Social Work, Violence, and Trauma Group

Letter to the President: Violence Against Women

2008-05-30T14:50:00.000-07:00

I wrote this for a "Women's Issues" course I took this semester taught by Mary Ann Mason. The assignment was to write a letter to the President outlining four problems of violence against women and proposing policy suggestions to address these issues.

Enjoy!

Violence Against Women - Upload a doc

Violence, Trauma, and Social Welfare Colloquium

2008-05-05T13:32:00.000-07:00

Violence & Trauma: An Annotated Bibliography for Social Workers

2008-05-04T13:53:00.000-07:00

If you would like to print the annotated bibliography, use the "iPaper" button at the top of the document. You can also use the buttons to zoom in or open the document in a full window so it is easier to read it online.

If you would like to download the PDF (136 pages) please click here.

What does Violence & Trauma have to do with Social Work?

2008-05-02T14:35:00.000-07:00

How was your weekend?

2008-05-01T09:33:00.000-07:00

Food Riots and Food Insecurity

2008-04-28T18:31:00.001-07:00

We have talked a lot in the Violence and Trauma group about how scarcity (real or perceived) can lead to violence, or can exacerbate the conditions that lead to violence. We see this being played out in many countries of the world right now, as food becomes a scarce and expensive commodity. The conditions that led to this world food crisis have been described as "the perfect storm."

Systemic causes for the world-wide food price increase have been currently identified as climate change (which has resulted in unseasonal droughts and floods), rising oil prices (which has heightened the costs of fertilizers, food transport, and industrial agriculture), the increasing use of biofuels in developed countries, and an increasing demand for a more varied diet (especially meat) across the expanding middle-class populations of Asia. These factors, coupled with falling world food stockpiles and instability brought about by the subprime mortgage crisis, have all contributed to the dramatic world-wide rise in food prices (wikipedia).

A survey released by the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute found that the price of staple food has risen by 80 percent since 2005, including a 40 percent surge last year alone. The real price of rice is at a 19-year high and the price of wheat on world markets is at a 28-year high. (washington times)

Global food prices have risen dramatically, adding a new level of danger to the crisis of world hunger. In Africa, food riots have swept across the continent, with recent protests in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Mauritania and Senegal. In most of West Africa, the price of food has risen by 50 percent—in Sierra Leone, 300 percent. In the United States there has been a 41 percent surge in prices for wheat, corn, rice and other cereals over the past six months.Read/Listen/Watch the full story on Democracy Now!

Food Insecurity and Riots Erupt in over 30 countries:

EGYPT — Violent protests this week over soaring food prices left one dead and 15 injured.

HAITI — Five people were killed and about 20 injured in a week of protests, including an attack on U.N. peacekeepers. TIME began one report with "The good news is that there hasn't been a coup d'etat in Haiti in the wake of violent protests over increased food prices." The government is very destabilized at this time.

CAMEROON — Violent food riots in February claimed 40 lives, and protests continue this month.

BURKINA FASO — A general strike is called this week over rising food prices, after protests earlier this year led to hundreds of arrests.

PHILIPPINES — The government beefs up security at rice warehouses to prevent theft and hoarding.

JORDAN — U.N. aid workers stage a one-day strike for more pay to cover food and fuel price increases.

BURMA — Cuts in fuel and food subsidies sparked massive anti-government protests last summer.

Josette Sheeran, executive director of the U.N. World Food Program, was in Washington last month making an urgent appeal for funds to compensate for rising prices. "We're asking for the world to really think through how we meet the emergency needs of the hungry," Ms. Sheeran told The Washington Times.Ms. Sheeran told The Times that her agency was $500 million short for the current fiscal year in meeting needs to relieve the global food and fuel crises. "We don't have the buffering space" to cover such sharp increases in the cost of basic staples, she said. Various countries have pledged differing amounts of aid, and some of them have delivered on their promises, while others (especially the US!) have not (link to the full list of international food aid donations).

You can download a letter to send to your government (there are links for lots of countries!) if you click here. You can help out by donating to the "Friends of the World Food Programme," a US-based non-profit that supports the world food program and other hunger relief efforts. (especially if you have an extra $500 million just kicking around somewhere--maybe hidden under your mattress?)

I found an incredible website about world poverty and hunger. The main page of Poverty.com lists the names of people who have died from hungar (it maintains a count of "hungar deaths this hour"), and it provides some solid background information about poverty and its influence on human lives throughout the world. The map below shows the percentage of populations living below their national poverty line (based on data from the CIA World Factbook). You can see that the places most affected by the food crisis are the poorest countries.

Martin Luther King said that "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere!" I believe that is true about food insecurity too: Food insecurity anywhere is a threat to justice and true security everywhere. In the US, restaurant owners are stocking up on rice "just in case." This action then causes chain stores like Costco to limit the amount of rice people can buy, further making people panic thinking there isn't enough food. Even I bought some extra rice. It was stupid. When we panic and hoard, the macro-level effect of our combined individual actions often cause what we were trying to prevent in the first place.

The Depression was very much worse because people panicked and took their money out of the banks, and that is what happened just a couple weeks ago with Bear Stearns too. I don't have the solution (clearly since I am guilty with my bag of jasmine rice in the freezer), but I know we can do better than this.

I know that we as human beings, as helping professionals, as kind and compassionate manifestations of the universe, can do better. There is no reason that people all over the world need to be rioting in the streets because they are starving. There is enough food to feed the world, there are enough resources for all of us. We need to reevaluate our priorities as human beings and take a long, deep look at ourselves and our tendency to hoard and to the view resources as scarce and impossible to share.

One little thing we can do (and it is FUN!) is to click on this link and play the game FREE RICE! It is an awesome website where you play a word game (identifying the definition of a word, for example: "skeptical = a. thoughtless, b. sole, c. doubting, d. revolting"). For every word you get right, they donate 20 grains of rice to the UN's World Food Programme!!

We create the world we live in, and we have a greater impact than we might think on the lives of people living half a world away. They are closer to us than we think: we are all part of this interconnected world together. It's time to start acting like it!

25,000 Dockworkers Shut Down West Coast Ports in Historic Antiwar Protest

2008-04-27T13:48:00.000-07:00

In the largest labor strike since the invasion of Iraq, ports along the West Coast -- all twenty-nine of them -- were shut down as some 25,000 dockworkers went on a one-day strike to protest the Iraq war. Port workers in Iraq also struck on May 1st in solidarity with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.

Listen/Watch/Read the full story on Democracy Now!

