Developmental & Ecological Perspective on the Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma & Violence

The focus of this essay is on understanding the development and maintenance of patterns of violent behavior for the purpose of identifying points of prevention and intervention. Close attention is paid to using person-centered language that does not conflate exhibiting violent behaviors with being a violent person. There is a meaningful perceptual difference between discussing the behaviors of a violent person versus discussing a person who engaged in violent behaviors: the former is more likely to be associated with immutable characteristics of a person and the latter is more likely to be associated with attempts at understanding social and contextual causes of the behavior.

Transgenerational Transmission of Trauma across Three Generations of Alevi Kurds

Background: Thus far, most researchers on genocide and transgenerational transmissions have focused on the National Socialist Holocaust as the most abhorrent example of this severe human rights violation. Few data have been published on other ethnic or religious groups affected by genocidal actions in this context. Methodology: Using a mixed-method approach integrating qualitative interviews with standardized instruments (SCID and PDS), this study examines how individual and collective trauma have been handed down across three generations in an Alevi Kurd community whose members (have) suffered genocidal perpetrations over a longer time period (a “genocidal environment”). Qualitative, open-ended interviews with members of three generations answering questions yielded information on (a) how their lives are shaped by the genocidal experiences from the previous generation and related victim experiences, (b) how the genocidal events were communicated in family narratives, and (c) coping strategies used. The first generation is the generation which directly suffered the genocidal actions. The second generation consists of children of those parents who survived the genocidal actions. Together with their family (children, partner, relatives), this generation suffered forced displacement. Members of the third generation were born in the diaspora where they also grew up. Results: Participants reported traumatic memories, presented in examples in this publication. The most severe traumatic memories included the Dersim massacre in 1937–1938 in Turkey, with 70,000–80,000 victims killed, and the enforced resettlement in western Turkey. A content analysis revealed that the transgenerational transmission of trauma continued across three generations. SCID and PDS data indicated high rates of distress in all generations. Conclusions: Genocidal environments such as that of the Kurdish Alevis lead to transgenerational transmission mediated by complex factors.

A ‘Stain on Silence’: The Registration of Trauma in the Comics Memoirs of Alison Bechdel and Art Spiegelman

<p>The value of comics as a medium for serious literary expression, despite growing popularity and recognition, is still contested. Two of the most successful examples of the medium, Art Spiegelman’s Maus (1986 & 1992) and Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home (2006), use differing and similar strategies to narrate the transmission of trauma from parent to child. Maus records the testimony of Spiegelman’s survivor father’s experiences in hiding in Poland and in Auschwitz and Dachau, as well as the process of this testimony and the conflicted relationship between father and son. Fun Home’s traumatic history centres on Bechdel’s artistically ambitious father’s closeted affairs with teenage boys, and his overbearing influence on her own artistry and queer sexuality. This thesis tracks the narrative and graphic registration of trauma in these two memoirs, through their use of archival materials, consideration of the ethical problems of the representation of extremity and history, and treatment of narrative time.</p>

A ‘Stain on Silence’: The Registration of Trauma in the Comics Memoirs of Alison Bechdel and Art Spiegelman

<p>The value of comics as a medium for serious literary expression, despite growing popularity and recognition, is still contested. Two of the most successful examples of the medium, Art Spiegelman’s Maus (1986 & 1992) and Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home (2006), use differing and similar strategies to narrate the transmission of trauma from parent to child. Maus records the testimony of Spiegelman’s survivor father’s experiences in hiding in Poland and in Auschwitz and Dachau, as well as the process of this testimony and the conflicted relationship between father and son. Fun Home’s traumatic history centres on Bechdel’s artistically ambitious father’s closeted affairs with teenage boys, and his overbearing influence on her own artistry and queer sexuality. This thesis tracks the narrative and graphic registration of trauma in these two memoirs, through their use of archival materials, consideration of the ethical problems of the representation of extremity and history, and treatment of narrative time.</p>

Forgotten Stories of Women: Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma of Holodomor and Holocaust Survivors’ Offspring

The aims of the study were to examine intergenerational effects of two cultural contexts of massive genocide: the Holodomor 1932-1933 in Ukraine, and the Holocaust 1939-1944 on the second and third generations of women in Ukraine and Israel. Forty women participants were recruited for four focus groups, two in each country, comprised of 10 participants each, using a snowball method in both countries. The second-generation groups were named as “the mothers’ group”, and the third-generation group (comprised of daughters of the mothers’ groups) were named as “the daughters’ group”. Inclusion criteria for sampling were: (a) being female above 18 years old, and (b) having family experience of the Famine 1932-1933 / Holocaust during 1939-1944. The groups were moderated by two experienced psychologists in each of the countries. The participants were presented with seven semi-structured questions and were asked to share their family narratives and experiences of the genocide. The study applied inductive thematic analyses that progressed from description to interpretation, for key themes that emerged during the groups’ sessions. The results of the study showed the centrality of five emerging themes in both mothers’ and daughters’ narratives, including: “emotions and feelings of experiencing genocide, “attitudes toward food and starvation”, “sense of losses and death”, “transgenerational transmission of trauma in family narratives”, and “ethnic identity”. The cross-cultural perspective of the current research shed light on the similarities and differences between the traumatic narratives constructed by the offspring of the second and the third generations in the two contexts of Ukraine and Israel. The Ukrainian women attributed greater importance of commemoration of Holodomor victims as part of an effective coping strategy with trauma, while the Israeli women put more emphasis on the attitude of asceticism that was inherited from the Holocaust survivors. The cross-cultural clinical and educational implications are discussed.

