Collective Trauma Research Articles

Communicative Generations between Cold War Trauma and HBO-Type ‘Televisuality’: Entering the Paratextual Flow of Chernobyl, The Informant, and Spy/Master

The aim of the article is to characterize an emerging type of cultural memory-work with reference to Eastern European collective traumas and various media platforms. Through an analysis of the introductory parts and the credit sequences of 2019 Chernobyl, 2022 The Informant, and 2023 Spy/Master it is demonstrated that historical Cold War era television – as institution and objects, but also as an electronic medium – is remediated in these (paratextual) segments for the digital era, while making use of ‘cool medium’ characteristics (McLuhan 1964), or of the four ‘televisual modes’ (Caldwell 1993). The HBO-type ­‘aestheticization’ (Caldwell) of Cold War era, collectively traumatic experiences in the three segments exposes the addressees of these messages: those who do not have a personal memory of that period, having been born after the 1989–1990 regime changes, or the ‘forgetters’ and/or ‘mourners’ in the Assmannian model of the three communicative generations (2011, 2012). The comparative analysis allows for the suggestion that Chernobyl may be considered a ‘benchmark hit[s] in a genre [that] serve[s] as [a] prototype’ (Grindon), preformatting the field of non-autobiographical, second or third generation(al), transnational, and ‘televisual’ remembrance of Cold War era traumatization – as indexed by secret service characters.

COLLECTIVE TRAUMA: THE CASE OF BELARUS AFTER 2020

This article is devoted to the analysis of the collective trauma of Belarusian society received during the violent suppression of protests that broke out in 2020 after the falsification of the presidential elections and lasted for several months. The empirical basis for the article comprised two sociological studies conducted in 2022 and 2023 under the leadership of the author of this paper. The methodological basis of the study is grounded in the theoretical developments of trauma studies research programs. However, the specificity of the Belarusian situation, which consists in ongoing retraumatization, necessitated the development of the author’s version of the research methodology. It is based on a distinction between “traumatic experience”, “trauma” and “post-traumatic growth.” Based on this, the scale of traumatic experience, the degree of traumatization of so- ciety and the coping strategies used by society are separately examined. All parts of Belarusian society need to be studied from the point of view of collective traumatization, but this article considered only the protesting part of Belarusian society as the most traumatized during the protests. The article shows that the entire protest-minded part of Belarusian society has a traumatic experience. In addition to the ongoing repression, the traumatic situation is aggravated by media retraumatization. At the same time, there is no need to talk about a high degree of traumatization. Although Belarusian society is characterized by an increased level of anxiety, there are no negative assessments of past protest experiences. On the contrary, participants in the 2020 protests tend to idealize this experience. In addition, both the adoption of intact coping strategies and the functioning of a predominantly positive protest narrative help overcome traumatic experiences. At the same time, the “protest narrative” has not yet been formalized to the extent that collective trauma would begin to function as cultural trauma.

“What Else Explains This Trauma but Porn?” Women Partners of Porn Addicts as Claims-Makers

Heterosexual women partners of “porn addicts” are an understudied group of claims-makers in the construction of this social problem. To examine their diagnostic frames, this paper analyzes 33 surveys and 35 interviews with women recruited from a social support site. While respondents describe their negative relationship dynamics as a gendered collective trauma, the majority attribute blame exclusively to pornography as an addictive medium. Explanations of relationship dissatisfaction which invoke patriarchal control are read as feminist and inappropriate on the site, as trolls could have the site taken down for “man-hating.” In the absence of these alternate explanations, the saturation of stories of women’s reported suffering becomes linked to porn alone. This paper contributes to scholars’ understanding of how the censoring of feminist perspectives online shapes how diagnostic frames are circulated and repressed, with consequences for how groups can make meaning of gender and sexuality.

