Intergenerational Transmission of Conflict-Related Trauma in Northern Ireland: A Behavior Analytic Approach

Abstract

Intergenerational transmission of trauma has become a key term to describe the impact that parents' experiences and views of those violent times influenced how children born after the peace agreement perceived life in this society. Parents completed a questionnaire, and their children (9-11 year olds) were asked to draw two pictures, one depicting Northern Ireland now (i.e., post-ceasefire) and another one depicting Northern Ireland before they were born (i.e., pre-ceasefire).Children's behaviours and awareness of the conflict emerged as being influenced not only by their parents' experiences and narratives, but also by their age, gender, and contextual factors. Parental narrative about the violence was in turn influenced by individual learning history, the child's age and gender, and by present circumstances. A behaviour analytic approach to intergenerational transmission of trauma is offered.

Under poverty and conflict: Well-being of children living in the east of Turkey.

“…Another pathway by which armed conflict may lead to detrimental psychological outcomes in children is through parents’ exposure to the armed conflict, even in cases when children were not directly exposed to the conflict. Studies showed that parental trauma resulting from exposure to an armed conflict might be transmitted to subsequent generations through epigenetic mechanisms (Bowers & Yehuda, 2016) or through narratives (Fargas-Malet & Dillenburger, 2016), increasing the susceptibility of children to psychological problems (Daud, Skoglund, & Rydelius, 2005).…”

Coming together after genocide: How openness to communication about conflict experiences shapes willingness for social integration in post genocide Rwanda.

“…Respondents' ages ranged from 24 to 79 years old (M = 46.68, SD = 11.28) and most indicated that they had a primary school education or less (77%) and were employed as farmers (83%). Some respondents were very young or not directly involved during the Rwandan genocide; nonetheless, all available responses were retained for data analysis because dependents of people who lived through genocide (e.g., children born of genocide rape, relatives of those imprisoned for contributing to mass violence) are still likely to be deeply affected by genocide, even if not involved in the violence first-hand (Fargas-Malet & Dillenburger, 2016;Ndagijimana, 2021).…”

Intergenerational Trauma: A Scoping Review of Cross-Cultural Applications from 1999 to 2019

“…Psychopathology was the most commonly identified factor for correlational or outcomebased research and was determined by the presence of addictions (Whitbeck et al, 2004), suicidality (Elias et al, 2012), depression (Bombay et al, 2014), posttraumatic stress symptoms or PTSD (Burchert et al, 2017), or anxiety (Field et al, 2013). Meanwhile, other studies conceptualized this component of IGT as general negative mental health outcomes (Vaage et al, 2011), externalizing and internalizing behavioural outcomes (Fargas-Malet & Dillenburger, 2016;Siegel & Han, 2018), experiences of racial discrimination (Bombay et al, 2014), psychosocial vulnerability (Pearce et al, 2008), attachment security (Palosaari et al, 2013), personal meaning making in relation to parental and historical trauma (Liem, 2007), family relationships and bonds (Field et al, 2013;Song et al, 2013), susceptibility to violence (Spencer & Le, 2006), attitudes toward cultural community (Karenian et al, 2011), perceived discrimination and threat (Bombay et al, 2014), and identity (Lee & Clarke, 2013). It is important to note that many studies examined multiple constructs and were not limited to examining only one facet of offspring impact.…”