Cultural Perspectives on Trauma

Traumatic events are usually regarded as extreme stressors that occur outside the range of normal human experience. A trauma is a frightening and horrific experience that is perceived to threaten the psychological or physical well being of the person. In most cases it is experienced as severe due to its unexpected, uncontrollable, and fearful nature. Trauma is associated with (a) natural disasters (hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes); (b) terrorism and war (the September 11^thterrorist attack and combat trauma), and (c) individualized occurrences that place a person in harm’s way (rape, physical assaults, domestic violence, and car accidents). A person or group can be traumatized from passive witnessing of destructive and violent events to actual personal and physical violations. In the field of mental health, response to such trauma has been called posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). To be diagnosed with PTSD, a person must have experienced or witnessed an event or events that...