Dave Androff on the Greensboro TRC

2008-04-25T17:13:00.000-07:00

Alicia Lieberman Colloquium Slides

2008-04-22T17:31:00.000-07:00

Alarming Rate of Veteran Suicides

2008-04-22T11:37:00.002-07:00

VA stalling on care, judge told at S.F. trial
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

(04-21) 17:30 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- More than 120 veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq commit suicide every week while the government stalls in granting returning troops the mental health treatment and benefits to which they are entitled, veterans advocates told a federal judge Monday in San Francisco.

The rights of hundreds of thousands of veterans are being violated by the Department of Veterans Affairs, "an agency that is in denial," and by a government health care system and appeals process for patients that is "broken down," Gordon Erspamer, lawyer for two advocacy groups, said in an opening statement at the trial of a nationwide lawsuit.

He said veterans are committing suicide at the rate of 18 a day - a number acknowledged by a VA official in a Dec. 15 e-mail - and the agency's backlog of disability claims now exceeds 650,000, an increase of 200,000 since the Iraq war started in 2003.

Justice Department lawyer Richard Lepley countered that the VA runs a "world-class health care system." He said the changes the plaintiffs seek in their lawsuit - better and faster mental health care, and more rights for veterans appealing denials of benefits - are beyond the judge's authority.

"Of course we're obliged to provide health care," Lepley said, but "the court does not have standards to determine the speed or the scope or the level of that care."

U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti is presiding over the nonjury trial, scheduled to last two weeks. Conti, a conservative jurist and World War II veteran appointed to the bench by former President Richard Nixon, ruled in January that the case could go to trial. In doing so, he rejected the government's argument that civil courts have no authority over the VA's medical decisions or how it handles grievances.

If the advocates can prove their claims, Conti said in his ruling, they would show that "thousands of veterans, if not more, are suffering grievous injuries as the result of their inability to procure desperately needed and obviously deserved health care."

He also ruled that veterans are legally entitled to five years of government-provided health care after leaving the service, despite federal officials' argument that they are required to provide only as much care as the VA's budget allows in a given year.

But at a later hearing, Conti indicated he was uncertain about his authority to require spending on particular types of health care. The lawsuit plaintiffs - Veterans for Common Sense in Washington, D.C., which claims 11,500 members, and Veterans United for Truth, a Santa Barbara group with 500 members - want him to order the VA to provide immediate treatment for suicidal veterans and prompt care for those suffering from post-traumatic stress.

The trial follows publication of a Rand study last week that estimated 300,000 U.S. troops returning from Afghanistan and Iraq, or 18.5 percent of the total, suffer from major depression or post-traumatic stress.

The lawsuit is a proposed class action on behalf of 320,000 to 800,000 veterans or their survivors. The advocacy groups say the VA arbitrarily denies care and benefits to wounded veterans, forces them to wait months for treatment and years for benefits, and gives them little recourse when it rejects their medical claims.

"The time delays are staggering," Erspamer, the plaintiffs' lawyer, told Conti on Monday. Although the VA says it decides the typical claim for benefits in six months, he said, the agency takes far longer to review post-traumatic stress claims, and four years or more for the government to hear veterans' appeals of denied treatment.

Veterans who seek benefits within the VA's grievance system have no right to a lawyer and no right to demand records or question opposing witnesses, Erspamer said. The plaintiffs want Conti to grant those rights and to require the agency to set a timetable for deciding claims.

Lepley, the government's lawyer, said the VA has undertaken a "huge staff increase" - 20 percent in mental health, 25 percent in claims processing - and now provides one mental health staff member around the clock at every VA center, as well as a suicide-prevention hot line.

For those who do not need immediate care, he said, the agency has a policy of scheduling a mental health appointment within two weeks, and has reached that goal at 80 percent of its facilities.

"These kinds of medical decisions are not something that this court can inject itself into," Lepley said. He referred to the plaintiffs as "single-interest groups" and said the legal rights they seek in the VA benefit system, such as the involvement of lawyers, are "not in the patients' interest."

E-mail Bob Egelko at begelko@sfchronicle.com.

Post-Katrina Mental Health

2008-04-22T11:37:00.001-07:00

Survey: Post-storm mental health worsens
By Janet McConnaughey, Associated Press Writer | August 21, 2007

NEW ORLEANS --More Gulf Coast residents are thinking seriously about suicide or showing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder as the recovery from Hurricane Katrina inches along, a new survey finds.

The survey is a follow-up to one done six months after the hurricane, which found that few people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama -- about 3 percent -- had contemplated suicide in the storm's aftermath.

That figure has now doubled in the three-state area and is up to 8 percent in the New Orleans area, according to Ronald Kessler of Harvard Medical School, lead researcher for the Hurricane Katrina Community Advisory Group.

More people also showed signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, 21 percent of those interviewed this year compared to 16 percent in the earlier survey.

It's not surprising, said Karen Binder-Brynes, a New York psychologist who specializes in PTSD.

"It's a community that's in terrible distress. It's not like other things where, once everything's over, everything's getting rebuilt," she said.

Kessler team interviewed 1,000 people last year and was able to track down 800 of them for this year's survey. The latest survey is not yet ready for publication, but Kessler said the preliminary results for suicide and PTSD were striking.

Kessler said that in the months after the Aug. 29, 2005 hurricane, an underlying optimism protected many people from suicidal thoughts. Now, that optimism has worn thin -- something the earlier report warned could happen if rebuilding didn't keep pace with expectations.

The recovery from Katrina has been slow in some areas, especially in New Orleans. In addition to losses due directly to the storm, violent crime, poor schools and other problems have piled trauma atop trauma.

Kessler, whose study is supported by the National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization, said most disasters have relatively rapid recoveries, so rates for such ailments as depression and PTSD usually improve after a year.

The results of the New Orleans survey are more like those of people who lost their jobs in Detroit during the 1980s and couldn't find new work, he said.

New Orleans: Hurricane Katrina Recovery

2008-04-22T09:53:00.000-07:00

(slides are still under construction)

This is an incredible song accompanying photos of New Orleans during and after Katrina. It tells a powerful story exposing disparity, inequities and ineffectiveness in disaster response, challenges in living during and after the storm, and the resiliency that people invoked out of necessity.