Transformative Resilience: Harnessing ICT for Trauma Recovery and Community Empowerment among Eritrean Refugees

This study investigates the effectiveness of the TRUST intervention, delivered through Information and Communication Technology (ICT), in addressing trauma and enhancing resilience among Eritrean refugees in impoverished camps. The research aims to explore whether the comprehensive TRUST program, compared to a shorter psycho-education session, can reduce traumatic stress levels and improve social and economic resilience and social capital, indicating a reduction in collective trauma. Ethical approval was obtained, and participants were randomly assigned to intervention groups. Livelihood support availability was assessed, and psychometric tests were administered before and after the intervention. Results indicate a significant decrease in traumatic stress levels and improvements in social and economic resilience among participants receiving the full TRUST intervention. Interestingly, the availability of livelihood support did not significantly impact trauma levels or associated improvements. Challenges in delivering therapy via ICT, such as connectivity issues, were identified. This study underscores the potential of ICT-enabled interventions in addressing mental health challenges in resource-constrained environments but highlights the importance of addressing connectivity issues for effective implementation.

Ментальна топографія травми (за романом володимира рафєєнка петрикор – запах землі після дощу)

The article is research into the traumatic experience of war, based on the Volodymyr Rafieienko’s novel Petrichor – Smell of the Earth after the Rain. It’s logical to examine this text from the position of trauma studies, which have become very actual in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war and its consequences. The writer represented the prospect of overcoming collective and individual trauma in a very original way. He describes in details the painful experiences caused by the forced resettlement of people, and most of all – the feeling of guilt due to the death of close ones. Rafieienko’s novel reflects the world of imagination of a person with a disturbed psyche. In such a way, he suggests a new kind of narration where imaginarium (the world of fantasy, visions and the dreams of the characters) and the pictures of an unbearable reality, which must be recalled to understand the depth of the pain in order to continue living, are crossed in a natural way. Petrichor… represents the author’s individual vision of the cultural trauma, which causes a radical change in human identity. This new identity is the creative force and at the same time, it impresses on one the state of total danger, nationwide mobilization and solidarity. The writer raises the issue of sacred sacrifice. We mean the price that must be paid for the renunciation of the difficult past. All this leads to a persistent psychological disorder within the novel’s characters. Thus, Rafieienko carries out a mental topography of trauma, indicating its important markers and motives within a specific geocultural space.

Can the Phoenix still rise? Traumatic effect of Beirut port explosion on Lebanese people's experiences.

Mental distress and decreased functionality are highly prevalent after collective traumas. Survivors' ability to function is worsened by untreated distress and unmet needs related to job security and a sense of belonging. We aim to identify groups of people using a latent class analysis based on multiple dimensions of subjective experiences after a massive urban violent event. This cross-sectional internet-based study included 1,305 Lebanese adults 4 months after the Beirut Port explosion. Emotions, attitudes, and needs were assessed using the iCode software, a novel approach measuring explicit subjective answers and implicit reaction time to various statements. Responses revealed alarming levels of distress with 75%-80% of participants feeling anxious. Latent class analysis differentiated three groups on initial dimensions derived from the principal component analysis. The first group included those with the most intense emotional distress and intrusive thoughts. They were younger, had higher job worries, and wanted to leave the country. The second group was equally distressed, with marked intrusion and avoidance yet with faith and community resilience buffering negative emotionality. The last group was less distressed with a marked sense of community. Clustering people based on emotional experiences, needs, and resources might offer additional benefits to traditional assessments that fail to detect the variability of vulnerability to mass violence within seemingly homogeneous samples. Integrating implicit and explicit responses also helps with a rapid classification, providing insight to subjective attitudes postcollective trauma. The study mostly provides suggestions for targeted outreach to at-risk subpopulations to better foster resilience in unstable environments. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES OF SECULAR PROGRAMS OF COMPASSION TRAINING

The article discusses key meditation-based programs aimed at nurturing and training the ability to empathize. Historically, these programs have been drawn to Buddhist teachings and traditional meditation practices, but in the process of adapting to global world and a secular context, they separate themselves from religion. In the process of research, I try to demonstrate the importance of these methods for philosophy, ethics and education, since the cultivation of compassion helps to better and more deeply understand the nature of a person, motivation and improve social interaction. Important for the modern world can be not only the therapeutic effect of the mentioned methods, but also their application in the field of philosophy. Although the vectors of Buddhism as religion and humanistic ethics may differ, they seek to improve the quality of human life, develop compassion, respect, trust to the world, and complement each other in conditions of environmental, social, and psychological crisis. For Ukraine, methods of compassion training are very important in the context of war and post-war healing of society. Education in general, and philosophical education in particular, will need a wide range of tools for healing collective trauma, returning to oneself, finding the home of being.