The neurobiology of attachment and the influence of psychotherapy: a literature review

AimsTo review the existing scientific literature on the neurobiology of caregiver-infant attachment and the effects of psychotherapy on neurobiological structures. We hypothesised that the therapeutic relationship is a new attachment relationship that can model and re-map neural networks involved in emotional self-regulation.Understanding attachment is relevant to working with women and families in the perinatal period and has an impact on treatment outcomes. Evolutionary perspectives show that the infant's attachment to the caregiver is important for survival, development of self and relational patterns. Mother's attachment predicts the infant caregiving behaviour in perinatal period and psychotherapeutic interventions at this time have a role in modifying the risk of intergenerational transmission of trauma and further pathological attachment styles.MethodWe performed a MEDLINE search focussing on the past 10 years. Keywords used were attachment, neurobiology and psychotherapy. We included original studies and existing reviews looking at all types of formal psychotherapy used and focussing on human research. Exclusion criteria were non psychotherapeutic interventions and attachment based on couples only.ResultThere has been an increasing focus in the literature on studying the neurobiology of attachment in caregivers and infants both in healthy cases and in psychopathology over the past decade. Existing studies concentrate on care givers, there is growing evidence on the effects of attachment styles on the infant's brain, mostly from animal studies. Some authors looked at the effects of parental childhood trauma on later parenting styles and intergenerational transmission of trauma. A few studies highlighted neurobiological changes as a result of psychotherapeutic interventions in various psychiatric disorders.ConclusionThere is growing evidence on the neurobiology of attachment focussing on specific neurotransmitters and brain pathways. The modulating effect of psychotherapy has also been studied, albeit with more focus on recovery from psychiatric illness. The literature on neurobiological changes with psychotherapy remains scarce and heterogeneous and further research may be needed in the neurobiology of therapeutic relationship itself as there is increasing recognition that this may be the agent of change, with evidence in the role of linking cortical structures to subcortical limbic systems.

Toni Morrison’s transgressive literary preaching and folk songs as postmemory

This paper intends to study the sermons or ‘‘literary preaching’’ and folk songs in Toni Morrison’s fiction in the light of Marianne Hirsch’s concept of postmemory. Drawing on Hirsch’s postmemory then, this paper articulates that the ‘‘literary preaching’’ and folk songs function within Morrison’s novelistic discourse as postmemory medium that presses against the erasure and the death of a culture and history. The folk songs and ‘‘literary preaching’’ are mediums of transgenerational transmission of trauma and history. Hirsch defines postmemory as the memories that the survivors of trauma bequeathed to their children and grandchildren. Hirsch presents photographs as the instrument through which postmemory is archived and conveyed. She talks about ‘‘photographic archive’’ since photographs can bring back their referents. In comparison, the sermons and folk songs are analyzed as ‘‘oral/aural archive’’, for they have the attribute of triggering memory and postmemory. Also, through her literary preaching, Morrison deconstructs and questions mainstream Christianity by blending it with unorthodox Christian practices. For example, Baby Suggs’ sermon in Beloved gives precedence to the flesh over the spirit, and this sermon is remembered throughout the text as a subdued metaphor.

Psychosocial family-level mediators in the intergenerational transmission of trauma: Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction: Psychosocial factors within the family appear to play a critical role in mediating the intergenerational transmission of trauma; however, there has yet to be a review article that quantitatively synthesizes causal mechanisms across a diversity of trauma-types. This study aims to systematically consolidate the epidemiological research on family-level psychosocial mediators and moderators to ultimately produce causal diagram(s) in the intergenerational transmission of trauma. Methods and analysis: We will identify epidemiological peer-reviewed publications, dissertations, and conference abstracts that measure the impact of at least one psychosocial family-level factor mediating or moderating the relationship between parental trauma exposure and a child mental health outcome. English, French, Kinyarwanda, and Spanish articles will be eligible. We searched MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PTSDpubs, Scopus and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses and will conduct forward citation chaining of included documents. Two reviewers will perform screening and data extraction independently. We will extract reported mediators, moderators, and relevant study characteristics for included studies. Findings will be presented using narrative syntheses, descriptive analyses, mediation meta-analyses, moderating meta-analyses, and causal diagram(s), where possible. We will also perform a risk of bias assessment for studies included in meta-analyses and will construct a funnel plot to assess publication bias. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval is not needed for this review. Results will be presented at academic conferences and published in a peer-reviewed journal in hopes to inform the development and evaluation of resilience-building interventions.