the interaction between culture, engagement, healing, and recovery
Our research and training are focused on understanding the interactions between culture, Gender based violence (GBV), self-hood and trauma recovery. Here is the conceptual framework we are testing to understand and predict recovery engagement and healing for trauma survivors. Below are some definitions of how we understand our concepts.
CuRE
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Gender based violence (GBV) is a transcultural social form that stems from deeply ingrained systems of meaning, norms, patterns and practices that are embedded in social dynamics and are upheld by custom and tradition.
Gender based violence (GBV) is harm inflicted upon individuals and groups that is connected to normative understandings of their gender. GBV is a deeply rooted in social norms and practices, and is based in gender inequality, and, as such, is a human rights violation.
Intra-personal interpretations also come from our culture and our personal expectations, and include whether we believe we should be ashamed or are to blame for what happened to us. It also includes our interpretation ofd our ability to manage ourselves, our emotions and our self with others.
People interpret their feeling according to their cultural beliefs and norms, their personal expectations of themselves, and others expectations for them. Interpersonal interpretations are those interpretations about oneself in the world.
Recovery and Healing Engagement (RHEA) is a holistic, strength-based view of trauma recovery and healing processes. RHEA is the conscious, realistic and compassionate engagement with the self, others, society and living life with purpose.
When people make decisions about whether and how to seek help, they make several evaluations. They evaluate whether they need help, the kinds of help they need, the risks and potential benefits, and the social cost of seeking that help within their social world.
We are learning more about healing in our research. Healing is one outcome survivors seek, as well as quality of life. Other important outcomes are thriving.
Culture is a shared conceptual understanding that is collectively formed and transmitted across generations. These shared understandings are held at the individual level as internalized perceptions, beliefs and values that motivate or constrain practical and social activity. Our research focuses on the perceived transmission, internalization, and impact of cultural beliefs, values, and goals on trauma recovery meaning and behavior.
Our research has found that distress is experienced in multiple ways for survivors. While often overlooked in research, physical forms of distress are a dominant experience, accompanied by emotional pain and social distress.
Gender-Based Violence
GBV is harm inflicted upon individuals and groups that is connected to normative understandings of their gender. GBV undermines the health, dignity, security, and autonomy of its victims, yet it remains shrouded in a culture of silence. GBV includes physical, sexual, verbal, emotional, and psychological abuse, threats, coercion, and economic or educational deprivation, and can occur in public or private life.
GBV is a deeply rooted in social norms and practices, and is based in gender inequality, and, as such, is a human rights violation. Both women and men experience gender-based violence but most victims are women and girls. Using the term GBV instead of violence against women highlights the fact that many forms of violence against women are rooted in culturally supported norms that support power inequalities between women and men.
Cultural dynamics
Culture is a shared conceptual understanding that is collectively formed and transmitted across generations. These shared understandings are internalized at the individual level as internalized perceptions, beliefs and values that motivate or constrain practical and social activity. Our research focuses on the perceived transmission, internalization, and impact of cultural beliefs, values, and goals on trauma recovery meaning and behavior.
Normalization of GBV is a transcultural social form of endemic proportion that stems from deeply ingrained systems of meaning, norms, patterns, and practices that are embedded in social dynamics and are upheld by custom and tradition. These traditions, ideas and ideals are often shared by all members of society, including women and men, as well as supported in all levels of society, including social systems and institutions.
Trauma and trauma recovery
We believe that GBV will create trauma for those who suffer from it. Technically, “trauma” is defined as a deeply distressing or disturbing experience or event. However, in modern English, trauma references the effect of an event on the health of an individual, group, or society. Synonyms of trauma in English include injury, damage, or wound. Individual trauma is defined as the result of an event, series of events, or set of circumstances experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life-threatening, that has lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being.
Cultural trauma occurs when members of a collectivity feel they have been subjected to horrendous event, and this trauma shapes their group consciousness and identity. Women and girls are extremely diverse and are unevenly subjected to GBV based on a wide variety of interacting socioeconomic forces, like race, religion, class, education, ethnicity, and a host of other factors. However, GBV exists in all societies and in all social classes. The cultural trauma of violence interacts with GBV, making culture a central variable to consider when trying to understand and eliminate GBV.
Trauma recovery is the process of restoration, making or becoming sound or healthy again, especially the restoration of functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, and spiritual well-being. These processes occur unevenly and interact together. Recovery and Healing Engagement (RHEA) is a holistic, strength-based view of trauma recovery and healing processes. RHEA is the c (including identity).
Social change
By documenting the universal and the culturally specific across cultures, MiStory ultimately can create social and systemic change.
Sociocultural change refers to any significant alteration of social patterns or cultural understandings over time. These changes include factors such as values, attitudes, and ideologies that influence social organization and social systems. The term cultural lag refers to the notion that culture takes time to catch up with political or technological innovations, and that the persistence of social problems and conflicts can be caused by cultural lag.
System reform involves the enforcement of international and national laws and instruments, as well as customary law that protect human rights, and especially the rights of women. Systems interact to protect and uphold social organization, social values, and social subgroups. Social, political, economic, educational, and medical systems can enforce or help eliminate social inequities. Systems and strategies can impact GBV by protecting, responding, and monitoring when rights are breached. However, systems are influenced by culture, are a target of sociocultural change, and are vulnerable to cultural lag.