The only attention that this issue has received in the presidential campaigns was this recent visit to New Orleans by John McCain, in which he criticized the reaction of the administration in responding to the problems. He did not particularly pose solutions or a plan for what he would do, but he issued the oft used slogan, "never again!" This statement sounds somewhat hollow, especially in the context of this Ninth Ward community member's response to McCain's visit:

At least one citizen was disturbed by all the media attention, particularly by the lack of seats for local citizens at Mr. McCain’s 20-minute news conference. “We need to have an opportunity to have a meaningful dialogue,’’ said Mary Fontenot, who is with All Congregations Together, a church group working to rebuilding New Orleans. “Twenty minutes out on the lawn does not suffice, with a designated seating for traveling journalists.’’

Strange Situation Developed by Mary Ainsworth

2008-04-20T09:39:00.000-07:00

Hi All - Here is the Strange Situation protocol which is the basis for current attachment theories. She developed the protocol, which predated her categorization of different conditions of attachment between parent and child.

Here is the video:

Truth and Reconciliation

2008-04-18T08:46:00.001-07:00

The Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission was an independent, democratically selected body seeking truth and healing transformation for Greensboro, N.C., a city left divided and weakened by the events of Nov. 3, 1979.

The truth and reconciliation process is designed to examine and learn from a divisive event in Greensboro's past in order to build the foundation for a more unified future. The Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission is based upon similar efforts around the world, most notably in South Africa. Building on this wealth of international experience, Greensboro represents the first application of this model in the United States.

For more information, click here.

Mary Harvey's Ecological View of Trauma

2008-04-17T08:12:00.000-07:00

I'm testing this as a way to upload pdfs to the blog. It seems to work great! I used a site called Scribd where you can upload pdfs or word docs and it gives you "embed" code (like on Youtube) that you paste into your blog post... and VOILA! you have a beautiful scrollable pdf.

Videos About Hurricane Katrina

2008-04-16T10:52:00.000-07:00

Hurricane Katrina August 2005

Kanye West: "Bush doesn't care about black people"

The Lower Ninth Ward

I hope they love their children too

2008-04-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

I love this song because it invokes for me a sentiment that as humans we share more in common with one another, which outweighs any conflict we might have.

Russians (Sting)
In europe and america, theres a growing feeling of hysteria
Conditioned to respond to all the threats
In the rhetorical speeches of the soviets
Mr. krushchev said we will bury you
I dont subscribe to this point of view
It would be such an ignorant thing to do
If the russians love their children too

How can I save my little boy from oppenheimer's deadly toy
There is no monopoly in common sense
On either side of the political fence
We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the russians love their children too

There is no historical precedent
To put the words in the mouth of the president
Theres no such thing as a winnable war
Its a lie that we dont believe anymore
Mr. reagan says we will protect you
I don't subscribe to this point of view
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the russians love their children too

We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
What might save us, me, and you
Is that the russians love their children too

Child-Parent Psychotherapy

2008-04-15T09:40:00.000-07:00

New Book by Alicia Lieberman and Patricia Van Horn on Child-Parent Psychotherapy

2008-04-10T07:50:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

As you know, on Monday April 21st, Alicia Lieberman will be coming to speak at the School of Social Welfare in Haviland 5 from 4-6pm. She and Patricia Van Horn -- also of the Child Trauma Research Project in San Francisco -- have just published the much anticipated follow-up book to their "Don't Hit My Mommy." Check it out!

Resources from Greg Merrill

2008-04-10T07:47:00.002-07:00

Hi Everyone -

I was asked to provide links that may inform about future training and recommend the following:

International Society for Traumatic Stress
Studies: www.istwss.org

National Child Traumatic Stress
Network: www.nctsnet.org

John Briere: www.johnbriere.com
EMDR Institute www.emdr.com

The National Center for Treatment and Study
of Anxiety: http://www.med.upenn.edu/ctsa/

The National Center for PTSD:
http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/ncmain/index.jsp

Update on Cairo 52 from Reese

2008-04-10T07:40:00.000-07:00

(04-09) 13:37 PDT CAIRO, Egypt (AP) --

An Egyptian court convicted five men Wednesday on charges of homosexual behavior and sentenced them to three years in prison, officials said.

Defense lawyer, Adel Ramadan, said the judge found the men guilty of the "habitual practice of debauchery" — a term used in the Egyptian legal system to denote consensual homosexual acts.

The convictions were confirmed by a judicial official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to journalists.

Homosexuality is not explicitly referred to in Egypt's legal code, but a wide range of laws covering obscenity, prostitution and debauchery are applied to homosexuals in this conservative country.

The five men were arrested in what human rights groups describe as a crackdown on people with the AIDS virus, using the debauchery charges as a means to prosecute them.

Four of the five men tested HIV-positive after all were forced to undergo blood tests in custody, Human Rights Watch says. The New York-based rights group issued a statement Tuesday signed by more than 100 other organizations around the world condemning the prosecutions.

Ramadan, a lawyer with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, said the five men were abused and tortured over the past several months to "extract confessions" from them.

In addition to their prison time, the men were sentenced to an additional three years of police supervision, meaning they will have to spend every night at a police station, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., the lawyer said.

Ramadan said the four HIV-positive defendants were shocked by their convictions.

"Two of them cried, screamed and shrieked," he said. "The other two, they remained silent, but I saw anger in their eyes for the injustice they have been exposed to."

Ramadan said he appealed the verdict to Egypt's Court of Cassation, the country's highest appellate court.

Dozens of human rights groups have criticized this trial and other similar ones as being driven by ignorance and fear of AIDS. They have warned that the convictions could undermine AIDS prevention in Egypt.

The five convicted Wednesday were among 12 people arrested in a sweep that began in October, when police arrested a man during an altercation with another man on a Cairo street, Human Rights Watch said.

After one of the men said he was HIV-positive, authorities opened investigations into other men whose names or contact information were uncovered in interrogations of the first group of men, Human Rights Watch said.

Egyptian police have denied making any arrests because of a person's HIV condition.

In mid-January, four other HIV-positive men from the group of 12 were sentenced to one-year prison terms on similar charges of debauchery. Three others from the 12 were not prosecuted, Human Rights Watch said.

One World * One Dream * Free Tibet

2008-04-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

The world's attention has turned to China in anticipation of the Summer Olympic Games to be held in Beijing in 2008. This has reignited the passions of the Tibetan people for independence and had led to worldwide protests of China's policy/practices of occupation in Tibet.

Here is Reuters coverage of student protests in Beijing.

The Olympic Torch has started its journey around the world, which will culminate with lighting the large flame at the Opening Ceremony in Beijing this summer. It was blown out three times in France, and has been met with protests everywhere. The Free Tibet Torch and the Olympic torch are currently in San Francisco (the only stop for the Olympic torch in the US). The city Board of Supervisors passed a resolution to greet the Olympic torch with "alarm and protest."

