Briggs: Trauma And Identities

“The Silence of Trauma and Myth of a ‘Just World’: the Possible Contributions of Political Psychology to Societies and Identities” by

Chad Michael Briggs Department of Political Science, Carleton University 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6 Canada [email protected]

Paper prepared for the Social Identities Panel, International Society of Political Psychology annual conference, Montreal, Canada, 12 July 1998

ABSTRACT Examining the important role of social identity and culture in our larger understandings of politics, this paper suggests that the role of trauma in society questions several key assumptions often held in political science. The role of rationality in explaining individual or group behaviour assumes simple and easily discernible categories of identity, but the presence of widespread trauma both negates this possibility, as well as forming new and largely unseen patterns. Group identities formerly believed to be solid show inner divisions, and this can spread to larger divisions within societies and resultant political problems, even if the original source of this unrest remains poorly understood by those adhering to traditional political science approaches. In this manner, subjects not normally considered political may be rethought as containing political and psychological dynamics.

The Silence of Trauma and Myth of a ‘Just World’

“Condemn the fault, and not the actor of it?” (William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure)

The divisions between ‘us’ and ‘them’ are often considered to be the basis of politics. We can understand few major political events without examination of the identity and group politics at work, while politics itself attempts to reinforce or bridge such boundaries. Such group taxonomies are important in understanding who the ‘players’ are, how they define themselves, and how others define them. These processes of socialization and social identity are paramount to deeper understandings of political events, from election primaries in the U.S. to the Holocaust in Europe, yet times exist when our analyses may become suspect. How do we identify such groups in the first place? And once identified, how well do such divisions mirror reality, as opposed to simply fitting our normative ideals of what should be true? Unpleasant truths exist which many of us do not wish to address, or are simply unable to study due to the nature of the problem and how it is little discussed in general. Moreover, the political climate may largely determine which subjects one studies and which we push under the rug, so to speak, as a manner of legitimacy must surround an idea before it is acceptable. Such was the case in the past with hysteria in women, and later with combat trauma among war veterans. Before these times blaming the individual for the symptoms they possessed was common, rather than examining the larger context within which they acquired such problems. As Herman (1992) relates in her work on the subject of trauma, women or men in adverse conditions were blamed for not being ‘strong enough’ to handle the situation, that they could either not contend with combat or the rigour of daily life. More recently, political aspects of feminism have allowed investigation of domestic trauma in North America and Europe, leading to the discovery of widespread abuse among both women and children. This has not simply entailed an examination of the prevalence of such practices, but a re-conceptualization of the notion that 2

punishment of children makes them ‘stronger’, or that incest is merely a problem because of the fuss that people make over it. (Miller 1994, 1997) Rather, the focus has turned to examining the severe consequences of such actions upon the victims (or “survivors”), both biologically and cognitively. This re-conceptualization of the effects of physical and sexual abuse does not exist without severe contention, however, nor do the forms taken always better the interests of those who were victimized. More directly, examination of these topics often does not address the wider social and political impacts of such trauma, electing instead to focus upon individual pathologies. It is the subject of trauma among children which will remain the central thread of this paper, in terms of how it affects and is affected by culture, identity, and politics. Rather than existing as problems with which individuals alone must work, trauma (especially when it occurs in children) affects wider conceptions of identity and social issues, and may bring into question basic assumptions of the roles culture and identity play as stabilizing forces. Trauma also affects larger social and political issues, resulting from the changes in basic identity and social structures.

Definitions and Prevalence of Trauma

Trauma has gone by many names in the past: shell-shock, hysteria, soldier’s heart, neurosis, combat fatigue, residential school syndrome, battered wife syndrome, battered child syndrome, and most recently (as of 1980) post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Although researchers have long known and documented the symptomology of trauma, the incidence of such trauma has been a much more clouded issue. Historically, they have interpreted such traumas in a wide range of different manners, ranging from supernatural explanations of witchcraft and demonic possessions, to those which suggest individual pathological natures of chemical imbalances or genetic origin. Perhaps more common is the notion that such reactions to events are the result of willful manipulation by the “victim,” as a way of asserting a form of power over others. This is often the explanation given to the behaviour of young children, who are simply too ‘willful’ in controlling their parents. (Bloom, 1997; Miller, 1994) 3

