Shared Trauma, Shared Resilience During a Pandemic (Literature Review 2)

Citation

Tosone, Carol. Shared Trauma, Shared Resilience During a Pandemic Social Work in the Time of COVID-19. 1st ed. 2021., Springer International Publishing, 2021, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-61442-3

Summary
This book includes work from several different authors and key information on trauma amid the pandemic that will be useful for my research paper. The sections that will be most useful are chapter 8: reflections on covid-19, domestic violence, and shared trauma and chapter 9: covid-19 and sheltering in place: the experiences of coercive control for college students returning home.

It has been a deeply traumatizing and unstable year for individuals in our country, and around the globe. Trauma is often associated with assault, natural disasters, war, or other violent experiences. What many people fail to realize is that the current state of our world and the events we have endured as a result of the pandemic, have many traumatic qualities. What is trauma? It’s hard to define trauma, but we know it when we feel it. According to researchers, COVID-19 can be classified as a collective trauma, comparable to the events that took place on September 11, 2001 and the day our nation was under attack by foreign terrorists. COVID-19 is a collective trauma unlike ever before seen. Rather than affecting a section of the population or one particular nation, pandemics spread across several countries and impact a large number of people. Despite this, there are certain demographics that have been impacted or disadvantaged at a greater rate than others - college students being one of them.

Author

Carol Tosone is a professor of social work at NYU; distinguished scholar in social work.

Key Terms

Collective trauma - defined below using quote from book

Trauma - deeply distressing or disturbing experience

Coercive control - pattern of controlling and manipulative behaviors in a relationship

Quotes

Collective trauma can be defined as “the psychological upheaval that is shared by a group of people who all experience an event” (74).

"Due to COVID-19, college students can no longer access mental health services confidentially, as they could have on campus...These safety nets and safe zones have been removed during this lockdown period" (86).

"While much can be learned from the start of the COVID-19 crisis, it is important to recognize that the effects of the pandemic will be felt by young people for a long time to come, particularly as related to their mental health" (141).

**updated from original posting to reflect final research topic