Here is some news coverage of the protests all over SF in response to the Torch. The organizers sneakily changed the route mid-way to avoid massive protests. However, protesters were all over the place and somewhat unavoidable.

Yesterday three activists climbed up the Golden Gate Bridge and unfurled banners and the Tibetan flag to show support for a free and independent Tibet. (There is no audio for this video)

This video shows the protesters climbing up.

Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Nicolas Sarcozy (the President of France) and others have called for a boycott of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in support of the Tibetan cause.

The Olympics were originally intended to be a time when war and violence ceased, and everyone focused on nations coming together in friendly athletic competition. There have been some acts of violence or attempted violence directed at Olympians or teams for political reasons (such as the murders of the Israli team at the Munich Olympic Games in 1972). And there have been some Olympic hosts and participants whose countries commit war crimes, even while the games occur (not the least of which is our own US of A).

Are there some atrocities that cannot be ignored for the sake of the Games? Or is ending violence and oppression part of the spirit of the Olympics that is served by using the event to focus the world's attention on ending human rights abuses?

April Fools!

2008-04-01T17:05:00.000-07:00

And who's the fool who wears the crown?
No doubt,
In your own way
And every day is the right day
And as you rise above the fear-lines in his brow
You look down, hear the sound of the faces in the crowd.
--Pink Floyd ("Fearless")

Trauma and Violence Against the GBLT Community

2008-03-31T17:02:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to a 1-minute video about a boy who was shot by a classmate following taunting that the victim was gay.

Rape as a Weapon of War

2008-03-31T16:30:00.000-07:00

Violence Against Women in War

2008-03-31T13:02:00.000-07:00

This is an extremely short overview of women's experiences in modern wars. It contains highlights from international laws protecting women in armed conflict as well as descriptions of psychosocial interventions tailored for war survivors.

"Feminicide is a political term"

2008-03-29T15:41:00.000-07:00

Extraordinarily high rates of homicide and sexual violence have been recorded in Mexico -- principally in the border town of Ciudad Juarez -- and Guatemala City since 1993. Between 2001 and 2006, nearly 1,500 women were murdered in Guatemala City. Many victims show signs of torture and sexual abuse, which is reminiscent of tactics used during Guatemala's 36 year internal conflict. The mortality rate of Guatemalan women today is nearing that of the early 1980s during the peak of violence during the U.S. - supported "Scorched Earth Campaign."
An analysis by the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala describes how the neologism "feminicide" is distinct from its root "femicide" because it is a political term that not only describes the crime but also implicates the State's failure to respond.
Victoria Sanford writes, "Feminicide is a political term. Conceptually, it encompasses more than femicide because it holds responsible not only the male perpetrators, but also the State and judicial structures that normalize misogyny. Feminicide connotes not only the murder of women by men because they are women, but also indicates government responsibility for these murders, whether through the commission of the actual killing, tolerance of the perpetrators' acts of violence, or omission of State responsibility to ensure the safety of its female citizens. In Guatemala, feminicide exists because of the absence of State guarantees to protect the rights of women. Impunity, silence and indifference each play a role in feminicide."
Sanford's analysis of feminicide in Guatemala is consistent with analyses of feminicide in Ciudad Juarez. An additional dimension noted in writings about feminicide in Ciudad Juarez is that the rash of murders began at approximately the same time that NAFTA went into effect in 1994. Changing employment opportunities that resulted from NAFTA's implementation led to increased rates of migration from southern and rural Mexico to the northern border town that is home to many maquiladoras, which employ mostly women. These articles suggest that changing family structures may have increased levels of domestic violence in families where women were employed but men were not. Julia Estela Monarrez says that murders in Ciudad Juarez are "politically motivated sexual violence" rooted in a system of patriarchy and that reveal a normalization of violence as an expression of social control.
Obstacles to justice in both Ciudad Juarez and Guatemala City are impunity and immature judicial systems that fail to prioritize investigations of these violations of women's human rights. During the mid-1990s, the people of Ciudad Juarez were still searching for a serial killer but eventually all recognized the killings as a systematic phenomenon within a society plagued by corruption and a multitude of other types of violence, including poverty.

links below have more information:
http://www.nisgua.org/themes_campaigns/index.asp?id=3056
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/pipermail/margins-to-centre/2007-July/001415.html

Post Traumatic Stress Gene ID'd, article from Discovery Health News

2008-03-19T12:21:00.000-07:00

Post Traumatic Stress Gene ID'd
Lindsey Tanner, Associated Press

The Gene Factor March 18, 2008 -- Cutting-edge new research helps answer the puzzling question of why post-traumatic stress doesn't happen to everyone who endures horrible trauma.

In this case, the trauma was child abuse. The researchers found that survivors of child abuse were particularly likely to have symptoms of post-traumatic stress as adults if they also had specific variations in a stress-related gene.

Among adult survivors of severe child abuse, those with the specific gene variations scored more than twice as high (31) on a scale of post-traumatic stress, compared with those without the variations (13).

The worse the abuse, the stronger the risk in people with those gene variations.

The study of 900 adults is among the first to show that genes can be influenced by outside, nongenetic factors to trigger signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

"The study is groundbreaking," the largest of just two reports to show molecular evidence of a gene-environment influence on PTSD, said Karestan Koenen, a Harvard psychologist doing similar research. She wasn't involved in the new study.

"We have known for over a decade, from twin studies, that genetic factors play a role in vulnerability to developing PTSD, but have had little success in identifying specific genetic variants that increase risk of the disorder," Koenen said.

The results suggest that there are critical periods in childhood when the brain is vulnerable "to outside influences that can shape the developing stress-response system," said Emory University researcher and study co-author Dr. Kerry Ressler.

The study appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.

Ressler noted that there are likely many other gene variants that contribute to risks for PTSD, and others may be more strongly linked to the disorder than the ones the researchers focused on.

Still, he and outside experts said the study is important and that similar advances could lead to tests that will help identify who's most at risk. Treatments including psychotherapy and psychiatric drugs could be targeted to those people, Ressler said,

Several study authors, including Ressler, reported having financial ties to makers of psychiatric drugs.

About a quarter of a million Americans will develop PTSD at some point in their lives after being victimized or witnessing violence or other traumatic events. Rates are much higher in war veterans and people living in high-crime areas.

