Trauma Theory Information on slides 2-13 taken from a lecture by Dr. Toni McNaron

Trauma Theory

Information on slides 2-13 taken from a lecture by

Dr. Toni McNaron

Trauma

• Psychological trauma, an emotional or psychological injury

• Usually resulting from an extremely stressful or life-threatening situation

Trauma: Natural Disasters

• Easy to identify with victims

• Hurricanes

• Floods

• Tornadoes

Trauma: Human Design

• Witness is caught between victim and perpetrator

• Easier to side with perpetrator because all asked is to do nothing


• Perpetrator relies on silence and secrecy

• If that does not work, the credibility of the victim is attacked

• Example: the Chris Brown/Rihanna situation


• People who try to help victim- professionals- come under same suspicion

• Society can’t decide whether patients of psychological trauma deserve care or contempt

Examples:

• Soldiers called exaggerators

• Women and children said to be fabricating abuse

War Trauma

• Taken seriously only if a movement exists that opposes sacrifice of the young to war

Sexual/Domestic Trauma

• Taken seriously only if a context challenges subordination of women

Child Abuse

• Taken seriously only if society truly values children

Effects on Victim

• No sense of safety• Sense of autonomy

violated• Sense of invasion and

loss of control• Total humiliation• Doubt of self and

others• Sense of community

and faith damaged

Trauma is Worst When:

• Person is active participant in violent death

• War atrocities for soldiers

• Abuse happens even once

Paradox of Trauma

• People withdraw AND seek close relationships at the same time

• Isolation OR clinging to others

• Intense, yet unstable relationships with partners

Trauma

“The Army’s first study of the mental health of troops who fought in Iraq found that about one in eight reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.”

(Associated Press, June 2004)

The Vietnam War

• 1965-1975

• “The longest and most unpopular war in which Americans ever fought.”

(From VietnamWar.Com)

The Vietnam War

• More than 58,000 Americans died• 304,000 Americans were wounded• Approx. 3 to 4 million Vietnamese from both

sides were killed in the conflict• Cost over 150 billion dollars

(From VietnamWar.Com)

Returning from Vietnam

• Many soldiers arrived home and were said to act strangely (always on their guard) and have bad dreams

(From WikiAnswers.Com)


• The government did not help (as promised) with the mental/physical help of these soldiers.

• Many soldiers came back hooked on drugs and didn't get the psychological care they needed.



• Vietnam vets suffered nightmares

• Saw a great deal of violent death

• Often refused to discuss the war


Images from the Vietnam War

Mary Vecchio kneels over the bleeding body of Jeffrey Miller, one of four students killed by Army National Guradsmen at an anti-war protest that day.

May 4, 1970, Kent State University, Ohio

Photo by John Filo


Filo who was a student at Kent State when the photographs was taken won the 1971 Pulitzer for this image.

May 4, 1970, Kent State University, Ohio

Photo by John Filo


• Kim Phuc, center left in the photo, was running away from a Napalm attack by a South Vietnamese pilot who mistook the a group of civilians and South Vietnamese soldiers as a threat.


• The photo was taken by Nick Ut who was covering the war for Associated Press. Nick Ut promptly took Kim Phuc and others to a hospital right after taking the photo.


• It was feared that the burns on her body were too severe and her hopes of survival were slim. Fortunately, after 14 months in a hospital and 17 surgeries, she returned home.

Images from the Vietnam WarFebruary 1, 1968,

Saigon, VietnamPhoto by Eddie Adams, AP

Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a Viet Cong prisoner in Saigon during the Tet offensive. The prisoner had reportedly just murdered eight South Vietnamese people.

Images from the Vietnam WarFebruary 1, 1968,

Saigon, VietnamPhoto by Eddie Adams, AP

In 1969 Eddie Adams won the Pulitzer for spot news photography. In 1975, the year the communists overran the country, Ngoc Loan fled South Vietnam, and moved to Virginia, where he opened a restaurant. He died in 1998.

To Consider:

• How can you apply Trauma Theory to The Things They Carried?

• Find examples in the text that relate to your notes on this theory.

• For your Reader’s Notebook entries, one entry should evaluate The Things They Caried using Trauma Theory.

Documents

Trauma Theory Information on slides 2-13 taken from a lecture by Dr. Toni McNaron