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26 - Traumascape: an ecological–cultural–historical model for extreme stress

from Part IV - Theoretical aspects of management

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2009

By
Joop T. V. M. de Jong
Edited by
Dinesh Bhugra  and
Kamaldeep Bhui
Joop T. V. M. de Jong
Affiliation:
Vrije Universiteit Medisch Centrum Amsterdam TPO Keizersgracht 329 Amsterdam 1016 EE The Netherlands
Dinesh Bhugra
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London
Kamaldeep Bhui
Affiliation:
Barts & The London, Queen Mary School of Medicine and Dentistry
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Summary

EDITORS' INTRODUCTION

The relationship between social factors and mental well-being of individuals is well described. The individual responses to social stressors in the environment can influence outcome and the coping strategies. In addition, the social factors such as geographical distance may prevent individuals and their carers from seeking help. It is possible that the shape of distress changes as the social conditions change and mould individual's distress. The relationships between environment and the individuals are most starkly seen in post-disaster situations, whether the disasters are man-made or natural. Coping strategies in disaster settings include basic survival needs along with psychological trauma.

De Jong in this chapter builds on the concept of traumascape, described as a landscape marked by the need for people to build memorials at sites where massive deaths have happened. The characteristics of these traumascapes are the systemic dynamics of local and international representations and actions around extreme stress. In post-disaster situations, irrespective of the causation, the stakeholders have divergent perceptions, which produce interventions, which are not necessarily related to needs and concerns of the local communities or scientific evidence-based proven professional interventions. De Jong develops an ecological–cultural–historical model for extreme stress in which person is presented as part of a hierarchy of levels of organization. Historically, collective and individual dimensions can be understood. Ecologically, corresponding historical, economic and political processes are identified. There is no doubt that historical factors influence culture. The relationship between the individual on the one hand and ecological factors on the other is significantly influenced by role expectations.

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Chapter
Information
Textbook of Cultural Psychiatry , pp. 347 - 363
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

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