Symptoms can develop long after the event and usually include recurrent terrifying recollections of the trauma. Sufferers typically avoid situations and people who trigger the memories and often have debilitating anxiety, irritability, insomnia and other signs of stress.

Though preliminary, the study provides needed insight into a condition expected to hit rising numbers of veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq, said Dr. Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health. The agency paid for the study.

Insel said the results help explain why two people in the same jeep see a roadside bomb, and one simply experiences it as "a bad day but goes back and is able to function," while the other later develops paralyzing stress symptoms.

Read more here

The ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) Studies

2008-03-18T21:35:00.000-07:00

Hi all, a couple of us got into a discussion today in which I mentioned a group of studies, called the Adverse Childhood Experiences Studies. Here is some information on the studies and the link on the CDC website.

The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study is one of the largest investigations ever conducted on the links between childhood maltreatment and later-life health and well-being. As a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente's Health Appraisal Clinic in San Diego, Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) members undergoing a comprehensive physical examination provided detailed information about their childhood experience of abuse, neglect, and family dysfunction. Over 17,000 members chose to participate. To date, over 30 scientific articles have been published and over 100 conference and workshop presentations have been made.

The ACE Study findings suggest that these experiences are major risk factors for the leading causes of illness and death as well as poor quality of life in the United States. Progress in preventing and recovering from the nation's worst health and social problems is likely to benefit from the understanding that many of these problems arise as a consequence of adverse childhood experiences

Violence, Crime, and Economic Poverty

2008-03-17T18:25:00.000-07:00

Bayview-Hunter's Point

Oakland

The Real State of Emergency

2008-03-14T19:52:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year, a 17-year-old East Oakland native used a camcorder to explore the impact of the high number of slayings in the city's toughest neighborhoods. See the video essay Elliott McGregor produced last spring for San Francisco's Conscious Youth Media Crew, a digital media production company that trains inner city youth to create films that represent their experiences. (12 minutes)

Straight Outta Hunter's Point

2008-03-14T08:19:00.000-07:00

These two video excerpts are from "Straight Outta Hunters Point", the award-winning Hip Hop documentary by Hunters Point filmmaker Kevin Epps.

It is a stark cinematic portrait of a community struggling to stop the forces of gentrification -- denial of jobs, police brutality, environmental racism and more -- that have pushed 23 percent of San Francisco's Black population out of the City in the past decade. It has won the acclaim of critics and audiences at independent film festivals around the U.S., including Sundance and the Santa Fe Film Fest, where it was described as "a gritty, uncompromising film about the evolution and perseverance of a black culture in the shadow of poverty, race riots and gang-related rap wars."

These next two videos are excerpts from the film. They begin with some common footage/narration, but they diverge to address different issues: the first focuses on the history of Hunter's Point and the second focuses on recent problems with gang-related violence.

This is a music video by RBL Posse ("Ruthless By Law"--a gangsta rap group from Hunter's Point) for the film. It's kinda heavy on the chorus (which is kinda heavy itself), but the verses bring up topics like crime, drugs, and violence in the neighborhood:

War, Crimes Against Humanity, and Genocide

2008-03-11T14:07:00.000-07:00

night visions

2008-03-11T12:07:00.000-07:00

Ghosts of Rwanda

2008-03-10T07:17:00.000-07:00

Excerpt from the Frontline Documentary about the Rwandan Genocide in 1994:

The Other Side of War

2008-03-09T13:15:00.000-07:00

Women for Women work with women all over the world in conflict and post-conflict zones to improve their lives and restore their communities.

This is Alice Walker reading her preface to The Other Side of War: Stories of Survival and Hope. The book is written by Zainab Salbi, the President/CEO of Women for Women International.

In this bold and heart-rending commentary, Zainab Salbi takes readers into the heart of Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Sudan to hear the stories of women who daily reclaim the lives of their families and communities from the ashes of conflict.

"War is not a computer-generated missile striking a digital map. War is the color of earth as it explodes in our faces, the sound of child pleading, the smell of smoke and fear. Women survivors of war are not the single image portrayed on the television screen, but the glue that holds families and countries together. Perhaps by understanding women, and the other side of war...we will have more humility in our discussions of wars...perhaps it is time to listen to women's side of history."
- Zainab Salbi

Here is a video about Women for Women's work in Kosovo. For more information about the conflict in Kosovo click here. For more information on the status of women in Kosovo, click here for a recent LA Times article.

Violence: Berkeley Journal of Sociology Conference

2008-03-08T18:31:00.000-08:00

This year's Annual BJS Conference will be held on Friday March 14th, 2008. The topic is VIOLENCE and will feature a variety of panels showcasing graduate students, faculty, and community activists. The keynote panel, Interdisciplinary Investigations of Violence, will bring together faculty from an array of social science departments on campus, including Prof. Teresa Caldeira, City and Regional Planning, Prof. Jennifer Johnson-Hanks, Demography, Prof. Richard Walker, Geography, Prof. James Holston, Anthropology, and Prof. Nancy Scheper-Hughes, Anthropology.

I know a lot of folks might have social work internships on Fridays, but I figured I'd post this anyway...

Gen 5 Guest Speaker

2008-03-04T17:54:00.000-08:00

Today we had an excellent speaker (Mich Levy) from a local organization called "Generation 5." This agency seeks to end child sexual abuse using an intergenerational and community action framework. For more information, please see http://www.generationfive.org/

Suicide and Self-Harm

2008-03-03T22:30:00.000-08:00

Kosova Independence

2008-02-29T12:14:00.000-08:00

I think it is especially important for the world community to pay attention to what is happening right now, in Kosovo (Kosova).

On February 17, 2008 Kosova declared independence from Serbia.

Kosova has been a highly contested territory. The majority of the population are ethnic Albanians and it was an autonomous province when the region was unified under the former Yugoslavia. Kosova is the location of some of the most important shrines for the Serbian Orthodox Church, and of course there are conflicts about resources, power, and decision-making. "Belgrade regards Kosovo as the cradle of Serb culture and religion and sees its independence as illegal." For more background information, click here for CNN In-Depth reports. CNN also has an excellent timeline which explains the history simply and clearly.

Reports from the Associated Press described rioting in Belgrade (the capital of Serbia) and Pristina (the capital of Kosova), as Serbs protested the declaration of independence. Massive protests against the independent Kosovar state have been increasingly destructive, as rioters assert that "Kosovo is Serbia." The United Nations reported that 200,000-250,000 protesters took to the streets in Belgrade last week. (listen to the whole report here)

Looting has also been reported in Belgrade. One witness who posted looting footage on on youtube attached this statement to the video: "I would like to say that these are only marginal appearances, and that the huge majority of citizens of Serbia are normal and honest people, and I am proud to be one of them." See the video:"Kosovo za patike" ("Kosovo for sneakers/gym shoes").

