Generational Trauma Gracie Rohe Bennington High School AP English Language and Composition Mrs. McGrew May 9, 2024 Abstract Generational trauma is an issue that greatly affects many families today and is a struggle that has been going on for decades. When family members experience this type of trauma, it will be a continuous cycle passed down from generation to generation. This paper speaks in depth about three of the most common factors in a family that impact generational trauma: abuse, mental health, and identification with previous hardships. Abuse influences families, whether it is through substance or physical, verbal, or emotional abuse. This paper argues that this abuse has feelings of shame attached to it and therefore …show more content…
This paper states that when an individual sees another they care about going through a difficult time, it also burdens them. All of these factors contribute to the continuation of this cycle. Keywords: generational trauma, mental health, abuse, identification with struggles, cycle. Generational Trauma Generational trauma is “defined as a secondary form of trauma that results from the transfer of traumatic experiences from parents to their children” (“Generational Trauma,” 2010). This type of trauma is common and affects many. Many factors contribute to generational trauma, including genetics, health, and poverty (Bader, 2022). In the novel, The Glass Castle, the four children (Lori, Jeannette, Brian, and Maureen) are all impacted in both their childhoods and adult lives by trauma passed down from their parents (Rex and Rose Mary Walls). Generational trauma is an ongoing cycle that continues to affect families because of abuse, mental health issues, and identification with struggles. Abuse A way that generational trauma continues to affect families is through abuse, both physical and substance. Generational …show more content…
Trauma causes mental health issues for many parents (Baack, 2017, p. 234). Mental health issues continue the cycle of generational trauma because these struggles may be passed down to offspring by their parents. This means that more than likely, children will deal in some way with the same mental struggles as their parents. If parents experience many hardships throughout their lifetime, there is a better chance that they will have more chaos in their lives to pass down to future generations. All of this chaos will then build upon itself until it is too much to bear, resulting in disorders including depression and anxiety. Generational trauma is seen many times as a result of parental disorders (“Generational Trauma,” 2010). So, trauma can cause mental health issues, but mental health disorders can also cause generational trauma. Mental health could affect a parent first and then these health struggles would cause them to act a certain way towards their children, which could create a traumatic experience. The traumatic event that the child went through could then be something they pass down to their children in some form. Mental struggles can occur consciously or unconsciously (Baack, 2017, p. 234). Mental illness affects much of the population, and many who fight these battles don’t even realize it. The cycle that generational trauma causes is seemingly continuous because so
"Daniel Orozco-Department of English-University of Idaho." Daniel Orozco-Department of English-University of Idaho. N.p., n.d. Web. . .
There is no such thing as being ‘the perfect family’. Every family is unique and different in their own ways. They have their troubles, struggles, and weaknesses in their lives. The novel, The Glass Castle: a memoir by Jeannette Walls share the theme of a dysfunctional family. Firstly, the parent of the main character, Rose Walls is not an ideal motherly figure to her children. Secondly, the Walls children are not being treated the way they should be for their age. Finally, the parent of the lead character, Rex Walls is not a role model of a fatherly figure to his kids. When the family acts in a dysfunctional way it affects each individual and the family negatively.
Traumatic events occur in all shapes and sizes. Traumatic events can influence a person’s life either in a positive way or a negative way. People can either make the best of what happened to them, or fall into a dark spiral downward—leaving some anxious or depressed. In the case of the Jeannette Walls, she tells the story of her ever chaotic and traumatic life as a child and young adolescent. Throughout her life she was exposed to being on fire, sexual assault, domestic violence, and many more traumatizing incidents. While these events are highly stressful and can cause severe mental problems, within the exposed person, Jeannette had the resilience to overcome and grow from the experiences her past had left her with.
Lukes, K. B.A. (Hons.) (Alberta), M.A. (Brit. Col.), English. English 424 Section:3 Term 93/3 Class Lectures Sept. 1993
Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. 5th ed. of the book. Boston: Heinle, 2004.
