![]() ![]() ![]() They also found suppressed cortisol levels both in Holocaust survivors that had been diagnosed with PTSD, and their children. They found a direct relationship between the PTSD symptomatology of parent survivors and the degree of similar symptoms in their children. (1998) found that the intergenerational transmission of trauma, specifically PTSD symptomology, was predicated upon the severity of the PTSD symptoms of the parent. This suggests the presence of an unmet need for the children of survivors to process or integrate the traumatic experiences which their parents have transmitted to them. Sorscher and Cohen (1997) found that the children of Holocaust survivors had significantly more Holocaust ideation than other Jews of their generation that is to say, the parent's trauma is an ongoing part of the children's day-to-day mental lives. Felsen (1998) also found tendencies towards mistrustfulness, difficulty expressing emotions, difficulty regulating aggression, chronic guilt and self-criticism. These vulnerabilities included sub-clinical chronic depressive and anxiety reactions, guilt, unresolved mourning, agitation, insomnia, and nightmares. ![]() This is consistent with other research that has identified distinctive patterns of personality characteristics and milder psychological vulnerabilities (Felsen, 1998 Solomon, Kotler & Mikulincer, 1998 Sorscher & Cohen, 1997 Yehuda, Schmeidler, Elkin, Wilson, Siever, Binder-Brynes, Wainberg & Aferiot, 1998). Notably, they found lower levels of differentiation of self, and poorer family communication compared to their control groups. Giladi and Bell (2013) despite finding levels of secondary traumatic stress that were within the normal range for offspring of survivors, found their levels of secondary traumatic stress were significantly higher than control groups. (2011) also found adult off-spring had no differences in their physical, psychological, and cognitive functioning compared to matched controls. Several meta-analytic studies (Sagi-Schwartz et al., 2008 and van IJzendoorn et al., 2003) found children and grandchildren of holocaust survivors demonstrated no significant difference from controls on various measures of psychological well-being. This research initially focused on Holocaust survivors and their children, and later was widened to include other traumatized populations including survivors of other genocides, Vietnam veterans, survivors of domestic violence, and others. The study of the intergenerational transmission of trauma began in the 1960's when clinicians first noticed a large number of children of Holocaust survivors entering psychotherapy (Danieli, 1998). Holocaust-intergenerational trauma-peace psychology-Third Reich-dialogue groups-intergroup conflict-conflict resolution-reconciliation The degree to which these findings may reflect a shift in sense of identity, as well as the implications of the findings for conflict resolution, intergroup conflict reduction and peace psychology are discussed. The findings indicated that participants experienced a sense of healing of intergenerational trauma, a reduction in prejudice, and increase in motivation for pro-social behaviors. Descriptive phenomenological interviews with 5 participants yielded several common essential elements. This qualitative study used descriptive phenomenology to examine experiences of healing and reconciliation, for children of Holocaust survivors, through dialogue with children of the Third Reich. ![]()
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