In my thesis I am talking about intergenerational trauma transmission, which means trauma that can transfer from one generation to another and all the factors, that can either be protective or risk factors in the mechanisms of trauma transmission. First I define the term trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and intergenerational trauma. I define the factors that contribute to the experience and transmission of trauma. From the individual point of view, the traumatic experience point of view and from the social system point of view.
In the empirical part, through the interviews of four individuals, two with post-war camp experience and two whose parents survived the post-war camp. I will research how the factors of the transmission of trauma are shown on the example of my interviewees. I am finding out whether or how the traumatic experience can be passed on to the second generation and how traumatic experience can impact the third generation.
The findings show, that interviewees with post-war camp experience understand traumatic experience as destroyed life and everything they have known and they both think, that they were left traumatized after the post-war camp experience. One of them recognizes the symptoms of PTSD on herself and the other one doesn't. As for diagnosis, none of them was ever diagnosed with PTSD or any other mental illness. One of my interviewees thinks that her trauma was passed through a sense of incompetence, that she experienced it in the relationship with her children, as for the other interviewee, she doesn’t talk about any important consequences from the traumatic experience in the raising of her children.
With the interviewees, whose parents survived the post-war camp experience, none of them report, or show symptoms of PTSD. Neither were they ever diagnosed with any other mental illness. One of them believes that her extended family was a very powerful protective factor, preventing trauma transmission, while the other one thinks, that one of the factors in the trauma transmission in her case was the conspiracy of silence or the lack of communication in the family and the emotional non-responsiveness of her mother to meet her needs. She sees her family as a risk factor for trauma transmission. For all four interviewees, the post-traumatic environment represents a significant threatening factor in the transmission of trauma. It’s shown as poverty in the post-war period and the inaction of the authorities regarding the needs of the traumatized.
At the end of my thesis I emphasize the increasing importance of research carried out on the subject of trauma transmission and the all growing role of social pedagogy in exploring traumatic experiences. I also emphasize the importance of both preventive and curative programs in the field of traumatic events, that offer help to traumatized individuals.
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