Some of these interpretations changed following the experiences of Vietnam war veterans in the U.S., however, and the psychiatric and medical professions first codified PTSD in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatric Disorders 1980 (DSM-III). This was an important step, for it contextualized the role of trauma in the larger life experiences of the survivor. Rather than existing as a condition of its own, this new interpretation enabled those studying trauma to work with fairly common definitions of what constituted trauma and what may have caused it. This is not to say that the medical or psychiatric professions have embraced these definitions or incorporated them into teaching and practice,i but that those who have worked on the issue have had an easier time in constructing substantial models of trauma. (van der Kolk & McFarlane, 1996a) Put simply, trauma results from experiences which the body considers lifethreatening, resulting in instinctive fight-or-flight reactions and intense physiological changes. Massive amounts of hormones and neurotransmitters are released into the body, producing changes tuned to the need for immediate survival, even if at the expense of other basic bodily systems. The person becomes hyper-vigilant and alert, ready to react to the threat which forced the stimulus. (Bloom, 1997) Should these situations be short-lived, and the person experiencing them able to deal with the situation, then these reactions may prove to be beneficial. Should a person find him or herself in a situation of chronic traumatic arousal, and/or should the situation be one in which the person has little or no control over their survival, then these intense physiological changes can become ‘encoded’ into the body. This state of panic may later be triggered by essentially harmless reminders of the original events, and the person suffers a loss of arousal-modulation, meaning that she or he may instantly switch from “normal” to “panicked” states of emotion, even in the absence of

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In fact, this use of social contextualization m ay be far from the norm . Those who practice and teach m edicine and psychiatry m ay still find it sim pler to either ignore the problem s associated with traum a, or to pathologicalize them strictly to the individual. Doing so reinforces blam e upon the individual who was traum atized, and alm ost com pletely diverts attention away from the perpetrators and the social conditions in which they are found. In effect, it em phasizes that the person suffering from the traum atic experience is m ore of a social concern than those who perpetrated the event. (Chrisjohn, et. al., 1997)

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any outside threat. (Ibid.) The medical literature on the effects of trauma on people is quite telling, although it is a rather complex topic to attempt to summarize here. We should note, however, that trauma greatly affects both basic physiological and brain functions of the survivor. Young children whose brain development is far from complete at the time of the experience may be at the greatest risk of suffering from long-term effects. These include the aftereffects of basic psychological attempts at survival, such as dissociation, learned helplessness, stress-induced health and learning problems, memory disorders, poor ability at decision-making, and chronic hyper-arousal. (Ibid.; van der Kolk, 1996b, 1996c; Terr, 1990) The prevalence of trauma in society is not well known. Currently, the most “reliable” estimates which exist are based upon epidemiological studies of populations, and report that some 23% of adolescents are exposed to some form of traumatic event in the U.S., either through physical or sexual abuse, or by witnessing violence against others. Of these, perhaps one in five suffered from diagnosed PTSD, although other estimates of PTSD in society range from 9 percent in urban settings to more than 15 percent for Vietnam veterans. (van der Kolk, 1996b; 5) Many would argue however that such statistics are misleading,ii as the ability of survivors to adapt to trauma and fit in with the expectations of society are quite impressive. As Judith Herman notes, “Most abused children reach adulthood with their secrets intact.” (Herman, 1992; 110) The more probable percentage of people dealing with trauma is much higher. An oft-cited statistic is that by the time they reach adulthood, one-fifth to one-third of all women have had some form of an abusive sexual encounter with an older male (Bloom, 1997; 196), while up to one-fifth of male children

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A few words of m ethodological caution m ay be in order with regards to such statistics. The ability of survivors to m inim ize, deny, or sim ply not recall what happened to them is quite powerful, as is the incentive they m ay feel to keep a veil of secrecy intact, even on an anonym ous questionnaire. In addition, epidem iological studies can only detect those whose sym ptom s are known and correctly diagnosed, even though m any coping m echanism s (such as over-working) are not only socially acceptable, but encouraged. Furtherm ore, Hoff Som m ers’ (1995) cautions regarding the construction of questionnaires related to abuse or rape should be heeded. It is possible to interpret both questions and num bers any num ber of ways, depending upon what one hopes to find.

