scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
Topic

Historical trauma

About: Historical trauma is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 632 publications have been published within this topic receiving 15782 citations.


Papers
More filters
Book
02 Nov 2000
TL;DR: In this article, a series of interlocking essays explores theoretical and literary-critical attempts to come to terms with trauma as well as the crucial role post-traumatic testimonies-particularly Holocaust testimonies-have assumed in recent thought and writing.
Abstract: Trauma and its often symptomatic aftermath pose acute problems for historical representation and understanding. In Writing History, Writing Trauma, Dominick LaCapra provides a broad-ranging, critical inquiry into the problem of trauma, notably with respect to major historical events. In a series of interlocking essays, he explores theoretical and literary-critical attempts to come to terms with trauma as well as the crucial role post-traumatic testimonies-particularly Holocaust testimonies-have assumed in recent thought and writing. In doing so, he adapts psychoanalytic concepts to historical analysis and employs sociocultural and political critique to elucidate trauma and its after effects in culture and in people. In the first chapter LaCapra addresses trauma from the perspective of history as a discipline. He then lays a theoretical groundwork for the book as a whole, exploring the concept of historical specificity and insisting on the difference between transhistorical and historical trauma. Subsequent chapters consider how Holocaust testimonies raise the problem of the role of affect and empathy in historical understanding, and respond to the debates surrounding Daniel Jonah Goldhagen's book Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust. The book's concluding essay, "Writing (About) Trauma," examines the various ways that the voice of trauma emerges in written and oral accounts of historical events. Theoretically ambitious and historically informed, Writing History, Writing Trauma is an important contribution from one of today's foremost experts on trauma.

1,188 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: The abundant literature on Jewish Holocaust survivors and their children is used to delineate the intergenerational transmission of trauma, grief, and the survivor's child complex and interventions based on traditional Indian ceremonies and modern western treatment modalities for grieving and healing of those losses are described.
Abstract: American Indians experienced massive losses of lives, land, and culture from European contact and colonization resulting in a long legacy of chronic trauma and unresolved grief across generations. This phenomenon, labeled historical unresolved grief, contributes to the current social pathology of high rates of suicide, homicide, domestic violence, child abuse, alcoholism and other social problems among American Indians. The present paper describes the concept of historical unresolved grief and historical trauma among American Indians, outlining the historical as well as present social and political forces which exacerbate it. The abundant literature on Jewish Holocaust survivors and their children is used to delineate the intergenerational transmission of trauma, grief, and the survivor's child complex. Interventions based on traditional American Indian ceremonies and modern western treatment modalities for grieving and healing of those losses are described.

1,073 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article presents a multilevel framework for exploring the impact of historically traumatic events on individuals, families, and communities and the critical connection between historicallytraumatic events and contemporary stressors.
Abstract: Over multiple generations, American Indian communities have endured a succession of traumatic events that have enduring consequences for community members. This article presents a multilevel framework for exploring the impact of historically traumatic events on individuals, families, and communities. The critical connection between historically traumatic events and contemporary stressors is also discussed at length.

787 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Results indicate both scales have high internal reliability and indicate that the current generation of American Indian adults have frequent thoughts pertaining to historical losses and that they associate these losses with negative feelings.
Abstract: This article reports on the development of two measures relating to historical trauma among American Indian people: The Historical Loss Scale and The Historical Loss Associated Symptoms Scale. Measurement characteristics including frequencies, internal reliability, and confirmatory factor analyses were calculated based on 143 American Indian adult parents of children aged 10 through 12 years who are part of an ongoing longitudinal study of American Indian families in the upper Midwest. Results indicate both scales have high internal reliability. Frequencies indicate that the current generation of American Indian adults have frequent thoughts pertaining to historical losses and that they associate these losses with negative feelings. Two factors of the Historical Loss Associated Symptoms Scale indicate one anxiety/depression component and one anger/avoidance component. The results are discussed in terms of future research and theory pertaining to historical trauma among American Indian people.

623 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Historical trauma (HT) is cumulative emotional and psychological wounding over the lifespan and across generations, emanating from massive group trauma experiences; the historical trauma response (HTR) is the constellation of features in reaction to this trauma as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Historical trauma (HT) is cumulative emotional and psychological wounding over the lifespan and across generations, emanating from massive group trauma experiences; the historical trauma response (HTR) is the constellation of features in reaction to this trauma The HTR often includes depression, self-destructive behavior, suicidal thoughts and gestures, anxiety, low self-esteem, anger, and difficulty recognizing and expressing emotions It may include substance abuse, often an attempt to avoid painful feelings through self-medication Historical unresolved grief is the associated affect that accompanies HTR; this grief may be considered fixated, impaired, delayed, and/or disenfranchised This article will explain HT theory and the HTR, delineate the features of the HTR and its grounding in the literature, offer specific Native examples of HT and HTR, and will suggest ways to incorporate HT theory in treatment, research and evaluation The article will conclude with implications for all massively traumatized populations

607 citations


Network Information
Related Topics (5)
Narrative
64.2K papers, 1.1M citations
76% related
Social environment
17.4K papers, 840.6K citations
74% related
Mental illness
35.4K papers, 952.8K citations
74% related
Human sexuality
39.5K papers, 1M citations
74% related
Domestic violence
40.6K papers, 1M citations
73% related
Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
202325
202239
202156
202059
201959
201851