Intergenerational Trauma in the Context of the 1947 India–Pakistan Partition

Abstract

The Partition of India evokes tragic images of violence, separation, displacement, loss, and suffering. It was the largest mass migration recorded in human history. With one single decision, millions of people became strangers in the lands of their own ancestors and pushed out to new, unfamiliar territory that they would have to spend the rest of their lives in. However, this was not the end. With this displacement came a life, if only temporary, where mass slaughter became a frightening reality. Amidst this chaotic violence, people had no choice but to watch their lives take a turn they never expected it would and to survive with whatever lay ahead, for as long as they could. The present research was conducted to explore the phenomena of intergenerational trauma in the context of the Partition. Items from the Danieli Inventory for Multigenerational Legacies of Trauma were administered to children and grandchildren of Partition survivors currently living in India. An independent samples t -test was used to assess the significance of the difference between the relevant groups, using SPSS version 27.0.1. The results indicated that both generations scored in the medium range, which was a notable level of intergenerational trauma. It is interesting to note that though intergenerational trauma was numerically higher in grandchildren of Partition survivors, this difference was not significant ( p = .49). The paper discusses these results and the implications of the study.