Collective Trauma and Political Activism: Learning from the Bereaved Families of Shot Down Ukrainian Airline Flight 752

ABSTRACT On January 8, 2020, Ukraine Airline Flight 752 was shot down minutes after taking off from Tehran, Iran, by an Iranian surface-to-air missile. This happened hours after Iran had launched missiles at US targets in Iraq. Amongst the 176 people killed in this tragedy, many of them children, were 85 Iranian-Canadians who had traveled to visit their relatives in Iran. Over the past two years, families of the victims have struggled to find some healing from this trauma amidst political pressures in their fight to get accountability, transparency and justice for their loved ones. This paper is an account of group therapy sessions conducted over two years with these bereaved families, mostly mothers. I provide a detailed account of how relational psychoanalytic principles were utilized to develop a group psychotherapy model for dealing with this novice complex situation where the trauma is as individual as it is collective. For these families, grief and trauma is complicated by the sociopolitical issues surrounding the incident, including lack of transparency, dishonesty, insensitivity and absence of any attempts at reparations or reconciliation by the Iranian government in the aftermath of this tragedy. I examine how these political moments has come to inform psychological challenges of the group, including their emotions, dreams and fantasies. I further elaborate on how these experiences have transformed these individuals into political activists as observed not only in their individual and collective identities but also in their actual participation in the political arena.

Communal Trauma, Communal Justice: Discussion of Afarin Kohan and Bettina von Lieres

ABSTRACT In exploring collective trauma, the works of Kohan and von Lieres reveal how political subjectivity emerges through collective activism transforming helplessness, invisibility and despair. Inspired by the two authors, and their deep commitment to political action, I want to find ways to break through the dissociation of those in power. Rather than leaving the responsibility of political citizenship solely in the hands of the marginalized, I explore ways for those of us living in unjust societies to be more generative justice seekers. In the midst of polarization, violence, staggering inequality and ecological disaster it is time to build solidarity across borders of nation, identity, and class. In resonance with the two authors, I am in search of ethical actions that traverse the rough waters of collective trauma. I explore ways that we may continue to develop as an ethical society accepting responsibility for the injuries that have been experienced without acting as rival factions or waging wars of small differences within movements.

Political Activation and Material Indignity

ABSTRACT By far the majority of people in our world live in economically precarious communities in which daily experiences of material indignity are reinforced by disrespectful treatment from public authorities. Although these communities experience the collective trauma of material indignity and social nonrecognition, they tend to engage frequently in collective activism to demand dignified lives. Sometimes the collective action is very public, e.g. street protests against the lack of sanitation. At other times the collective action is less public and under the radar, embedded in everyday livelihood activities. These forms of activism not intended as political; they emerge out of necessity. In this paper I explore a number of inter-related questions: what kind of political activation emerges from experiences of being treated less than human in material and recognition terms? What kind of psychological frame does political activation offer for the emergence of identity and subjectivity? How do people move between experiences of painful non- recognition toward political thoughts (and collective action) about being rightful citizens? What does it mean for unformulated experience to become represented through political activation as a mode of building a sense of self with one another? The paper seeks to contribute to a fruitful dialogue on activism between psychoanalysis and the social sciences.

Mirrors of War

This treatise reflects the author’s experiences working with clients during the ongoing war in Ukraine, delving into the psychological challenges faced by analysts and clients alike amidst the stress, injury, pain, death, and destruction caused by the conflict. Drawing from personal reflections and the theoretical insights of James Hillman and C. G. Jung, the piece explores the human capacity to comprehend and imagine the horrors of war, discussing the normalization of war, the struggle to find meaning amidst chaos, and the profound impact of collective and personal trauma. Through clinical anecdotes, the author highlights the resilience and courage of Ukrainians, the role of supervision and nature in psychological stability, and the importance of finding meaning and healing during times of extreme adversity.