Click here to read Samantha Power's reaction to the Kosovar declaration of independence (she doesn't sound worried about it deteriorating into mass violence and she explains why).

Here is another view of the situation, which is highly critical of the Albanian perspective and illuminates some of the issues from the Serb perspective: please click here to read Diana Johnstone's article.

Police said they arrested nearly 200 rioters Thursday night during the worst anti-Western violence seen on Belgrade streets since former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic was ousted in 2000.

Rioters torched several offices of the U.S. Embassy's consular section. They also attacked the Embassies of Germany, Belgium, Turkey and Croatia. One person died and more than 150 were injured.

Today, just a couple of hours ago, the European Union has pulled out of a town in northern Kosova due to Serb-initiated hostility towards EU personnel and property. The Serbian state had resisted the EU presence in Kosova before the declaration of independence, and the violence has escalated since last week.

There has been ongoing and escalating violence in the region as Serbia has rejected the declaration of independence. Here protesters display a Serbian nationalist hand gesture that has intense cultural significance in the region (during my travels in Bosnia and Croatia, I was repeatedly warned never to make this gesture with three fingers pointing, even by accident, because it represents a vision of Serbian dominance and power).

Many EU member countries have recognized Kosova, including United States,France, Germany, Denmark, and Turkey. However, several countries oppose recognition including Russia, Serbia, China and Spain. Now Serbia is demanding that the United States "annul" its recognition of Kosova: according to the Serbian Prime Minister, this would "restore stability to the Balkans."The blue countries have formally recognized (or intend to recognize) Kosova. The gray countries have been neutral or delayed about responding. States which have expressed concern over unilateral moves or wish for further negotiations are shown in orange. States refusing to recognize Kosovo as independent are shown in RED.

Russia (a permanent member of the UN Security Council) backs Serbia and has condemned the independence declaration issued by the Kosovo parliament on 17 February. Serbia and Russia assert that the Kosovo state is illegal. Spain and China (another permanent member of the Security Council) have also refused to recognize the Kosovar state.

The BBC and other news agencies report that Russia is backing Serbia's refusal of Kosovo's independent status. Russia has even threatened to use "brute force" against NATO or other troops supporting the Kosovar Albanian independence.

Russia's ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, has warned ... "If the EU develops a unified position or if Nato exceeds its mandate set by the UN, then these organizations will be in conflict with the UN." In that case Russia would "proceed on the basis that in order to be respected we need to use brute force."

I entered the word "Kosovo" on youtube, and I came up with several really disturbing videos exclaiming, "Kosovo is Serbia" ("Kosovo je Srbija"). With my limited understanding of the language, I can understand enough to tell this is scary war propaganda. Even if you don't understand Serbian, the pictures of soldiers with huge guns pointed at little red-roofed villages communicate a threatening message that transcends words. I didn't want to embed this video (show it on our blog like other videos), because I don't want to encourage this kind of intimidation through video propaganda, but I thought I would link to it in case you want to take a look for yourself.

I am worried.

Serbia has a consistent history of perpetrating acts of calculated political violence against large numbers of civilians in order to prevent secession.

Mass violence doesn't just happen: in builds, and often it starts with angry protests, violence to property and symbolic targets (such as Embassies).

Intervention NOW is crucial!

The eyes of the world must be on the Serbian state (and its Russian backers). I believe that people learn through consequences, and when people are allowed by the world community to perpetrate acts of mass violence without accountability, there is no telling how deep human beings can delve into darkness and destruction.

However, when the world is watching, people are less likely to perpetrate heinous human rights abuses.

Some things we can all do are to stay informed, disseminate information, and talk about what is happening in Kosova.

Show somebody the map so they can see where it is (a brand new country smack dab in the middle of Europe!).

Urge any countries with whom you identify to support Kosovar independence, and to take actions to prevent further violence in the region.

Etiologies of Violence

2008-02-24T08:55:00.000-08:00

Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence

2008-02-24T08:21:00.000-08:00

Social learning (poor bobo doll!)

2008-02-24T01:00:00.000-08:00

Bandura's Famous Bobo Doll Experiment: A Demonstration of Social Learning Theory applied to Violence/Aggressive Behavior.

Perps of Violence

2008-02-23T22:30:00.000-08:00

ManAlive Violence Intervention

2008-02-19T17:49:00.000-08:00

Hi folks, the brother of Dr. James Gilligan, (Harvard Medical School psychiatrist, who wrote the books on Violence which we recommended for the group study and we'll mention next week) Mike Gilligan, produced a documentary on a batterers' intervention program which is based in San Francisco. The program is called ManAlive, and the training I participated in last week was intriguing. It speaks to many of the issues of both IPV and community violence we discussed in class.

This link is for the documentary information, in which the groups are displayed. Dr. James Gilligan and Hamish Sinclair, the developer of the model, are featured in the video. Check it out!

Jenn

Karen Armstrong Talk

2008-02-19T17:34:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

Here is the talk which Diana brought up in class, given by Karen Armstrong. She wrote Battle for God, which was one of the reading excerpts this past week.

Self-Immolation (suicide by burning alive)

2008-02-19T15:26:00.000-08:00

As a result of the reading this week, I learned a new term. I was familiar with the practice of "Sati" or "Self-Immolation," especially for widows burned alive on the funeral pyre of their husbands, and also its use in protests. But I didn't know the words to describe it, so I looked at wikipedia under "self-immolation" and "sati."

The Term "Sati" means a lot of different things actually, and comes from Hindu mythology, relating to a story of a goddess bearing the name "Sita", who went through a "trial by fire" in order to be reaccepted by her husband (who was alive--not dead!). The word "Sati" now also refers to a "chaste" or "good" woman, as well as a widow who has gone through self-immolation.

The wikipedia posting about self-immolation did not mention the practice being used by widows (or widows being forced to undergo this death by burning), and the listing on "Sati" also barely mentioned the definition applying to widows' suicides.

Finally there was a listing called "Sati (Practice)" which provided some details about the practice in Hindu cultures, but pretty definitively implied that it was a problem of the past, which is "rare" nowadays. They mentioned literally a handful of cases in the last 50 years, which I found to be such a disservice to the MANY women who die each year through coerced Sati.

