Review of Mass Trauma and Emotional Healing Around the World: Rituals and Practices for Resilience and Meaning-Making by Ani Kalayjian and Dominique Eugene

Researching Natural Disasters

The book notes several barriers to ecopsychology research and treatment carried out in the real world. Naturalistic labs offer many significant obstacles. For instance, often, due to the scope of the damage, and budget constraints, mental health professionals oversee the implementation of interventions by paraprofessionals. Budget limitations may further limit the quality of training these paraprofessionals receive. Recruitment of subjects may be made more difficult, or biased, because of legal issues. After the Northridge earthquake in southern California, residents without legal status in the United States were reluctant to seek assistance.

Cultural competency issues may also confound the research. Post 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, translators for survivors did not want to translate anything a woman said negatively about her family. It was also problematic that female translators were translating for men, due to cultural prohibitions about contact between the sexes. The need for language translators also added to the cost, ease, and accuracy of interventions and data collection.

Cultural competency greatly benefits ecopsychology research. In Sri Lanka, post 2004 tsunami, an appreciation for nonverbal communication, somatization of depression symptoms, and collectivism was deemed important to address this community's needs. In Aceh, on the island of Sumatra, the population is 98% orthodox Muslim blended with strong mystical indigenous cultural traditions. Research and treatment required an approach that utilized culturally embedded tradition for healing that paralleled Western clinical interventions (relaxation, breath control, and exposure therapy). For example, use of spirit or dream work accomplished exposure therapy goals.

It is also important that research be undertaken with an understanding of the history of the people in the region. In Armenia, earthquake survivors who combined trauma related to historic genocide with natural disaster trauma felt even more overwhelmed by memories. Historic, economic, and political issues have also proven critical factors in trauma recovery in the wake of natural disasters in Haiti. A history of negative portrayals of Haitians in the media must not be allowed to obscure the rich, tenacious, and abundant cultural strengths of the Haitian people.

Researching Human-Made Disasters

Volume I, which focuses on natural disasters, also notes the impact of unresolved human-made historic traumas. Volume II focuses on human-made disasters referenced in Volume I in addition to an array of other disasters. Activists for social justice will likely already be familiar with human-made disasters of colonialism, slavery, and genocide.

Volume II features many styles of research. Most of the articles are theoretically oriented; a few offer prospective models of healing based on the metaprocressing of the literature and case studies available. Three articles offered contemporary empirical research, describing methodology and statistical findings. As with naturalistic disaster research on trauma, there are several factors that impact the quality and quantity of data available. Although it is ideal to use assessment instruments with strong psychometric characteristics, as was done in the research on the civil war in Sierra Leone, interview data are more often utilized. Temporal factors are also pertinent. The Post-Slavery Syndrome followed over three centuries of racial oppression. Contemporary survivors can represent only a fraction of the intergenerational impact of this trauma. Similarly, the colonization of Native Americans is ongoing and over a century old. Data collection on the survivors of the Armenian genocide from 1915 to 1923 is based on the recollections of very elderly subjects who were children during the genocide. Research proved difficult because many survivors were reluctant to participate in research that involved the recall of traumatic events from so long ago. Ironically, the researchers report that those who did participate in the study found it healing to tell their stories.

As previously discussed, cultural sensitivity is paramount. This was accomplished in several of the studies by including members of the community in conceptualization, application, and interpretation of the research. With the Native American population, the community, according to the authors, best oversees grass roots healing ceremonies and rituals. Compassion can be facilitated by fostering an understanding that behaviors often labeled as symptoms of pathology are actually highly adaptive coping strategies in the Native and African American populations, say the authors of chapters that address these populations. In fact, the impressive historic overviews of human-made disasters presented in each chapter provide a wonderful foundation for cultivating an appreciation of the culture and context of each disaster and compassion for the survivors.

Big Problems: Big Enough Solutions?

The upshot of Mass Trauma and Emotional Healing Around the World: Rituals and Practices for Resilience and Meaning-Making is that culturally sensitive approaches are invaluable. The benefit of taking into consideration language, traditions, history of political strife, former traumas, and religion in healing work is hardly news. Applying this approach globally, however, is a challenge; there's been little empirical research to support, until this book. Unfortunately, this leads directly to the rub. A culturally sensitive approach will almost certainly require, especially in its early stages, additional costs for training and staffing. These obstacles will be a challenge to the implementation of this impressive research. For example, a 20-year implementation program is recommended for Armenian survivors of the 1988 earthquake. Longitudinal data are more difficult to obtain in countries that lack psychology research infrastructure. However, humanitarian efforts that fall short of best practices standards seem unethical and more costly in the long run to global healing initiatives.

Suggestions

In light of the tremendous value of this book, it feels a bit uncomfortable to offer criticism. However, should there be future editions, there are some changes that would increase the usability of the book. The two-volume compendium features the same table of contents for each volume, despite the fact that Volume II begins with chapter 12 and on page 212. The index for both volumes, however, is only found at the end of Volume II. It is curious and unwieldy to have two volumes of articles. Although they are divided between human-made and natural disasters, the application of healing theories appears to be identical. Perhaps the volumes are divided to provide easier portability as one dashes off to locations far and wide. The absence of a comprehensive bibliography for both volumes, or each volume separately, is problematic. However, the references provided at the end of each chapter collectively form a comprehensive multicultural bibliography of works covering marginalized people around the world, including those in developing countries, that is quite valuable.

Despite the impressive breadth of this collection of articles, there is a surprisingly brief introduction of only two pages, found at the beginning of Volume I. Although conclusions can often be found at the end of each article, the volumes do not include conclusions at the end of each volume, or for the impressive work as a whole. Perhaps the editors thought that readers would pick and choose articles of relevance to them, while skipping the rest, making more elaborate introduction and conclusion sections unnecessary, reductive, and over-generalized. However, for those new to ecopsychology, or those desiring an overview of the collection before jumping in, a more detailed introduction and conclusion would have been valuable additions.

Conclusion

As researchers and service providers are faced with continual disasters, it is likely that they will reach for this book the way one reaches for a first aid manual for medical emergencies. This thorough, diverse collection sets the agenda for theory, interventions, and research on mass trauma, compassionately laying the groundwork for the healing journey roadmaps of the future.