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will have been sexually abused. (Hunter, 1990; 26) In addition, as many as one in eight women will be the victim of rape sometime in her lifetime. (Bloom, 1997; 197) Witnesses to violence can also be quite high, especially in some urban areas of the U.S. and regions outside North America and Europe, although studies on such subjects are scarce and one can only conjecture that the effect of such violence is strongly felt. (Cairns, 1996) Overall, Sandra Bloom cites a study indicating that the number of children traumatized in the U.S. in a single year equals the number of combat veterans who served in Vietnam over a decade. (Bloom, 1997; 196) Considering the widespread nature of trauma as it exists in the U.S. and Canada, the effects of trauma must be approached from more than the standpoint of its effects purely on individuals. Rather, its ability to subvert and destroy many important links to people’s culture and identity must be given due thought, for the nature of these issues is that of secrecy and denial, of hidden identities and politics which the society at large would often rather ignore or minimize. Such secrets, however, cannot be kept bottled up forever, for their effects may spill over into areas which we cannot help but notice. The task at hand is to attempt to attribute these problems and concerns correctly.

Cultural Politics and Trauma

Traditional understandings of identity suggest that our culture and identity act as bases for our understanding of the world, providing a framework of meaningful interpretation of events and how others fit into most given situations. These social structures also provide support in cases of duress, upheaval, and other change on the part of the individual, even when events put people’s vision of life and their goals into stark question. Culture gives this social support as shared identities and visions of the future, giving a fairly constant grounding in terms of one’s place in the world. (deVries, 1996) Normally stressful situations are thereby contained by the culture and social identities within which one is found. Trauma (as opposed to normal stress) is also found within the context of culture 6

and identity, although the dynamic is rather different. When trauma strikes an individual, considering the social environment in which they are found is vital, for PTSD and related disturbances are essentially social in origin. As deVries states, “PTSD is thus a description of an illness process based not on the intrinsic nature of the person alone, but rather on the person’s sociocultural interaction over time.” (Ibid.; 399) Culture helps to determine both the manner in which a person will deal with trauma and how the larger society will deal with that person, but the intense nature of trauma is typically such that normal cultural support structures are unable to cope with them, unless the trauma is something felt and acknowledged by all members of that culture. It is important to emphasize that normally stressful situations and trauma are two essentially different things, and although the form which trauma takes is in part determined by culture, the identity and social supports normally found for stressful experiences begin to break down in such situations. Such traditional analyses often consider cultures and societies to be homogeneous, and may mistake a political act of categorization as little more than a pre-given order. Cultures or societies are not synonymous with identity. These same structures may codify or support practices which perpetrate trauma against one group or another, and thus contain a substantial political element. Such intra-group actions effectively split identity groups apart, fragmenting what may appear to be (to the casual observer) a solid social category. Nor is this simply true of modern or “post-modern” societies, although some of the more Romanticist approaches to the issue may suggest that more “traditional” societies are inherently better at providing support systems. (see deVries, 1996) Despite the appeal of such arguments, the reality of the situation may be such that seemingly sacrosanct categories of identity do not necessarily hold much meaning for trauma survivors. Several key reasons exist as to why this is so. The first is that all notions of social identity assume a feeling of kinship, some form of a bond felt among its members, often expressed in its most fundamental form in terms of the nuclear family. In many (if not most) cases of childhood trauma, this basic trust is either broken or was never present to begin with. Crucial developmental bonds between child and parent are 7

