Historical trauma

Historical trauma is a concept that refers to how the past experiences of a culture affect the lives of the individuals within that culture. It addresses how devastating historical experiences such as slavery or genocide—the mass extermination of people because of their race, nationality, or religion—may impact the descendants of those who experienced the initial trauma. The concept of historical trauma was initially developed through work with American Indians whose ancestors experienced many forms of oppression and loss during America’s colonization and expansion. However, the concept can apply to any cultural group that has experienced a significant past trauma. Social workers consider the potential impact of historical trauma in addressing present-day problems.

Historical trauma is a form of transgenerational trauma because the aftereffects of the trauma are passed from the generation that originally experienced it to each succeeding generation. When the trauma affects an entire culture, it is called historical trauma.

Background

The term historical trauma was first used in the 1980s by American Indian mental health expert and social worker Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart. Yellow Horse Brave Heart was studying how modern-day Lakota communities were affected by the experiences of their ancestors. As European settlers moved into America, American Indian populations were often forced to relocate and sometimes mistreated or killed. In later centuries, Indigenous populations continued to be relocated or see their people assimilated into European culture. Sometimes, this assimilation was accomplished with force, such as the American Indian boarding schools in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that immersed American Indian children into White culture to minimize their connection to their ancestral culture. Similarly, Indigenous peoples in Canada and Australia faced systematic cultural oppression during these time periods, and later generations reported ongoing traumatic effects.

Overview

Historical trauma can occur whenever a group of people are intentionally harmed because of their race, nationality, culture, or religion. There are countless examples of people who have suffered traumatic cultural events, including Indigenous peoples, enslaved African people, and Holocaust victims. Any time a group of people is oppressed or singled out for persecution based on who they are, historical trauma could be the result. The concept includes the idea that although the event that initiated the trauma occurred in the past, the trauma itself continues indefinitely.

The original trauma can involve physical, emotional, or spiritual pain that results from being forced to give up all or some of a culture’s ancestral practices. Actions such as banning a group from using their language, requiring them to give up traditional ways of dressing or eating, or prohibiting them from practicing their religion are all things that some experts believe can lead to historical trauma.

Social workers consider the effects of this trauma on the following generations. They believe cultural trauma inflicted in the past impacts the mental health of the descendants, even if they have no first-hand experience with the trauma or those who suffered it. The trauma is passed along through the stories told about the original event and through seeing how one’s ancestors were affected. In some cases, the contemporary generations may even live with some of the aftereffects of the past trauma. For example, a person may reside in a different area than their ancestral home because their ancestors were forcibly relocated or fled persecution, or may be deprived of the opportunity to worship in ancestral sacred sites that were destroyed as part of a past event.

Those who promote the concept of historical trauma believe that it is a cause for mental and social problems faced by members of different cultural groups. For example, studies have shown that Indigenous populations in countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia experience a high incidence of substance abuse, suicide, and other manifestations of emotional and mental distress. Some believe historical trauma experienced during their cultural past is a contributing factor.

Some experts believe that historical trauma is a factor in contemporary attitudes that lead to new forms of trauma for people in some cultures. For example, these experts would say that the legacy of African slavery and the lack of respect for the African race it implied is at the root of racism and cultural problems that Black people continued to face in the twenty-first century. They believe that trauma rooted in historical conditions has effectively spun off into new forms of trauma such as unequal educational and economic opportunities and unfair treatment by law enforcement, according to some theorists.

This overlapping of historical events and situations is also cited by some as a problem with the historical trauma concept. Those who give less credence to the theory note that many cultures, even those considered to be the cause of trauma in another group, have their own histories of trauma. For example, many of the ancestors of enslavers in America came to the New World because they were fleeing religious persecutions. These experts believe there are more factors at work in cultures that appear to be suffering from historical trauma than their past history.

Some sociologists also urge caution with the use of the term “trauma.” They see it as too strong of a term for such a far-removed experience. While the event might have been traumatic to the people who were originally affected, people living decades or even centuries later are not truly traumatized. These experts believe that calling it “trauma” adds to the victim mentality that impedes healing and moving past the experience.

Social workers who address historical trauma in their work say that affected cultures may experience symptoms like those seen in post-traumatic stress disorder. They may have low self-esteem, a victim mindset, and unresolved anger problems. They may dissociate from others, be excessively suspicious or fearful of those outside their culture, and exhibit little tolerance for anything or anyone outside their culture. They may also engage in substance abuse, gambling, or other self-destructive behaviors and have a higher-than-average likelihood of attempting suicide.

The fact that the original trauma may have occurred so far in the past and the effects are thought to be very widespread in the descendants makes it difficult to treat. Having counselors or therapists who are part of the affected community is thought to help because they can better relate to how the people feel about their shared past. Traditional cognitive behavior therapy techniques can be applied on an individual basis to help people cope with their varied responses to historical trauma.

Bibliography

Brave Heart, Maria Yellow Horse. “Integrating Trauma Informed and Historical Trauma Informed Care in Behavioral Health Interventions with American Indians and Alaska Natives: Part 1.” Indian Health Services, 31 May 2017, www.ihs.gov/sites/telebehavioral/themes/responsive2017/display‗objects/documents/slides/traumainformedcare/ticintegratingone082917.pdf. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024.

Coyle, Susan. “Intergenerational Trauma—Legacies of Loss.” Social Work Today, May/June 2014, www.socialworktoday.com/archive/051214p18.shtml. Accessed 16 March 2019.

“Historical Trauma; Healing Centuries of Suffering.” Columbia River Mental Health Services, crmhs.org/historical-trauma/. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024.

Little, Becky. “How Boarding Schools Tried to ‘Kill the Indian’ Through Assimilation.” History, 11 July 2023, www.history.com/news/how-boarding-schools-tried-to-kill-the-indian-through-assimilation. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024.

Menzies, Peter. "Intergenerational Trauma and Residential Schools." The Canadian Encyclopedia, 30 May 2024, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/intergenerational-trauma-and-residential-schools. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024.

Mohatt, Nathaniel Vincent et al. “Historical Trauma as Public Narrative: A Conceptual Review of How History Impacts Present-Day Health.” Social Science and Medicine, 1982, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4001826/. Accessed 16 Mar. 2019.

"What Is Intergenerational Trauma and How Does It Affect First Nations People in Australia?" NITV, SBS, 19 Feb. 2024, www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/what-is-intergenerational-trauma-and-how-does-it-affect-first-nations-people-in-australia/heibp1l9b. Accessed 12 Aug. 2024.