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Nurture: The Psychological and Social Aspects of Transgenerational Trauma

There are many current transgenerational studies that have been done on adults that have experienced natural disasters or adversities. One study revealed that the children of Australian Vietnam War-Veterans are more likely to suffer from family dysfunctionality, lower self-esteem, and symptoms resembling the disorders (most commonly PTSD) of their parents. Another study done on the offspring of torture victims was performed. The study found that they showed more symptoms of anxiety, depression, post‐traumatic stress, attention deficits and behavioral disorders compared with the comparison group of those who had not experienced the specific trauma. A qualitative study was done on the Brazilian children of Holocaust survivors. This study was particularly interesting because it was able to propose not only a supported model of the transgenerational transmission of traumatic experiences, but one also of resilience patterns that can be transmitted in between generations and developed within generations. Researchers Cowan, Callaghan, & Richardson studied the impact of early-life adversities on individuals and their descendants. Their research was also consistent with the transmission theory, in which their findings revealed that the stress phenotype that was expressed in individuals who experienced the adversity was also observed in children and even grandchildren.

The famous study of Harlow’s monkeys also revealed that the adversity of a maternal variable which would create stress in the individual was also witnessed in their offspring although not having experienced the adversity. One last study displayed that if children were exposed to high postnatal maternal licking/grooming and arched-back nursing then they were likely to do the same to their offspring. Vice versa, if children experienced low LG-ABN mothers, then they were likely to provide the same to their offspring. Consequently, this causes a decrease in serotonin and expression, and an increase in methylation. Ultimately, a more stressed pup is created, causing this phenotype to be passed on through experience and genes.

Theses studies allude to the fact that often times adversity, especially early on and for longer periods of time, can impact development in individuals and their offspring.

The chains of oppression that blacks experienced through slavery and repackaged racism are observed to have a psychological impact on how they view achievement and even the striving of it. The work of decolonizing the mental chains of slavery is now done by profound black researchers. In terms of the social aspects of this, the repackaged forms of racism seem to make it difficult for blacks to surpass a certain SES threshold, to escape a certain neighborhood, to move beyond a certain lifestyle or status, or to exist without first acknowledging their setback: being black. Unless psychologically and socially diminished, this trauma, coupled with the current pattern observed in the livelihood of black people, may perpetuate this transfer for generations to come.

The “Trail of Tears” still affect the Native Americans today. The act of taking their lands from them and displacing them is still one that is practiced today and therefore is still one that affects them many generations later. The social enforcement of their ostracization causes them to be generally removed from society, to be powerless and uninvited in government, and to be left to fend for themselves. This trauma unless socially altered will continue to exist and continue to cause Natives to become used to insignificant existence.