lost, as the child may assume that his or her elders have the power to stop whatever is happening. This family upbringing has far-reaching effects as to how the child will relate to others as an adult, and in most cases he or she will have great difficulty in forming healthy bonds with other members of one’s community or family. (Bloom, 1997; Miller, 1997) The inability to bond is largely biologically developmental in origin, although cognitive development is also an important consideration. In this latter case the nature of family upbringing is a matter of education and socialization, as the manner in which one raises a child is a large factor in determining which social values and identities are accepted. An authoritarian upbringing tends to instill such values into the child, and the way in which they learn obedience over trust has social and political effects beyond how they may raise their own children. A few writers have noted the link between punitive childhoods and dispositions toward authoritarianism in the political sense, as well as the inability to empathize with members of a particular outgroup. Some suggest that only those who are able to come to terms with their past will be able to form the bridge into safe relationships among family and community. (Miller, 1997; Bloom, 1997; Milburn and Conrad, 1996) This matter of healing or “reconnecting” may indicate how profound the discontinuity is between the survivor and traditional social identity categories, and how difficult it is to “come to terms with” trauma in one’s past. Survivors whose personality has been shaped in the traumatic environment often feel at this stage of recovery as though they are refugees entering a new country. For political exiles, this may literally be true; but for many others, such as battered women or survivors of childhood abuse, the psychological experience can only be compared to immigration. They must build a new life within a radically different culture from the one they have left behind. . . “Although victims in their original homes, they are like strangers in a foreign country, once ‘safely’ outside.” (Herman, 1992; 196)

deVries’ analysis puts the matter in slightly starker terms, indicating that the inability of culture to provide a cushion for events beyond the control of its members, 8

may result in the regression of identities to a more primitive, less communitarian state.

Traumas . . . create profound discontinuity in the order and predictability that culture has brought to daily life and social situations. When this occurs, traditional systems break down and a conservative element often takes hold. Ethnicity, nationalism, tribalism, and fundamentalism become means of survival; all these are regressive moves to release individuals behaviorally and ideologically from an intolerable complexity that cannot be managed or used in a more productive way. When culture as the identity giver fails, other models of identity formation and social group formation take its place. The roles and status that had previously organized the system may have no further meaning. . . . (deVries, 1996; 407, emphasis added) This passage is interesting for the ironies presented within. While stating that culture supports those suffering from trauma, the implication may be that there already exist certain normative expectations as to how survivors should behave, coupled with a form of determinism which indicates that only negative outcomes are likely, regardless. Some of what is said is undoubtedly true, but we must take care not to write off coping mechanisms as purely destructive to society, lest we begin to blame the victims for the trouble we see around us. The inability of survivors to find meaning in the social identity expected of them, may result in the negation of such identity in favour of alternatives better suited to the environment to which they have grown accustomed. Even those whose outward appearance suggests a successful and well-adjusted citizen, may harbour a sort of dual identity, a form of “doublethink” in which outward expressions and actions only serve (to the survivor) to mask an unattractive interior. (Herman, 1992) Even invisible sufferers of trauma may pass on this cultural dysfunction to their children. This intergenerational aspect of trauma has been observed in regards to Holocaust survivors and war veterans, and is believed to hold true for survivors of physical and sexual abuse, as

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well.iii (Bloom, 1997) But identity may also influence the manner in which this trauma is expressed. Whether the survivor feels compelled to conform to society’s normative ideals, or whether they reject these in favour of less acceptable forms of behaviour, depends in part upon how the role of the victim is perceived or welcomed in a society. Male victims of sexual abuse, for example, are far more likely to become violent or abusive themselves, than are women survivors of such abuse. This is believed to be due partly to the role which violence plays in defining what it means to be male in North American society, and partly due to the difficulty men face in admitting that they were victims. (Stoltenberg, 1990) Women, on the other hand, are more likely to internalize the guilt and shame associated with victimization, and are more likely to show empathy towards others.iv (Milburn & Conrad, 1996) As Milburn and Conrad’s work shows quite well, however, the effects of such formative experiences have profound consequences as to the society’s later ability to deal with additional stressful or traumatic experiences. This is not simply a matter of the breakdown of traditional support structures, but rest on a different dynamic of identity formation and ingroup/outgroup formation and the attempted maintenance of a ‘just world’. To relate to a ‘breakdown’ of ‘support structures’ is to fall into the trap of considering a society or culture as if it were one tangible thing, and not by itself composed of numerous dynamics and only partially seen groups. That groups may fall into a process of ingroup/outgroup formation under duress, has already been documented in a number of different contexts, although it is important to remember that such processes are as much political as they are psychological. (Volkan, 1998) As

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As counter-intuitive as it m ay sound, the m ultigenerational nature of traum a m ay be so powerful that, “The children of survivors show sym ptom s which could be expected if they actually lived through the Holocaust.” (Herzog, as quoted in Bloom , 1997; 63) The attachm ent relationship between m others and children plays an im portant role, as does the role of affective com m unication and learning in the fam ily: what is not said is as im portant as what is said. (Bloom , 1997) iv

There are, however, reports that fem ales growing up in North Am erica m ay be adopting m ore of the violent and “socially disagreeable” patterns of behaviour, as opposed to those reactions traditionally considered to be m ore “fem inine”. (Vobejda & Perlstein, 1998) It is too early to speculate on the causes of this, but is m entioned sim ply to point out that cultural expectations of the sexes changes over tim e.

