A sociological conceptualization of trauma.
The epistemological difficulties with the model of 'stressful life events' are reviewed and contrasted with the epistemologies of the pioneers of stress research: Cannon, Selye, Durkheim, Freud, Bernard and Dubos. The paper focuses on the question 'What is an event?' as opposed to a fact and on the neo-Humean difficulties of relying upon explanations of events. It is demonstrated that the pioneers of stress research avoided event-explanations and relied instead (sometimes implicitly) on the notion of 'trauma'. A trauma is not just an event. The concept of trauma is linked to the ideas of arrangements and derangements of collective representations in the context of society conceived of as a cybernetic system.
D003491:Cybernetics; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D010684:Philosophy; D012944:Social Support; D012961:Sociology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000523:psychology*