Historical trauma refers to emotional and psychological wounding that is transferred across generations stemming from trauma events inflicted on a group. This concept is different in the sense that subsequent generations also display trauma responses (Denham, 2008). This concept expands my understanding of trauma. It certainly takes me beyond the concept defined by the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.) (DSM5) (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). Historical trauma does not meet the full criteria of post-traumatic stress disorder (APA, 2013). Yet, people are influenced by the previous generations’ experiences. Denham (2008) asserted that problematic symptoms or pathologies are not the only way in which
…show more content…
As a Japanese, my own ethnic history informs me that my group is both the perpetrator and victim of historical trauma. Atrocities Japan inflicted on other groups in history are inexcusable. Those are parts of our history. It is indeed difficult to own up to the evil acts of generation before me. Nevertheless, it is the current generations’ (which include me) responsibility to face how those harmful acts continue to affect our neighbors. Moreover, we should understand and have empathy towards them as we also experienced many traumas. Those experiences include events which inflicted by both man and nature. It is my opinion that Japanese people tend to focus on resiliency in the face of challenges. A part of our ethnic narrative is that we made a rapid economic and technological growth in the post-world war II era. In other words, we picked ourselves up and made progress to the point that we are competing with other economically developed nations. I believe that the most Japanese people have a sense of pride that the traumas have not defined us, but we overcame them. Perhaps, we focus on the positive aspects of our narrative (a lot) more than what we perpetrated against
As a Japanese, my own ethnic history informs me that my group is both the perpetrator and victim of historical trauma. Atrocities Japan inflicted on other groups in history are inexcusable. Those are parts of our history. It is indeed difficult to own up to the evil acts of generation before me. Nevertheless, it is the current generations’ (which include me) responsibility to face how those harmful acts continue to affect our neighbors. Moreover, we should understand and have empathy towards them as we also experienced many traumas. Those experiences include events which inflicted by both man and nature. It is my opinion that Japanese people tend to focus on resiliency in the face of challenges. A part of our ethnic narrative is that we made a rapid economic and technological growth in the post-world war II era. In other words, we picked ourselves up and made progress to the point that we are competing with other economically developed nations. I believe that the most Japanese people have a sense of pride that the traumas have not defined us, but we overcame them. Perhaps, we focus on the positive aspects of our narrative (a lot) more than what we perpetrated against