We know from the readings and the presentation offered today that this practice, though illegal, is still practiced commonly in different parts of India. The statistics that were cited were from the 1800s, and it was not clear whether no one had bothered to collect statistics about how many women experience this type of death in modern times or whether no one had bothered to post it to wikipedia yet... One related statistic I found was that the UN reports that 5,000 women per year are killed in India because the husband or husband's family feels that the woman's dowry is insufficient. Often these "dowry deaths" are staged as burnings, especially "accidental" burnings in which the stove explodes, or the woman is lit on fire and pushed out a window.

I found some videos on youtube that I wanted to share, but I want to preface them by saying that they may be quite painful and difficult to watch. The first was made by the "Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan" (RAWA), and it shows the impact of self-immolation on women who attempted suicide to "escape miseries."

Self-immolation may be used in formal protest, and some of the most famous protests utilizing these methods were enacted by Buddhist monks who were against the Vietnam war. This footage may be upsetting to watch, as the monks sit quietly and peacefully while they burn to death.

We talked today about the search for meaning in life (and death) and wondered about what individual people decide is "worth dying for" or "worth killing for." This footage brings up more questions than answers for me... how about you?

Religion, Ethnicity, and Violence

2008-02-19T13:28:00.000-08:00

Hindu Informed Violence Against Women

2008-02-19T12:06:00.000-08:00

This is a preview for a movie (you can get it on Netflix) about widows in India, and the lives that they have been forced to lead.

Earth, Fire, Water

2008-02-18T22:05:00.000-08:00

These three films by Deepa Mehta, explore themes of women's lives in India. "Fire" especially relies on references to Sita's self-immolation (trial by fire) in Hindu mythology, as it relates to the storyline of two women who fall in love despite societal, religious, and family disapproval. "Water" explores the lives of widows, with a focus on a young girl who is widowed while still a child and who inspires others to resist their circumstances and make changes for themselves. "Earth" I have not seen, so I am not familiar with it yet.

Violence, Trauma, and Social Welfare Colloquium

2008-02-12T18:02:00.000-08:00

We have confirmed that the group study will be presenting a colloquium for the Social Welfare and broader Berkeley community this spring.

Save the Date: Monday, May 5 from 4-6pm (in room 5 Haviland)

Students are invited to present for a larger audience the work that they have prepared for the group study this semester.

Terror in the Mind of God

2008-02-12T15:14:00.000-08:00

Hi folks - We will not be reading this book for next week, but its an interesting and timely book I wanted to recommend and pass on.

Terror in the Mind of God by: Mark Juergensmeyer

Apparently, his was the first published book to feature a picture of Osama Bin Laden, BEFORE 9/11. His work became of even more interest afterwards.

He has a new book now, which he spoke about at Berkeley last Thursday, called:
Global Rebellion, which may also be of interest...

Jenn

Violence Against Women Act

2008-02-12T15:04:00.000-08:00

Hi Folks - There are many pieces to the VAWA legislation, which is why many of us have heard different things. Heres a link to different components of the legislation...I checked Wikipedia and its definition is not updated with the most current information...

http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/regulations.htm

Jenn

Violence Against Women

2008-02-11T21:03:00.000-08:00

V to the Tenth!

2008-02-11T20:25:00.000-08:00

Alive Day Memories: Home From Iraq

2008-02-09T12:36:00.001-08:00

Here is a news story about the film.

You can get this HBO Special featuring interviews with injured veterans returning from Iraq at almost any video store, on Netflix, or you can ask me (Ruby) about it and I'll help you get a copy.

quick thoughts on "Alive Day"

2008-02-07T19:50:00.000-08:00

In Alive Day, hosted by James Gandolfini, the interview with Jonathan Bartlett, who was the youngest of the injured veterans featured, struck me especially because he was so nonchalant. I googled the movie and found writings by each of the people featured in the movie and wanted to pass that link along. Jonathan's writings, coupled by his interview in the movie, helped me make more sense of what some of his grieving and healing process have been. His writing also mentioned another dimension of his trauma (though he does not call it that), which was the pain he experienced in seeing his family react to his injuries. It was interesting that he also felt like he needed to hold their pain.

Michael Jernigan and Dexter Pitts also struck me because they were the only ones who articulated any symptoms of PTSD. But they described the most traumatic events as those where they were the perpetrators of violence. This, although a much different scale, resonated with me because just recently I was recalling the time I spent working in residential treatment facilities and how violent the physical restraints are, despite the fact that their intent is to provide safety. Reed also mentioned this in class. When I worked in a residential treatment facility, I was injured and sustained a concussion. A couple weeks later I was one of the staff in a physical restraint of a 13 yr old boy who banged his head against the floor repeatedly as we held him. I was far more traumatized by that restraint than by my own injury.

If any of you end up seeing the movie and have other thoughts, I'd like to hear what you think. Here are the links...
Veterans Featured in "Alive Day Memories"
Jonathon Bartlett
Michael Jernigan
Dexter Pitts

Thoughts on the Iraq War by Jonathan Bartlett

2008-02-07T13:00:00.000-08:00

This was written by Jonathan Bartlett, one of the veterans interviewed in "Alive Day Memories." This is excerpted from his blog, which can be read here:

Someone messaged me this today, Read it and I shall respond to it question by question.

I've read some of your stuff and in it you don't mention your stand (for or) against the war. Are you not allowed to? are you afraid? or is it that you dont have an opinon?

How do you feel towards america and the government? it seems like you internalize it all. A part of me would want to blame them for putting you in that situation. As an individual that was directly affected, how would you say you feel? was it worth it (would it even be fair to ask)?

Personally, i dont really try to think about it, although Im not for the war, or any type of war for that matter.

Now, being home, do you feel like the government has done their part to make it as comfortable for you as possible. Have they helped in normalizing your life? and even then, have they helped you find a job, have they helped you make a future?

I guess these are all questions ive always wondered about (without trying to sound political). It would be nice to hear from a person directly and not though some interview filtered through the media. I wonder if there are any repercussions for stating your true opinion? i dont know if i would be paranoid if i were you.

More then losing your limbs, i think the worst part is the psychological affects. I wish people would be warned about these things. Im clueless. i dont know what its like to be in the army.

sorry, i hope this isnt too much and i hope i havent crossed the line. all i know is to be honest and hope that you can talk about it. thanks.

