Collective Trauma

Facilitating Voices: An Outlet Podcast

On this week's episode Claire and Haili discuss collective trauma, its impacts on all of us, and how collective trauma impacts the work we do as social workers. In the midst of COVID-19 and so many other prevalent events that have happened over the past few years (ongoing school shootings, ongoing mass shootings in public spaces, ongoing violence toward people of color that goes unreconciled, natural disasters like floods and wildfires) the impacts of collective trauma become clearer every day in the field, and become heavier on everybody’s hearts every day in life. Through a five point discussion, Claire and Haili dive into the history behind collective trauma, the prevalence of collective trauma, how collective trauma manifests itself and its effects, events contributing to it today, and what we can do about it.
When talking about current events this week, we want to be careful about retraumatization in the wake of the school shooting at Oxford High School. If at any time you feel as though this is too much, please feel free to skip ahead, pause or end the episode. Signs to look for when you are starting to feel overwhelmed may include muscle tension, an increase in heart rate, your mind racing, changes in body temperature. Take care of yourself, because these are extremely difficult things for us to be talking about. Viewer discretion is advised.
Source Notes:

Branscombe N. R., Ellemers N., Spears R., Doosje B. (1999). “The context and content of social identity threat,” in Social Identity: Context, Commitment, Content, eds Ellemers N., Spears R., Doosje B. (Oxford: Blackwell; ), 35–58.

Imhoff R. (2010). The Dynamics of Collective Guilt Three Generations after the Holocaust: Young Germans’ Emotional Experiences in Response to the Nazi Past. Hamburg: Verlag Dr. Korac

Tajfel H., Turner J. C. (1979). “An integrative theory of intergroup conflict,” in The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations, eds Austin W. G., Worchel S., (Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole; ), 33–47.

Roth J., Huber M., Juenger A., Liu J. H. (2017). It’s about valence: historical continuity or historical discontinuity as a threat to social identity. J. Soc. Polit. Psychol. 5 320-341. 10.5964/jspp.v5i2.677

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15283488.2017.1340160

https://www.verywellmind.com/how-different-generations-are-responding-to-covid-19-4802517

https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/publications/p02779.pdf

https://about.kaiserpermanente.org/total-health/health-tips/healing-from-collective-trauma

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6095989/
https://www.michigan.gov/som/0,4669,7-192-29942_34762-573275--,00.html