People tend to have differing views on what may be considered child abuse, yet the fact stands that trauma can affect a child’s entire lifetime. The Glass Castle is a memoir by Jeannette Walls that details the story of her childhood as her family moved all across the United States. Specifically, Walls goes into depth on her most memorable moments, such as the neglect and abuse she and her siblings suffered from at the hands of their parents. Particular examples of these memories are when she and her siblings had to live off of butter and sugar, since their parents used up all their money on everything but necessities, or when Jeannette had to rummage through dumpsters to find what they needed to survive. In The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls,
More than half of American children have experienced at least one major trauma that leads to future struggles, such as alcoholism, drug abuse, and even suicide. In the memoir The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, the Walls family children, Lori, Jeannette, Brian, and Maureen, are victims of abuse in several cities in America during the years of the 1960s to the 2000s. Rex Walls has caused many issues, such as physically and verbally abusing individuals in public. The family is always on the run from the law, causing them to have loose relationships, dangerous interactions, and no stability in their lives. The children have to live with constant change and mental abuse from their parents, while taking on the role of raising each other.
" AP English. Calvary Christian School -. Georgia, Columbus. 08 Mar 2014. Read more about the book here.
Trauma is the fourth leading cause of death overall for all ages in the United States. Trauma is
When faced with a life altering situation although Molly’s characteristics and personality aid her in courageously defying them, the effects of facing this traumatic event will lead to long term psychological repercussions. When severe harm is inflicted on a person’s psyche, it is viewed as an emotional trauma (Levers, 2012). The emotional harm inflicted on Molly’s psyche originates from different dimensions; like her upbringing, her trauma is multidimensional too. As a child of the Indigenous community, whose ancestors and elders were killed violently in inter-group conflicts, and whose children were forcefully removed from families, Molly is would experience intergenerational trauma (Atkinson, 2002). Intergenerational trauma is trauma passed down from one generation to another; as a close knitted community group, the grief experienced by family members of losing their loved ones, would have been transferred across generations (Atkinson,
Intergenerational trauma occurs when the unresolved and unhealed trauma of one generation is passed to the next generation. For example, traumatized individuals who become parents may have poor coping skills and other symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which can have adverse effects on their children. Certain molecules that attach to DNA during trauma can also transmit the effects of trauma to the next generation biochemically. Shared experience of being victimized by racism and/or other oppressions and socio-cultural disadvantages increases the likelihood of intergenerational trauma
The Impact of Intergenerational Trauma. Fences sets the scene for 53-year-old Troy Maxson, a former baseball player who was never able to advance to a serious professional level because of the discriminating era of time, even though it was inflicted to be because of Troy's old age. Bono, his friend, says, "Ain't two men ever played baseball as good as you? " That's Babe Ruth and Josh Gibson.
Advanced English 12: Humanities. Eden Prairie High School. Eden Prairie. March 2012. Class discussion.
According to the American Psychological Association, trauma is an emotional response to a terrible event. Some terrible events that happen all too often are rape, natural disasters or an accident. Immediately following the event shock and denial are likely to occur, but in the long-term flashbacks, unpredictable emotions and troubled relationships can arise. Defining emotional trauma on a child. Emotional trauma in a child can be created by bullying, emotional abuse, death of loved ones, separation from parent, or chaos and dysfunction in the household. Child symptoms of trauma can be very similar to depression symptoms. They can over sleep or sleep to little, unexplained anger, trouble focusing, obsessive worrying and some anxiety. How a child experiences an event and how it’s handled by those around him have an effect on how traumatizing it can be, notes Dr. Jerry Bubrick (Child Mind Institute , 2017). People grieve at different speeds and the way the child grieves is not the correct indicator on how the child will cope later. Defining physical trauma on a child. Physical trauma on a child is considered non-accidental or the cause of physical injury. Some households that suffer from alcoholism/substance abuse and anger issues have higher occurrences of child abuse as compared to households without according to psychology today. Sometimes kids that are abused are unaware that they are being abused and are victims of child
Trauma relates to a type of damage to the mind that comes from a severely distressing event. A traumatic event relates to an experience or repeating events that overwhelmingly precipitated in weeks, months, or decades as one tries to cope with the current situations that can cause negative consequences. People’s general reaction to these events includes intense fear, helplessness or horror. When children experience trauma, they show disorganized or agitative behavior. In addition, the trigger of traumas includes some of the following, harassment, embarrassment, abandonment, abusive relationships, rejection, co-dependence, and many others. Long-term exposure to these events, homelessness, and mild abuse general psychological