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Archives > Summer 1999 articles
notes from the editor
This issue's theme concerns the effects on children of witnessing
and experiencing domestic abuse. We have assembled an array
of trenchant and informative articles on this subject and
sincerely thank all contributors for their splendid efforts.
If any readers wish to address this or related topics in a
future issue with a research review, study or commentary,
please contact the Editor.
Judith Herman is a Harvard Medical School Clinical Professor
in Psychiatry and a recognized expert in trauma. In her book
"Trauma and Recovery", she addresses the charged
issue of vulnerability and post-traumatic resiliency. You
may be familiar with the "thin skull" hypothesis
and its bearing in attempting to determine the contribution
of an adverse event versus the contribution of personality
(temperament and other physiological factors, affective and
coping "styles", etc.) in individual response to
trauma. The "state versus trait" or person versus
environment debate is far from settled, even in this robust
body of literature. However, Herman states unequivocally that
"the most powerful determinant of psychological harm
is the character of the traumatic event itself. Individual
personality characteristics count for little in the face of
overwhelming events...with severe enough traumatic exposure,
no person is immune" (Herman, 1992). Although response
to trauma is predicted more by event than experiencer according
to this account, Herman credits personality factors with shaping
the form the response to trauma takes. Though studies on the
effects of trauma on children, youth and adults alike attempt
to equalize by sophisticated rating and weighting procedures
the degree of exposure to traumatic events and thus control
for variability in experience, especially in assessing one
individual's "resiliency" over another's, it is
crucial to keep in mind that "no two people have identical
reactions to the same event (Herman, 1992)." Nor do two
persons enter into any given experience with the same heritage.
While the promise of a resilient personality type which can
be taxonomized and somehow fostered, either through preventive
or interventive efforts, is an appealing heuristic, we mustn't
neglect all of what we already know about traumatic response
and respect for all individuals in our pursuit for further
knowledge.
Please consider submitting material for the next issue of
the BCIFV newsletter-our last in this volume and of the millenium!
For this issue in particular, we would like to hear from practitioners
and researchers who are professionally concerned with the
elimination of family violence (in all its forms) for our
"Report on Family Violence". What advances in your
field are you happy to report? What new horizons do you envision
as we approach the 21st century, and conversely, where are
we lagging behind? Please contact the Editor if this theme
is of interest and you'd like to submit an article for publication.
All formats and authors will be appreciatively considered.
The Institute is sponsoring an international conference on
risk assessment scheduled for this fall entitled "Risk
Assessment and Risk Management: Implications for the Prevention
of Violence". You will find a conference brochure attached
with this mailing which provides details about this event.
We are happy to have attracted a number of stellar presenters
from around the world to convene in Vancouver on November
17-19 and invite you to attend.
-Kai-Lee Klymchuk
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