (2001) "Recommendations for Culturally Competent End-of-life Care Giving" Virtual Mentor American Medical association, Chicago, IL: (December 2001) Vol. 3, (12),
www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/6824.html

Barrett, R. K. & Heller, K. (2001) "Death and Dying in the Black experience: An Interview with Ronald K. Barrett, Ph. D." Innovations in End-of-Life Care: An International Journal and Online Forum of Leaders in End-of-Life Care. Newton, MA: Center for Applied Ethics & Professional Practice. (September - October 2001) Vol. 3(5), www.edc.org/lastacts

Barrett, R. K. (2001) "Visions of Aftercare in the New Millennium: Who Needs It?" In Weeks & Johnson’s (Eds.) When All the Friends Have Gone: Exploring Aftercare Issues for Professionals. Amityville, NY: Baywood Publishing Co., 215-228.

Barrett, R. K. (2000) "Unresolved Grief and Urban Youth Violence" The Forum. Official Journal/Newsletter of the Association of Death Education and Counseling, Hartford, CT., P. 1 - 3.

Barrett, R. K. (1998) "Sociocultural Considerations for working Blacks Experiencing Loss and Grief" In K. Doka's (Ed.) Living With Grief: How We Are - How We Grieve. Washington, D. C. Taylor & Francis Publishers, Inc., 83 - 96.

DeSpelder, L. & R. Barrett (1997) "Developing Multicultural Competency" The Director, Trade Journal of the National Funeral Directors Association. December 1977, Vol. LXIX, 12, 66-68. Barrett, R. K. (1997) "Bereaved Black Children" In J. Morgan's (Ed) Readings in Thanatology. Amityville, NY: Baywood Publishing Co.; 403 - 419.

Barrett, R. K. (1996) "It's How You Play the Game: Amazing things happen when a community reaches out to youth who are at risk" Devo'Zine (July/August '96) Nashville: The Upper Room, 56 - 57.

Barrett, R. K. (1996) "Adolescents, Homicidal Violence & Death" In C. Corr & E. Balk (Eds.) Handbook of Adolescent Death and Bereavement. New York: Springer Publishing Co., 42 - 84.

Barrett, R. K. (1995) "The Elephant People: The Phenomena of Social Withdrawal and Self- Imposed Isolation of People dying with AIDS." AIDS Patient Care. (October 1995), 240 - 244.

Barrett, R. K. (1995) "Psychocultural Influences on African American Attitudes Towards Death, Dying, and Funeral Rites" in Dickinson, Leming, & Mermann's (Eds.) Dying, Death and Bereavement 3rd Edition of the Annual Editions series of Dushkin Publishing Group, 173 - 178.

Barrett, R. K. (1995) "Contemporary African-American Funeral Rites and Traditions" In DeSpelder & Strickland's (Eds.) The Path Ahead: Readings in Death and Dying. Mountain View, California: Mayfield Publishing Company, 80 - 92.

Barrett, R. K. (1995) "Children and Traumatic Loss" In K. Doka's (Ed.) Children Mourning, Mourning Children. Washington, D. C.: Taylor & Francis Publishing Company, 85 - 88.

Barrett, R. K. (1995) "Mourning Lessons: Learning to Cope with Loss can Start at an Early Age" The Director, April 1995 (Volume LXVII, Number 4) Milwaukee, Wisconsin: The National Funeral Directors Association Publications, Inc., 24 - 63.

Barrett, R. K. (1994) "The Legacy of Traditional African-American Funeral Rites" Thanos: The Journal of the International Federation of Thantologists Associations -Federation Internationale des Associations de Thanatologues. Milwaukee, Wi.:International Federation of Thanatologists Associations - Federation Internationale des Associations de Thanatologues; 18 - 20.

Barrett, R. K. (1994) "Reclaiming and Reaffirming the Value of Contemporary African American Funeral Rites" The Director: Trade Journal of the National Funeral Directors Association 36 - 40.

Barrett, R. K. (1993) "Urban Adolescent Homicidal Violence: An emerging public health concern" The Urban League Review. Carfax Publishing Co., 67 - 75.

Barrett, R. K." (1993) Psychocultural Influences on African American Attitudes Towards Death, Dying, and Funeral Rites" in John Morgan's(Ed.) Personal Care in an Impersonal World. Amityville, New York: Baywood Press, Inc., 213 - 230.

Barrett, R. K. "Urban Adolescent Homicidal Violence: Who is At-risk?" (1992) In The Proceedings of the 1992 National Conference on Troubled Adolescents - San Antonio, Texas - March 18, 1992.)

Barrett, R. K. "African-American Homicide and Suicide: A Closer Look At Who is At Risk" The American Black Male., April/May 1991 3(2), 4-8; June/July 1991, 3(3), 4-6.

Barrett, R.K. (1986) "Cultural Mistrust as a Contributor to Mental Health and Psychopathology." (Published in ERIC/CADS Resources in Education, February 1986 ED 261296).

Founder & Director of the First Year Institute (1999-2000)