Serious difficulties arise when people try to make sense of their feelings, behavior, and discourse in everyday life and, especially, after traumatic experiences. Two groups of impediments are identified: the "indescribable" is demonstrated by a group of pathfinders working through their different maps of mind and nature; by individuals trying to understand and integrate a first heart attack into their previous life experiences. The "undiscussable" is highlighted in the intergenerational transmission of traumatic experiences in the families of Holocaust survivors and Nazi perpetrators. By providing a unique way of looking at life experiences, embedded in a variety of social contexts, this book suggests a new psychosocial theoretical framework which can be used by both laymen and professionals when confronted by troublesome issues that require acknowledgement.

In this brave and original work, Federica Clementi focuses on the mother-daughter bond as depicted in six works by women who experienced the Holocaust, sometimes with their mothers, sometimes not. The daughtersÕ memoirs, which record the Òall-too-humanÓ qualities of those who were persecuted and murdered by the Nazis, show that the Holocaust cannot be used to neatly segregate lives into the categories of before and after. ClementiÕs discussions of differences in social status, along with the persistence of antisemitism and patriarchal structures, support this point strongly, demonstrating the tenacity of traumaÑindividual, familial, and collectiveÑamong Jews in twentieth-century Europe.

′Gunaratnam′s framework is rich in its examination and synthesis of approaches to the study of "race"... the reward for the reader who does pick up the book is that the author deftly articulates the complicated view of research on "race" first from the quantitative perspective and then skilfully moves the reader to issues of "race" in qualitative research′ - Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism ′This is a welcome book for those engaged in policy and empirical work with an active research agenda... there is a level of theoretical sophistication in the text which is often missing from texts concerned with methods in this area′ - Race Relations Abstracts `The particular value of this book to readers lies in the discussion of "race", ethnicity and research issues within a political and social context. The author states her intention to explore some of the theoretical and practical dilemmas of researching "race" and ethnicity. This is, without question, achieved. I recommend it as essential reading for those concerned with increasing their awareness of issues relating to race, ethnicity and research practice′ - Nurse Researcher ′This is a thought-provoking and challenging book which demonstrated the fractured and fluid nature of difference and power in the research process. Importantly it offers a guide to the ways in which research can be effectively and productively used in challenging the status quo′ - Diversity in Health and Social Care Researching `Race′ and Ethnicity provides an innovative discussion of the methodological, epistemological and ethical challenges of doing qualitative research that is informed by questions of `race′, ethnicity and social difference. By identifying and challenging `categorical thinking′ and many longstanding assumptions about the meanings of `race′ and ethnicity, the author gets to the heart of many of the everyday dilemmas and difficulties that researchers confront in the field, but are rarely theorised or openly discussed. Yasmin Gunaratnam′s insistence that `race′ and ethnicity are a significant part of all qualitative research, and are not the `specialist′ concerns of those whose work is explicitly focussed upon `race′, provokes a radical rethinking of current methological debates. How do racial and ethnic categories inform our approaches to research? How does the racialised indentity of the researcher and the research participants affect the research interaction and the knowledge that we produce? What are the assumptions that are made about racialised subjectivity and inter-subjectivity? How can we make sense of accounts in which `race′ and ethnicity are silent or are non-manifest? How can we work ethically across difference? In examining these and other questions, the wide-ranging discussions in the book are animated by examples drawn from the author′s ethnographic research with white and minoritized research participants. Through these examples readers will be able to engage with some of the complexities of research relationships, power relations and ethical concerns about engagement, disconnection and complicity in research. The attention that the book gives to the excluded experiences of minoritized researchers will be of particular value to many readers. Researching `Race′ and Ethnicity is essential reading for students and academics in the social sciences.