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Staub (1992) considers in his works on mass violence, the threat of well-being to groups or individuals intensifies group formation and the possible lashing out of one group against another. Of course, what Staub was referring to was the wholesale breakdown of the economies and political structures of countries such as Germany and Cambodia, and both he and Alice Miller (1997) were careful to point out that such childhood events were necessary but not sufficient conditions for such awful realities. The narratives of genocide may seem quite distant from a discussion of childhood trauma, but many of the group processes which Staub describes are pertinent to a discussion of changing identities in our societies.

Ingroups, Outgroups, and a ‘Just World’

As mentioned above, the role of familial attachment is important in the disruptions caused by childhood trauma, and that part of the problem relates to the changes in identity within the family. To secure a stable vision of the outside world, a child first needs a trusting environment in which to be raised. Without such an environment, identities may shift so that the survivor has trouble adapting to others outside the family, and may learn certain authoritarian tendencies as well. This is not simply a matter of the survivor being “confused” or misled, in some way. Rather, we learn which roles different actors play in a society, much as Staub claimed that certain actors such as soldiers or prison guards are expected to act in certain ways. It is also possible to teach children that the roles of parent or caregiver in a society are little different from that of a guard, or that police and other authority figures are simply not to be trusted. Should we be treated in certain ways while young, it is perhaps not surprising that later understandings of society and politics should be based upon such traumatic and formative experiences. Attempts to make sense of the world are based upon the belief that things happen for a reason in this world, and that arbitrary violence is not part of the normative order. The nature of modern political thought acts as an impediment to much thinking 11

on this issue, though this is not simply a matter of what is fashionable to consider at any given time. Rather, a basic desire in post-Platonic and post-Enlightenment thought is for order and rationality, for an end to the vagaries of nature and the unjust position in which we find ourselves. This expresses itself in the call for a universal “end”; be it truth, God, or any manner of Utopia we seek. The world has a perfectibility to which we have a responsibility to strive. Any inability to reach this end is met with blame. Responsibility must lay somewhere, we must have a reason why things do not turn out as we had planned or hoped, and the notion of agency in this regards is paramount. Nietzsche traces these ideas back to Socratic thought and the rise of rationality as the rule of law, as opposed to the acceptance in pre-Athenian times of the chaotic and suffering alongside with the joyful and ordered. (Saurette, 1996) The Roman Empire and the Christian Church preserved these thoughts, which were later expressed in their modern form in the rationality of the Enlightenment. In this approach, and unable to accept the suffering inherent in the world, people desperately search for what Nietzsche describes as “the hypnotic sense of nothingness, the repose of deepest sleep, in short absence of suffering.” (As quoted in Saurette, 1996: 5) This notion contains the understanding that suffering in the world only exists for a reason, that we must believe in the ideal and, failing that, find a cause for the disorder. This is a dual process of denial and attribution. As Elster (1993) suggests, a prime motivation in political psychology is the reduction of cognitive dissonance, which in this case can be accomplished by either denying the reality of suffering, or by blaming the suffering on certain people or groups. What should be understood is that this is not merely a psychological motivation, but remains a political goal, as well. Arendt (1958) critiques Plato’s approach to politics as an extension of this Will To Order, and how the condition of politics became the ability to faithfully order all people into one form, that of the ruler himself. For survivors of abuse or other suffering, their attempts to make sense of what happened can be quite difficult to frame. The unconscious attempt to blame someone for what happened to them can be quite disastrous if they perceive that what is happening to them is their own fault. For survivors of abuse, this is an almost universal 12

