Massive Community Violence: Collective Trauma

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Massive Community Violence Collective Trauma
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Definition of Trauma

• Trauma was initially a medical term referring
  to a wound. However, it also began to be used to
  refer to an emotional wound.
• By definition, emotional trauma is "emotional
  shock producing a lasting effect on a person"
  (Oxford, 1980, s.v. "trauma").

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Emotional Trauma

• Thus today trauma is often used to refer to a
  deep emotional wound or psychological pain that
  arises in response to a stressor outside of the
  range of usual human experience such as torture,
  assault, and various forms of violence and abuse.
• A person may become traumatized as a result of
  exposure to such a stressful event if that event
  overwhelms a person's coping mechanisms.

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Exposure to potentially Traumatic Situations vs
Being Traumatized

• Trauma is defined by the subjective experience of
  the survivor.
• Two people could undergo the same event and one
  person might be traumatized, while the other
  person remained relatively unscathed.
• It is not possible to make blanket
  generalizations such that "X is traumatic for all
  who go through it" or "event Y was not traumatic
  because no one was physically injured." You
  cannot assume that the details or meaning of an
  event that are most distressing for one person
  will be same for another person.

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de Jong et al. The Prevalence of Mental Health
Problems in Rwandan and Burundese Refugee Camps.

• Using Western measures (but intended to be
  generic General Health Questionnaire),
  prevalence of serious mental health problems
  estimated at 50 (even if as low as 24, at least
  90,000 persons w/problems)
• Group and community level interventions are
  called for (ex psycho-ed campaigns or
  therapeutic community activity centers).

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Bolton P (2001). Local Perceptions of the Mental
Health Effects of the Rwandan Genocide.

• Ethnographic methods of data collection based on
  Rwandans own perceptions wanted to know are
  Western concepts of mental health and illness
  valid with this population?
• mental trauma (Guhahamuka) and grief
  (Agahinda) syndromes similar to depression (w/
  some components of PTSD) and additional local
  symptoms (see pg 246 symptom lists)
• Traditional healers were also asked for inputs.

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Massive Community Violence

• HOW TO ADRS THE NEEDS WHEN THE POTENTIAL NUMBERS
  OF THOSE IN NEED APPEAR OVERWHELMING?
• 1. Do you believe that, following such massive
  community violence, communities and/or groups and
  individuals have the capacity to heal themselves?
  
• 2. Do you think that under such circumstances
  everyone would be traumatized?
• 3. Can you think of interventions that might
  assist those most in need of healing and promote
  increased capacity of communities to heal
  themselves?

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Case study

• Rwanda survivors of massive community violence
• 1. First consider who (individual, family, group,
  community) is the client and these same potential
  levels of intervention
• 2. Discuss the individual in context and the
  potential impact of the environment on the
  individual and vice versa.
• 3. To what extent does this client appear to be
  experiencing subjective distress, personal
  discomfort, and/or functional impairment? How
  might this client define their own situation?
• 4. Identify apparent risk factors and protective
  factors, and coping skills.
• 5. Consider what type of intervention strategies
  might be helpful to this particular client and
  why. Remember the broad goals of all
  interventions.