Written by: Anet Khechoumian , Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
Being in the 21st century, many people may believe that genocides are old and archaic acts that no longer occur, though unfortunately, it is an act that leaves residual effects for decades following, and continues to take course in today’s generation.
Past and Present Trauma
The definition of Genocide is stated to be, “a crime against humanity, characterized by the intent to annihilate a group defined by presumed group characteristics, such as ethnicity, religion or class. It is a crime both against a group, defined on the basis of group identity, and against its individual members.”[i] A genocide is known to leave behind sizeable consequences onto the children of genocide survivors and contributes substantially to the formation of transgenerational trauma. Transgenerational trauma occurs when symptoms and behaviors of trauma survivors (evident by anxiety, agitation, dissociation, blunted affect, sadness, or numbness of emotions), are passed along to the subsequent generation. These negative symptoms contribute vastly to how the current generation can understand, heal, and cope with present traumas and stressors.
Stages and Characteristics
The Armenian Genocide, that involved the heinous killing of Armenians by Turkey between 1915-1917, has been known to have left a lasting impact on the health and wellbeing of survivors and their children. The impact of such acts can be seen in pre-genocide, genocide and post-genocide characteristics. Pre-genocide, Armenia was formulated by ethnic religious groups (Christian), mainly rural, and identified strongly by its racial ideology. Genocide characteristics included being perpetrated by outside groups, being forced to deport their home, separation of families, forced relocation by form of death march, being subjected to systemic mass extermination, destruction of mass communities, systemic rape of women, and 1.5 million victims. Post-genocide (which has since been recognized as a genocide by 29 countries), has faced the refusal of Turkish acknowledgment of deaths, no reparations, increased organization of groups within, and migration of the diaspora (mainly in the US and France).[ii]
The most utilized quality assessment tool is currently known as the Genocide Studies Quality Assessment Tool, GeSuQ, developed by a group of epidemiologists, psychiatrists, public health experts, anthropologists, sociologists, and statisticians. Though ample studies have not yet taken place on survivors of genocide, it is known that subsequent life events, stressors, and situations may influence the health of children of survivors. Though genocide undoubtedly leads to disruption of family bounds, survivors of the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust were less likely to experience rejection or betrayal of their own parents or other family members/friends. After having endured a genocide, families may be known to be less likely to undermine basic trust in close relatives, due to the learned need for survival buoyed by the community and familial bond.[iii]
In their DNA
Family violence was associated with more psychopathologies in the offspring of survivors, emphasizing the important role that current life events play in the development of such pathologies, among those whose earlier life renders them either vulnerable or resilient.[iv] Resilience is best understood as the process of overcoming the effects of adverse experiences rather than succumbing to them. Resilience is also undoubtedly developed through traumatic adversities endured by individuals, families, and communities. One theory also speaks of a selection bias associated with the genocide, with those who had (mental) health problems before a genocide, may have had a smaller chance of survival. Therefore, survivors may have been protected against mental health conditions through a variety of factors such as genes, personality traits, and social and chance factors- some of which may be influenced and transmitted to the next generation via either nature or nurture.[v] This theory is in the early stages of studying how cortisol responses and epigenetic changes reflect differently in the biology of survivors.
Though the fallouts and consequences of a genocide are catastrophic and horrific, they are also seen to be a strong contributing factor to why Armenian survivors of the 21st century carry such pride, unity, resiliency in their culture, belief in their faith, their people, and their homeland. Though some may believe that the attempt of annihilation of a race may have weakened them, the Armenian people show the contrary, and continue to be even more resilient and unified. The very characteristics that were developed as a necessity to survive a genocide, remain present as the characteristics that allow the people and culture to thrive.
[i] United Nations. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. New York, NY: United Nations Organization 1948.
[ii] Lindert J, Knobler H, Kawachi I, Bain P, Abramowitz M, McKee C, Reinharz S, McKee M. International Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 46, Issue 1, February 2017, Pages 246–257. 2016 Oxford University Press.
[iii] Sagi-Schwartz A, Van IMH, Grossmann KEet al. . Attachment and traumatic stress in female holocaust child survivors and their daughters. Am J Psychiatry 2003;160:1086–92.
[iv] Roth M, Neuner F, Elbert T. Transgenerational consequences of PTSD: risk factors for the mental health of children whose mothers have been exposed to the Rwandan genocide. Int J Ment Health Syst 2014;8:1–12.
[v] Sagi-Schwartz A, Bakermans-Kranenburg MJ, Linn S, van Ijzendoorn MH. Against all odds: genocidal trauma is associated with longer life-expectancy of the survivors. PLoS One2013;8:e69179.
{Connect} Web: AnetTherapy.com -IG:@AnetTherapy- Email : AnetTherapy@gmail.com