Trafficking Hadassah: Collective Trauma, Cultural Memory, and Identity in the Book of Esther and in the African Diaspora by Ericka Shawndricka Dunbar (review)

Trafficking Hadassah: Collective Trauma, Cultural Memory, and Identity in the Book of Esther and in the African Diaspora by Ericka Shawndricka Dunbar (review)

Associations between posttraumatic stress symptoms and posttraumatic growth elements: A network analysis.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a collective trauma causing profound psychological distress and, in some cases, positive psychological changes. The present study ascertained the most influential symptoms and strong connections between posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms and posttraumatic growth (PTG) elements. It also examined the symptoms/elements that acted as a bridge between the two, to elucidate how PTS and PTG co-exist. The PTSD Checklist (PCL-5) and Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) were used to assess PTS symptoms and PTG, respectively, in a sample of 509 adults from Kashmir, India. The network analysis revealed negative trauma-related emotions as the most influential symptom in the PTS network, and the ability to do better things with life as the most influential element in the PTG network. Eight bridge symptoms/elements emerged between the PTS and PTG, namely intrusive thoughts, nightmares, more compassion for others, sleep disturbances, trauma-related amnesia, hypervigilance, willingness to express emotions, and counting on others more. The study identified the most influential symptom in the PTS network and the bridge symptoms in the combined network of PTS symptoms and PTG elements in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in the present sample. The bridge symptoms helped in understanding how PTS and PTG co-existed in adults exposed to disasters such as COVID-19. Identification of these symptoms can be highly significant for developing targeted interventions. These implications have been discussed further in the present study. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Editorial

This editorial addresses the ongoing collective trauma that is affecting us all around the globe, including weather crises, ongoing wars and political strife, and how the arts can help to address the associated individual and global stress, including how the arts have always served to depict, illuminate and heal, helping to bring a sense of order within chaos and overwhelm. The editorial also outlines the contributions of the authors of articles and notes from the field, demonstrating first-hand how the arts are used to inspire, stimulate and motivate us to address the growing collective anxieties and trauma that is occurring in our world.

Sociopolitically and Trauma-Informed Public Health Practice With Latinx Families: Conceptual Framework and Best Practices.

Public health practitioners working with Latinx families in the United States must consider the historical contexts of colonization and slavery that have created conditions of violence, displacement, and social and economic marginalization throughout Latin America. Although shared experiences of colonization, dispossession, and migration affect all Latinxs, diverse national histories and sociopolitical contexts, migration patterns, and intersecting identities (e.g., gender, social class, race) complicate efforts to develop a uniform approach to this heterogeneous population. We provide a critical analysis of (1) how past experiences contribute to collective trauma and motivate migration, and (2) how these experiences are replicated in the United States through immigration-related adversities that deprive and threaten children and families through marginalization, fear of detention and deportation, and family separation brought on by a parent's deportation. This knowledge is imperative to advance research, practice, and policymaking with US Latinx populations. We provide best practice recommendations for a sociopolitically and trauma- informed public health workforce interfacing with Latinxs in the United States. (Am J Public Health. 2024;114(S6):S485-S494. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307589) [Formula: see text].

THE HALF MOTHER: AN INQUIRY INTO THE POETICS OF RESISTANCE LITERATURE

“The Half Mother: An Inquiry into the Poetics of Resistance Literature” investigates the dynamic interplay between literary representation and political resistance in the context of the Kashmir conflict. This paper delves into how Shahnaz Bashir's novel, The Half Mother, exemplifies the genre of resistance literature by exploring the intersection of personal and collective trauma amidst a protracted conflict. The Kashmir Valley, historically a cradle of poetic and artistic expression, has faced profound devastation since the late 1980s due to a surge in violence and insurgency. This period, marked by intense militarization and human rights abuses, has given rise to a distinct body of English-language literature that seeks to authentically portray the lived experiences of its people.The study situates The Half Mother within the broader framework of resistance literature, drawing on Ghassan Kanafani's theoretical construct of resistance as both a cultural and political act. This study demonstrates how these literary efforts transcend mere chronicles of victimhood to engage in a profound examination of human resilience and the quest for self-determination. Bashir’s novel thus emerges as a pivotal text that not only contributes to the international literary discourse but also amplifies the voices of a marginalized and silenced population. The Half Mother encapsulates the transformation of individual suffering into a collective resistance, shedding light on the intrinsic link between literary creation and political struggle, and offering a poignant commentary on the enduring human spirit amidst adversity.

