Presenter(s): Katie Leonard—Family & Human Services
Co-Presenter(s): Emily Harris
Faculty Mentor(s): Matthias Vogel
Session: Prerecorded Poster Presentation
Many a well-intentioned mission trip to Mexico and Middle or South America can have unintended effects . They can lead to a sort of institutionalized dehumanization and to human rights violations, especially considering many NGOs seem to have ulterior motives when aiding Latin American countries . Our research illuminates the intricate interplay between a genuine desire to help and the self-serving reality of a “White Savior Complex” which mission trips can feed, even if it is often unintentional . We examine the media portrayal of mission trips, the public advertising for mission trips by religious organizations and institutions, and include case studies of actual mission trips to illuminate concepts such Impure Altruism and mission drift particularly as pertaining to nonprofit organizations . There are several ways in which Americans are conditioned to the ways of the white savior complex, which include: volunteering abroad, the ways in which government covers foreign policy, the teaching of world history in classroom settings, and the way in which Hollywood portrays Latin countries . A contested topic resulting in a serious divide between races, some white people claim that those who bring light to the topic of the white savior complex, particularly people of color, are committing reverse racism . Our project aims to contribute to the larger discussion and to bring to light the mechanisms of dehumanization in order to further better empathy and true understanding .