title: Social contexts of trauma and healing.
abstract: The social contexts in which the mass trauma of thousands of people occur and in which their recovery should progress have qualities that distinguish it in important ways from individualised trauma in which a person is a victim of a violent attack, rape or a traffic accident. Organised violence, such as wars, oppression by dictatorships and massive terrorist attacks are extreme cases in which hundreds or thousands of people are exposed to trauma in a short period of time. As such, it has multiple consequences that extend beyond the affected individuals and the symptoms they suffer. Although the symptoms may be similar, the social contexts in which individual victimisation and exposure to organised violence happen are very different. The social milieu in which the survivors of individual trauma and survivors of mass trauma are embedded is likewise different, with important consequences for recovery. Understanding the social context of the trauma helps create the right social intervention for healing at social and personal levels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia. dean.ajdukovic@ffzg.hr
authors.forename: Dean
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ajdukovic
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D004190:Disasters; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology*; D033062:Friends / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D011593:Psychology, Social; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012935:Social Justice; D012944:Social Support; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; D035502:Trust; D014858:War Crimes / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D014857:Warfare; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000523:psychology*; D015022:Yugoslavia