emotion, so pervasive that it can affect all aspects of the person’s life. (Terr, 1990; Hunter, 1990) If abuse occurs then it must be someone’s fault, but if it occurs at the hands of a parent or caregiver, then the attempt to create the ‘just world’ will likely turn inward and blame the victim. Survivors often believe that there is something inherently wrong with them, rather than try to discard their view of authority figures (although this may happen later in life). One important way in which Staub’s ingroup dynamic is different for childhood abuse survivors, however, is that most often there are no others with which to relate and form an ingroup. There are exceptions to this, of course, but they are most often found in small therapeutic communities which either have limited scope (group therapy) or intense anonymity (such as Internet forums). By definition, even under acute threats no ingroup can strengthen its bonds if those bonds do not exist, in the first place. As mentioned, most other identities either served to perpetrate the trauma, or failed to protect the experience from happening. In this manner one can say that trauma serves to fragment existing groups far more than it strengthens existing. The other manner of group formation to be considered is that of non-survivors, often including those who have suffered from trauma but have failed to acknowledge it. This is where the matter of the ‘just world’ comes into play, for there is a large role of denial in addressing issues of abuse and violence in our own society. Certain actions are hardly explicable in any rational fashion, and those actions which we consider to be “evil” and morally reprehensible could therefore only be carried out by those persons quite unlike ourselves. It seems far easier to believe that childhood sexual abuse and the like could only be carried out by deranged individuals who are visibly the “dregs” of society, than to think that most of this abuse is carried out by people (seemingly) quite like ourselves. Should someone known in the community as a good citizen, who seems to care about others and takes care of his family, be accused of sexually assaulting a young child (especially one in his family), then it is far easier to avoid cognitive dissonance in ourselves by not believing the story. Either she was making it all up as some fantasy (Freud’s explanation) or a way to get attention (the more contemporary explanation), or a malicious therapist planted these thoughts in her (the ‘False Memory 13

Syndrome’ explanation). It is somehow far more difficult to believe that it actually could have happened, much less that it happens all the time. As an example of such denial, a reference should be made to the Nicaraguan ex-president Daniel Ortega, who has recently been accused of molesting his stepdaughter over the course of a decade. In stepping out to accuse her stepfather, however, others asserted that she was making up the story, and Ortega summarily fired those in the Sandinista Party (of which he is still head) who supported her story. Even she found it difficult to believe the situation, explaining,

For years, I had recognized that the leader at a personal level could be evil and that as a public person he was outstanding. I had to live with this duality. This was all reinforced by the fact that during the revolution we were told that the individual must be subjugated to the greater political good. (as quoted in: Kovaleski, 1998; p. A17) Similar examples abound. North American or European societies are not generally able to comprehend the extent of the trauma which is occurring, and instead erect psychological defences against such belief. These defences prevent both healing on the part of the survivor (a point made earlier), as well as constructing a political environment in which such abuses are allowed to continue. Even those supposedly sympathetic to such causes may find it easier to discount stories of widespread abuse, rather than have to tackle the grim consequences of such realities. Even academics such as Elaine Showalter (1997), an avowed feminist, have rudely tossed aside claims of repressed memories of sexual abuse among women. Showalter claims that such ‘hysteria’ is little more than a manifestation of some form of “millennial anxiety.” The political aspects of this denial exist not only in the literature of Milburn and Conrad, but also the way in which denial becomes institutionalized in environments from academia to politics.

