RAMAPO - The trauma of slavery remains a contributing factor in alcohol and drug abuse among blacks, Joy DeGruy Leary, told mental health providers, social workers, prevention professionals and students yesterday.

Leary, a researcher and assistant professor at Oregon's Portland State University Graduate School of Social Work, is noted for her "Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome" theory. She proposes that some of the clinical and social problems in the African-American community were developed as coping mechanisms to survive centuries of racial oppression.

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