How wounds from a previous generation may weigh on children and grandchildren contain much of interest. Yet if we unpack the ghostly, the eerie, and the spectral in transgenerational hauntings, if we allow for the suffering or the disturbed to forge social links, such contacts may enable breaking into reconnections and afterlives. … One only needs to think of the near epidemic of rape in South Africa to sense violent hypermasculinity erupting as madness, mediated by a history of brutal, racialised reduction. But it is also important to move beyond the brutalities and madness, to consider the individual and collective refigurations surfacing out of layers of catastrophe. Nancy Rose Hunt: Conference Keynote Address, “Beyond Trauma? Notes on a Word, a Frame, and a Diagnostic Category.” Historical Trauma and Memory: Living with the Haunting Power of the Past is based on essays presented at a conference with the same name which was held in Kigali, Rwanda in April 2019. The book gives readers front row seats as an interdisciplinary group of scholars from law, psychology, history, the arts, anthropology, theology, and philosophy address the complex matrix of the emotional legacies of historical trauma, cultural legacies, people interacting with their social and political environment, and the interplay of these factors in different post-conflict societies.

Experts investigate the role of child development in promoting a culture of peace, reporting on research in biology, neuroscience, genetics, and psychology. Can more peaceful childhoods promote a culture of peace? Increasing evidence from a broad range of disciplines shows that how we raise our children affects the propensity for conflict and the potential for peace within a given community. In this book, experts from a range of disciplines examine the biological and social underpinnings of child development and the importance of strengthening families to build harmonious and equitable relations across generations. They explore the relevance to the pursuit of peace in the world, highlight directions for future research, and propose novel approaches to translate knowledge into concrete action. The contributors describe findings from research in biology, neuroscience, evolution, genetics, and psychology. They report empirical evidence on children living in violent conditions, resilience in youth, and successful interventions. Their contributions show that the creation of sustainable partnerships with government agencies, community leaders, policy makers, funders, and service providers is a key ingredient for success. Taken together, they suggest possible novel approaches to translate knowledge into concrete action.

Our family legacies, both positive and negative, are passed down from one generation to the next in ways that are not fully understood. This secondary form of trauma, which Gita Baack calls “Inherited Trauma,” has not received adequate attention—a failing that perpetuates cycles of pain, hatred, and violence. In The Inheritors, readers are given the opportunity to reflect on the inherited burdens they carry, as well as the resilience that has given them the power of survival. Through engaging stories and unique concepts, readers will learn new ways to explore the unknowns in their legacies, reflect on questions that are posed at the end of each chapter, and begin to write their own story.

Judith Hassan has written a book which will strike readers on several levels. Dedicated to the memory of her parents - her mother was a refugee from Nazi Germany - it tells of the growing understanding derived from working with Holocaust-survivors. The Holocaust brings many lessons for all of us. Hassan's particular lesson is that it is possible to help those who carry deep within them old and desperate wounds. The lesson extends to suggesting that we could do the same for others whose wounds are fresher, perhaps more accessible. And she shows us how help might reasonably be given.' - Jewish Chronicle 'This book describes what the author has learned, from working at the Shalvata Centre in London and setting up the Holocaust Survivors' Centre (HSC) next door, about the sort of services that can help those who survived the trauma of life in a Nazi concentration camp, or flight in the kindertransport, to realize their capacity for joy and contentment in the latter part of their lives.' - Jewish Quarterly 'Some suffering, like certain grief leaves scars beyond those who experience it themselves. Their children carry it in their wounded souls like secrets that are too burdensome, or nightmares that are too disturbing to be faced. It is not a matter of physical or psychological wounds, for these are not even tangible. They often escape detection from traditional medicine or therapy, emanating from experiences transmitted from one generation to the next, each equally traumatised. But for those who can recognise these wounds, as Judith Hassan does in this book rich in understanding and compassion, the pain remains vivid.' Elie Wiesel, Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities, Boston University How do we respond to extreme suffering? Judith Hassan faced this challenge by listening to the survivors and learning from them as the experts on their own experiences. She discovered that conventional therapeutic responses did not seem to go far enough and she has spent twenty-five years developing innovative services for survivors of the Nazi Holocaust, as well as more recent refugees from Bosnia. Judith Hassan has developed a model that addresses the trauma of individuals who faced starvation, torture and who witnessed the murder of close family members. Her book discusses the kinds of demands placed on those who work with these survivors and opens up issues for others in the field of war trauma to answer in their own particular and appropriate way. Translating the language of liberation into practice, A House Next Door to Trauma points to a different way of becoming a neighbour to all those who suffer extreme war experiences. It is clear and hopeful in the positive potential it lends to therapeutic work in this area.