Trauma – Decolonising Global Health Archive

By Hanna Kienzler, Gwyn Daniel, Weeam Hammoudeh, Rana Nashashibi, Yasser Abu-Jamei, and Rita Giacaman.

The onslaught on Gaza is leading to catastrophic psychological consequences which will not be limited to the short term and to those directly affected, but will have long-term, intergenerational effects.

This commentary argues that to understand trauma responses among Gazans, we need to go beyond individual illness and, instead, link the biomedical sphere with the political sphere through the concept of social suffering and, thereby, expose the socio-political conditions of life and the collective trauma-inducing nature of the Israeli military occupation and repression.

Addressing these complex trauma responses requires approaches that bring together the political, social and personal-level components of mental health with a focus on three factors: safety and allyship; the right to agency and acknowledgement, accountability and reparations.

Read the article here.

By Lydia Wanja Gitau, Achol Arop and Caroline Lenette

The topics of intergenerational trauma, resilience, and wellbeing as they relate to forced migration are receiving more attention in the arts and health literature. Yet, we know very little about how refugee-background young adults manage their psychosocial wellbeing when they grow up surrounded by stories of conflict, loss, and trauma. Achol has been writing poetry to represent and amplify the narratives of those around her (parents, family, and the South Sudanese community in Sydney, Australia). These stories are central elements of her lived experience and the diverse experiences of her community. Using collaborative poetic inquiry, this paper identifies key themes in one of her poems, My dad was, is a soldier, to illustrate how poetry is an important artistic mode of expression that can improve our understanding of intergenerational trauma, resilience, and wellbeing. Rather than conveying interview data through research poems, we place Achol’s poem at the centre of our collaborative poetic inquiry to gain new insights into refugee lived experiences. This paper contributes to contemporary debates on how artistic means enrich our knowledge of psychosocial wellbeing through trauma-informed, culturally safe, and decolonial research methods.

Tag: Trauma

‘My Dad Was, Is a Soldier’: Using Collaborative Poetic Inquiry to Explore Intergenerational Trauma, Resilience, and Wellbeing in the Context of Forced Migration