Socio-Political Aspects in Constructing Meaning to ... - Episteme

Socio-Political Aspects in Constructing
Meaning to National Trauma
Michal Shamai, Ph.D
School of Social Work
Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Science, University
of Haifa, Israel
The systems of trauma: Systemic intervention in posttraumatic
situations, September 28-29, 2007
Aula magna Istituto Avogadro, Turin, Italy

"My parents came to Israel from the
horror of the Holocaust …they came
here in order to have a state where it
would be possible to feel safe…they
wanted to have a piece of land in this
world where they could feel safe.
Unfortunately, the loss of my son is a
Holocaust for me."

Personal Aspects (cognition,
emotions, history)
Systemic Aspects (family,
community, history)
Social Aspects (society, culture,
ethnicity, history)

Narrative of National Trauma
Present
Society, Culture
Family, Community
Personal
History

Political aspects have a significant
impact on the process and
content of individuals' and
societies' narratives concerning
with the traumatic events.
Political aspects can affect the
level of impairment caused by the
trauma as well as the level of
resilience in coping with it.

A trauma can be perceived as a
‘cultural or collective trauma’
when members with a national,
ethnic, or religious sense of
belonging to a collective feel they
have been subjected to fearful
and painful events which leave
marks upon their collective
consciousness and memory
including an impact on the future
identity of the collective.

Collective or cultural trauma is a
socially constructed process.

The narrative regarding the
trauma is developed according to:
The nature of the pain,
The nature of the victim,
The relationships between the
victims and the society
The nature of those who are
responsible for causing the pain.

“I I went to a regular meeting of
the directors of the departments
of social services. I tried to tell
them about the difficult situation
we experience. Their response
was horrible; they told me that
we have chosen to live in the
occupied areas so we can’t
complain about the stress.”

Terrorism is a deliberate use of
violence or threat of its use
against innocent people, with the
aim of intimidating them or other
people into a course of action that
they otherwise would not take.
Terror is an act in which the
perpetrators are prepared to
sacrifice all moral and
humanitarian considerations for a
political end.

National terror is an act or threat
of violence against
noncombatants with the objective
of exacting revenge, intimidating
or otherwise influencing an
audience.

Loss in the collective context
1) Attributing meaning to the loss;
describing the loss in the context
of Jewish and Israeli history.
2) Assigning responsibility for the
loss.
3) Using the collective meaning in
the process of coping.

“… the name Gordofsky is
finished… there won’t t be any one
with this name in the future.”

“I I am a religious person and
according to the tradition Netta
died for Kiddush Hashem
(sanctification of God's name).
However, for me it is not
something that I think
automatically, I have to do some
thinking and convince myself that
it was Kiddush Hashem.”

“…immediately after Itai was killed, I
made the decision to continue
normal life and to keep the family
functioning. This was very important
for me and the family. My parents
survived the Holocaust, but my
mother became mentally ill after all
she had gone through. It was a sad
house. I did not want my children to
have such an experience. I know that
if the family doesn’t t function, if we
break down, it will be a victory for
the terrorists, so I don’t t want to give
them an additional victory.”

Conclusions – Social level:
The findings highlight the significance
of memorial rituals in which the
victims and their family members are
acknowledged by the society at large.
It is also important that the formal
institutions of a state compensate
victims and their families for the loss.

Conclusions - clinical level:
It is crucial to explore various aspects
of the meaning attached to the
narrative of the trauma, including
socio-political elements
It is the role of the therapist to point
to relevant aspects that might help
victims (individuals, families,
communities, and societies) to build a
comprehensive narrative of the trauma,
while emphasizing the victims’ sense
of belonging to a group.

peace