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Academic Denial and Silence

Whatever the specific arguments made, the underlying tension in academic pursuits is that there are certain subjects too touchy, too delicate to examine. Metatheories and multiple layers of abstractions are far more acceptable than attempts to tackle certain “issues of the day,” however desperate those suffering from such “issues” may feel. The clearly demarcated lines of a Department’s subject area often remain firm, in that, “Despite appearances, there are no radicals in academe. Everyone is a reactionary where their own field is concerned.” (as quoted in Matthews, 1997; p. 146) Examination of childhood trauma may be no exception to this charge. Scholarly investigation into such subjects has been rare, especially for any discipline outside psychology or psychiatry. Even within these areas, there has been a well-documented history of skirting the issue and reverting to techniques which blame the victim for what has happened, reflecting a focus upon individual pathologies at the expense of wider social conditions. (Chrisjohn, et. al., 1997) Regardless, the issue of childhood trauma seems an appropriate subject for psychology, which then perhaps begs the question, why does this matter to other disciplines? Or in particular reference to this paper, why does it matter to political science? First, there are obvious policy implications related to this subject, depending upon whether one chooses to focus upon prevention, healing, or prosecution. However, to admit that abuse occurs at epidemic proportions would mean that these three areas would have to take great responsibility to do something about the problem. This makes it even more unlikely that things will be dealt with should a quieter alternative be available. The important point, however, is that as long as there remains a focus upon individual pathologies as the result of trauma, the government and those who study it will assume that both culpability and responsibility lay outside normal jurisdictions. If indeed these are acts of individuals against other individuals (or so the argument goes), then the burden of responsibility lay outside government action or study. Political science has additional problems concerning methodology. The study of group action in political science assumes a great deal of rational choice as to which 15

groups people belong to and what they do as groups. As this paper has attempted to show, however, such assumptions regarding group formation and action may be rather suspect, especially the closer one gets to trauma survivors. In addition, the secret nature of this subject means that traditional behaviouralist methods of data collection will likely fall far short of reality, although they may show an important partial picture. The last argument often made with regards to trauma is that, unless the event was an expressly political act, then the subject does not easily fit within either political science or political psychology. (Koopman, 1997) A ‘standpoint feminist’ critique of this would be to claim that all such acts are inherently political, and that a classical liberal division between ‘public’ and ‘private’ should not stand. One can make another argument, however, in asserting that trauma has relevance not only with regards to political implications of behaviour, but that some forms of trauma against children are political in and of themselves. The following may serve as an example.

Canadian Residential Schools

Lest the previous arguments be seen as overly theoretical or abstract, a contemporary case example may be made as to how many of the preceding lines of thought fit together. The destruction of basic social identity, and the political and social denial of experience are seen in the history of the native residential school system in Canada. The extent of abuse perpetrated against young native children removed from their homes, and the denial of such acts by the government and churches (who ran the schools), have had enormous consequences on the larger social fabric of aboriginals in Canada. The degree of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse against these children is such that other aspects of community problems, such as alcoholism, crime, and drug addiction are often considered mere symptoms of the larger problems of childhood abuse. (Fournier & Crey, 1997) A few prefaced remarks should be made with regards to this section. In general, the abuse perpetrated against native children in such residential schools should not and 16

cannot be removed from the larger considerations of racism and colonialism played out against native peoples. In this regards, equating the experiences of white middle class children with those of native children may seem entirely difficult. In some respects, this is most certainly true. However, it is shown to drive in the point that experiences of traumatic abuse in childhood cannot be taken out of the context of a larger society and political system. Whether it is one larger (and more easily identifiable) group of white Canadians against an aboriginal tribe/nation, or a far less discernible group within one family, these are actions which should not be removed from the need to see such actions as more than individual experiences. In the work of Chrisjohn, Young, and Maraun (1997), such an emphasis is key to their understanding of how the residential school experience has shaped native societies, and equally how the responsible authorities have denied it. The Canadian government started the residential school system in the late 1800s as part of an older effort to assimilate native people into Canadian culture, and was modeled in part after certain American efforts to the same end. Rather than simply providing schools in their local areas, authorities sent native children away to school, separated from their families (including their siblings once at school), not allowed to speak their own language, and in all other respects removed from their mother culture. In this way the government and missionaries thought that these children would readily adopt their new “Canadian-Christian” identity, and would discard their older native culture when returned to their homes. The achievement of this goal was mixed, even though by 1930, a full 75 percent of native children were in such schools. On the one hand, the natives did lose their older culture and family ties, as they returned home unable to speak the language of their elders, having been removed from their families for most of their lives, and not knowing the culture into which they returned. The loss of one culture did not guarantee the acceptance of a new one, however, and their subsequent adoption of a sense of “Canadian-ness” was far from successful. Most reported a strong resentment against the church (which ran the schools), the government (which funded the schools), and the police and RCMP (who routinely rounded up the children to be taken off to school). 17

