Review of Memory, war and trauma.

Abstract

Memory, War and Trauma, by Nigel C. Hunt. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2010, 244 pages (ISBN 978-0-521-88784-3, CA $100.95 Hardcover; ISBN 978-0-52171625-3, CA $35.95 Paperback) When reading a book about and memory, most psychologists expect to encounter detailed reviews of cognitive theories of emotion, memory, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), along with the research testing these theories. Nigel C. Hunt's book entitled Memory, War and Trauma presents a very different perspective on how memory, war, and interface, drawing upon a variety of sources not frequently accessed by psychologists. He promotes an interdisciplinary approach to studying memory and war; however, rather than drawing upon the usual fields, such as biology or sociology, Dr. Hunt suggests that a careful examination of history and literature are also integral to developing a complete understanding of memory and war. This book is not designed for individuals unfamiliar with the field of and war. Though he provides a brief introduction to key areas, such as his book really is designed for experts in the field of PTSD and military psychology who are looking to advance their understanding of memory and using novel methodological approaches. He provides an in-depth discussion on narrative research, a methodology he suggests can be used to develop a better, more thorough understanding of memory and war. The book contains 14 chapters, with roughly the first few chapters outlining the purpose of the book and the remaining first half outlining current research on trauma. The second half argues for the need to incorporate social discourse in the study of and describes methods of doing so. Chapters 1 and 2 set the stage for the rest of the book. Chapter 1 outlines constructs relevant to the book, particularly emphasising social discourse, the difference between war trauma and PTSD, and the narrative approach. The second chapter demonstrates the importance of considering social discourse and personal narrative when studying by examining views of and throughout history. For example, Hunt argues that in World War I (WWI), symptoms of PTSD were viewed as a sign of weak constitution rather than a problem arising out of traumatic experiences. Chapters 3 through 6 review current research on trauma, with the intention of highlighting some of the weaknesses of existing research. Dr. Hunt provides a concise summary of methods of studying trauma, particularly including both experimental techniques and nonexperimental methods. He devotes a significant portion of this chapter to emphasising the weakness of experimental methods and the advantages of interview methods. His central argument is that experimental methods do not represent the idiographic experience of survivors that can be better captured using narrative methods. A more balanced review of methodology, emphasising the weakness of both experimental and interview methods, would have been helpful. The fourth, fifth, and sixth chapters review and critique the definition of models of and posttraumatic growth respectively. He argues once again that the definition of PTSD and the corresponding research on PTSD and posttraumatic growth do not adequately capture the individual experience of trauma, particularly trauma. These chapters are quite inclusive and briefly cover a range of material. This brief review is helpful to remind readers of current theories of PTSD and trauma, but would not necessarily be informative to the novice reader. Having demonstrating the shortcomings of the current approaches to understanding and namely that they do not adequately capture individual experiences of and trauma, Dr. Hunt devotes the second half of his book to methods that could enable the researcher to better understand such individual experiences, especially the narrative method. …