The Internment of Japanese Americans During World War Ii: A Case Study of National Trauma and Institutional Violence

Abstract

The events set in motion by the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbour were<br />among the more consequential events in the history of the world (Toland, 1982).<br />The subsequent development of the atomic bomb and its use at Hiroshima and<br />Nagasaki permanently changed the conditions under which men and women live<br />(Selden and Selden, 1989) and provided a dramatic illustration of what human<br />beings are capable of doing to each other (Lifton and Markusen, 1988). The<br />immediate effects of the surprise attack on the United States (US) were traumatic as<br />the nation entered a war for which it was not prepared. The long range-effects<br />include the imprinting of the surprise attack in collective memories and a national<br />determination by the US to never again be caught unprepared militarily (Neal,<br />2005). Both political leaders and journalists drew upon the memories of Pearl<br />Harbour as they attempted to make sense out of the surprise terrorist attack of<br />September 11, 2001 (9/11), and to mobilize the nation for an effective response