The psychological impact of sharing traumatic experiences within the family and the psychological impact of documenting stories of trauma

Addressing the long-term impact of historical trauma (from war, colonisation, dictatorship) is not possible without accounting for the additional distress generated by lack of justice. Many survivors (e.g. Holocaust) remain preoccupied with justice long after the traumatic events themselves draw to a close, but psychologists rarely investigate the collective impact of injustice.

Blerina Kellezi leads the present work that examines the intergenerational impact of one transitional justice mechanism (documenting the trauma) on: a) health and wellbeing, and b) relationships with the perpetrating group. The present research is interdisciplinary and collective-focused in recognition of the socio-political and group nature of historical trauma. Study 1 will explore the psychological consequences of participating in documenting trauma, and Study 2, the psychological consequences of intergenerational trauma knowledge transfer.

So far, we have collected 93 Interviews in Albania, Kosova, Rwanda and Romania and they are being analysed.