“El nombre de nuestro país está en nuestros corazones”: exploring the impact of school-based identity messaging in Central American immigrant youth

ABSTRACT For immigrant youth, the development of a bicultural identity is associated with well-being and academic achievement. The institutional and social contexts of the receiving society, including public schools, shape processes of bicultural identity development. This exploratory qualitative study, which employed a phenomenological design, explored the experiences and perspectives of 20 Central American immigrant youth, with specific attention paid to messaging received about their identities of origin in the educational milieu. Despite experiences of both positive and negative identity messaging, all participants described an enduring sense of pride from and a strong desire to retain a meaningful connection to their identities of origin. Building on these participant perspectives, this study offers a preliminary exploration of identity resilience in this population of immigrant youth. These perspectives challenge previous theoretical models and empirical work related to the effects of acculturative stress, negative identity messaging, and collective identity trauma on connection to identity of origin.

Pandemic Biopolitics in Romanian Literature

Pandemic Biopolitics in Romanian Literature. The biopolitics of the COVID pandemic years has had a powerful impact on all areas of activity, including literature and the arts. Contagion and isolation quickly became the governing terms of social interaction, and writers promptly echoed their impact in works that tried to capture the spirit of the time as it was unfolding. Romanian writers were particularly prompt in responding to the challenges of this unprecedented crisis in modern decades, therefore the first pandemic writings were published in the later months of 2020. Florina Ilis’ Pandemia veselă și tristă (The Happy and Sad Pandemic, Polirom, 2020), Teodor Hossu-Longin’s Măștile din spatele măștii (The Masks behind the Mask, Hyperliteratura, 2022) and collective volumes such as Izolare (Isolation, Nemira 2020) and Jurnal din vremea pandemiei. Proză de grup (Journal from the Times of the Pandemic, Brumar, 2021), edited by Marius Cosmeanu, are just the most visible examples that could be explored in this context. Drawing from theories concerning posthumanism, medical humanities, ethics and contagion, this paper aims to explore the manner in which the pandemic segment of Romanian literature could be integrated into a global literary framework that highlights a diversity of genres and a plurality of voices galvanizing the relationship between the massive effects of the pandemic and narrative art. My paper aims at mapping an emerging literary dialect that gives shape, voice and coherence to a collective experience that has left an indelible imprint on the present and will significantly shape the cultural climate of the near future. Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, isolation, collective trauma, posthumanism, contagion, medical humanities, peripheral literatures.

Transgenerational Traumatization in the Yazidi Community

Abstract In recent years Islamic terrorism has manifested itself with an unexpectedly destructive force. Even though in most cases it started locally, it has spread its terror over the whole world. In August 2014, when troops of the self-proclaimed “Islamic State” invaded areas of northern Iraq, they turned on the long-established religious minorities in the area with tremendous brutality, especially toward the Yazidi religious minority. Huge numbers of men were executed, and women and children were abducted and subjected to sexual violence. In an attempt at systematic destruction of the Yazidi community, the religious minority was to be eliminated and the will of the victims broken. The medical and mental health issues of the resulting from the combined subjective, collective, and cultural traumas, last not least followed by the migrant and refugee crisis, are extraordinary and need new and wise concepts of integrated medical care.

Surviving not living: Bird Box and mothering through trauma

Bird Box is described as a post-apocalyptic horror thriller, released in 2018, which depicts the plight of a mother raising two young children in the grip of collective trauma, and the ripple effects thereof. In this article, I draw upon key theoretical constructs from the field of trauma studies including attachment and psychoanalytic theories, in relation to the protagonist of Bird Box (Malorie) and her children, to illuminate the effects of relational, collective and transgenerational trauma on mothers and their children. In particular, I apply my reflections upon features of the film to mothering in the socio-political context of Northern Ireland, and the COVID-19 pandemic, to elucidate the complexities of mothering in these contexts. I suggest that Bird Box creates a visceral experience of mothering through trauma for viewers, which enables us to think through salient questions about the needs of mothers and children, beginning to live again in the aftermath of trauma.