Considering the strong and often desperate measures many took to escape from residential schools, these were not places to foster a sense of well-being. (Fournier and Crey, 1997) Reports of the conditions of residential schools (many of which came out in the 1980s and 90s) were shocking, to say the least, and portrayed a picture of widespread abuse and neglect. Physical punishment was widespread for even the smallest of “infractions”, such as for those caught speaking their native language, or young women menstruating. The chronically underfunded schools were negligent in providing food and shelter, while medical facilities were so scarce that nearly 40 percent of students at such schools died before they were able to return home (while schools sent others home to die). (Ibid., 58) Sexual abuse of children was also known to be widespread, so much so that 8095 percent of natives undergoing some form of therapy at native treatment centers were sexually abused as children. (Ibid., 116) The staff of the schools initially perpetrated this entirely, but over several generations such violence has been brought home to the reservations, perpetrated by those who had themselves been abused as children. Other problems such as domestic violence, drug addiction, and alcohol abuse also became pervasive. The traumatic experiences of childhood had no place in these cultures, and were so extensive so as to overwhelm any possible support structures. These schools were, in essence, ‘total institutions’, and their effects on native societies and their members were profound. It is worth citing the next passage at some length.

Even those children who found ways to cope, or in some cases benefit from the school experience, were damaged by witnessing the abuse of others. Few children escaped with their cultural identity intact. And the impact on the communities left behind was severe. Displaced from their land, their villages sometimes literally depopulated of children, parents were vulnerable to the accelerated social and economic dissolution that affected virtually all reserves in Canada. Elders who had no one to receive their wisdom lost their reason for existence. Children returned home strangers who could trust no one; far from being “improved,” they were demoralized, victimized, and often unable to bond with their 18

families or elders, so that their sad stories stayed locked within them. (Fournier & Crey, 1997; 62) These events and conditions were known among administrators at the Ministry of Indian Affairs, as well as within the churches, themselves, yet neither have accepted any responsibility for the damage inflicted upon the communities. Rather, the emphasis is on conceptualizing such actions as having occured in the past, that we all must move forward now and get beyond the experience. To this end, healing of individuals within communities is to be emphasized, and blame should be directed solely at individuals accused of such abuse, lest inquiries become what former Minister of Indian Affairs Tom Siddon referred to as “witch hunts.” (Chrisjohn, et. al., 1997; 17) Again, the dynamic of denial rests upon the assumption that in a traumatic experience, only individuals are harmed, and only individuals are to blame. Little examination of the larger social and political forces at work is acceptable, for to do so would open a new series of questions concerning how society approaches victims of trauma in our societies. Both political science and the government are apt to attribute rational actions upon the coping mechanisms of residential school survivors, effectively blaming the victim for behaviour they did not instigate. The focus on individual pathologies remains strong, even if (as stated above) doing so reinforces feelings of guilt, shame, and blame upon the victim, while skirting questions of why such experiences were allowed to happen, in the first place. These latter questions are inherently political, for they often involve group dynamics and power politics seldom examined by disciplines such as political science, and often enough ignored even by psychology.

Conclusion In the rather extreme case of the native residential schools, the infliction of trauma was used as much as a political weapon as it had later political effects. Nevertheless, inasmuch as so many of the processes remain the same between survivors of trauma, the experience may be considered political regardless of the context in which it occurred. To categorize childhood sexual, emotional, or physical 19

abuse as a non-political subject is itself a political act. These psychological processes are also political ones, as the causes and treatment are social, the effects political, and the outcome is often legal. Most of all, however, the destruction of basic categories of identity, and the innate inability of many survivors to effectively relate to them, pose serious questions to the assumptions made in politics. Stock phrases such as “communitarianism,” “civic virtue,” “patriotism,” and “family values” may have little or adverse meanings to those whose formative experiences were quite different from normative expectations. The role is for political psychology to examine these processes, and to provide greater insight into how some of our assumptions may be rethought to accommodate such uncomfortable realities. Unless we can address such topics in wider fora than a therapist’s office, the possibility of a form of social “reckoning” and healing is unlikely. Nor can topics of prevention be seriously considered until one examines the wider context within which such experiences are perpetrated, for both healing and prevention still focus on the individual (rational) actions of those involved. The first step is in recognizing that the damage wrought by trauma is far more widespread and deepseated than previously recognized or imagined.

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