Jonathon's Response:

Thank you for reading, I do have a stance about the war. I seem to be in the unenviable position of being for the war but against the administration. I am allowed to have a stance about anything just as you are. While we still have the right to think and feel as we will, free from governmental or interest group control, I encourage everyone to think and feel as they wish. I do. Am I afraid? To have an Opinion; No. The only thing I am afraid of is that I may not be up to the challenge of being responsible with the power I possess and the power I gain everyday. But then I understand everyone makes mistakes and they must learn from them so I will too. Also, I have at my right and left men and women who will kick me something fierce to remind me of my duty and my responsibility.

No, Its not fair to ask. This is something an empathetic human being should know. I am deeply ashamed of my government and the people whom elect it. I am still quite hopeful about the vast majority of America, but not the people who vote. These are the stupid assholes whom seem to want to trade ALL our freedoms away so they can feel safe. There are days when I want to see it made better and then there are days when I am of the mind to burn it all down and watch the trees grow in it's place, maybe start over, maybe not. As for putting me in that situation, I am pissed that the commander in chief and all his lieutenants were implicit in outfitting the soldiers, marines and other combat troopies with the worst there is to be had so their business buddies and good old boys could make a buck off this war… that I am pissed about. But I was a trained killer, It was my job to go wherever they sent me and kill whoever I was told to kill. I signed up for it. Sides, I liked my job. I was good at it and am happy to say that I probably always will be. It's a state of mind you see, it's never left.

There will always be war, conflict, violence and strife. Please, get used to it. There will always be pain and woe and grief and tears and blood, probably all over the place and everywhere for all time. Humanity will continue to kill each other off when we cant get along and generally be bitches to each other till one group or an individual can put everyone in their place and lead us on to something better. All one can do is be good at war and violence, survive, try to make the world better and hope for the best. Hiding your head in the sand, preaching nonviolence and hoping bunch of people who want what you have and will kill you to get it see your point of view will only get you and yours killed.

The government goes out of their way to make sure vets of this war are well fed, taken care of, given a lot of help and opportunities and all the medical attention they could want. They also give us lots of money and education. However, they do need to be kicked into gear sometimes. The government is a giant and slow bureaucracy you see sometimes the gears need to be greased with the blood of an incompetent bureaucrat, but then I am thinking wishfully out loud again. Some say they don't do enough for they are slow to respond and need encouragement of various kinds but they keep us fat and happy. It's a good political move on their part because they are having very little trouble keeping the vets quiet about the shit pulled in this war. Also, I doubt very strongly they are going to do much about me expressing my opinion on a public forum. And if they do come to shut me up then my plans will be accelerated by a few years. That's all.

As for the psychological aspects, it wasn't the army's fault really. The army itself is like a Giant Ant colony. The ones who do most of the work and take all the fire from the enemy are guys and girls like me. The ones whom make all the important decisions are the ones sitting in the middle of the nest having their every need met; those are the ones I have issue with. There is really NO psychological preparation that is available to make you deal with getting blown to bits and put back together again. They can prepare you for death, and dealing death to our enemies. But not dying and coming back as I did.

So. Have I answered you sufficiently?

Jonathan

BioPsychoSocial Impact

2008-02-06T19:08:00.000-08:00

Discussion Questions: "Trauma & Recovery"

2008-02-05T16:28:00.001-08:00

Today we explored Judith Herman's text, Trauma and Recovery, with each group member focusing on a particular chapter to present to the group. Folks had really interesting insights and important critiques of the work, and we are planning to continue the discussion next week as well. People came up with some very "meaty" questions, so here's a short list of the questions that arose from the Herman readings (by chapter):

1. Can there be progression in the field of "trauma" without political movements (such as war veterans/rape survivors) to support/demand changes?

2. How else may people respond to trauma--other than the PTSD framework with clusters of symptoms: hyperarousal, constriction, intrusion?

3. Is restitution an accurate way of talking about recovery?

4. What does liberation from captivity mean for the survivor?

5. What is the role of subjectivity and objectivity in this work? Is there an appropriate role or place for subjective/"poetic" descriptions of abuse?

6. Is there a difference (or what are the differences) for individuals between a single event trauma and a repeated or prolonged trauma history?

7. What should the healing relationship (with a professional) look like?

8. Herman makes a case for creating safety first, then working on issues. What about cases in which environmental safety is not reasonably feasible (dangerous neighborhood, school, other factors)? How can we help people to increase/seek safety?

9. How can we "manage the trauma narrative" or help people open up their wounds to the degree that is is helpful and then close the session? How can we handle clients whom we may not see again who are sharing intense material? How can we respond to the "doorknob phenomenon" in which a person drops an emotional bomb just before leaving the office?

10. What is the process of healing like when it isn't as "neat and rosy" as Herman describes in her optimistic and strengths-based description?

11. Herman proposes setting up groups for people who have experienced trauma as time-limited, and distinct in terms of task (safety, reconnection, etc). How might this design impact participants? What is the relevance of group continuity, and should support groups be designed to stay together as cohesive units through the healing process rather than being segmented in chunks?

* A recurring question/critique of Herman's work was her use of gender pronouns: particularly the word "she" was used to refer to victims and helpers, and "he" to refer to soldiers. Does this leave out male survivors of violence and trauma (especially sexual abuse)? Does this "essentialist" framework with the gender pronouns reflect a bias on Herman's part? Does it bias the reader in terms of what groups of people are readily accepted as "victims/survivors"?

WHO Statistics on Violence

2008-02-05T16:16:00.000-08:00

The World Health Organization published a report in 2002 that provided responsibly calculated statistics regarding the prevalence of violence and violence-related mortality in the world. Links to the summary and full report are here

-During the 20th century, an estimated 191 million people lost their lives due to armed combat (well over half were civilian noncombatants).

-Over 1.6 million people per year worldwide lose their lives to violence.

-During the war in Bosnia, approximately 10-60,000 women were raped.

In the year 2000 alone:
-An estimated 199,000 youths died as a result of violence
-An estimated 57,000 children were murdered
-An estimated 1,659,000 people died from suicide, war & homicide combined
-An estimated 1,510,000 people in low-income countries died as a result of violence (91% of violence victims are from low-income countries)
-An estimated 149,000 people in high income countries died as a result of violence (9% of violence fatalities worldwide)
-An estimated 520,000 people were killed as a result of interpersonal violence
-An estimated 815,000 people killed themselves, making suicide the 13th leading cause of death
-An estimated 310,000 people died of injuries from armed combat

hi

2008-02-04T18:20:00.000-08:00

hey everyone- just wanted to check out the posting process :)
see you tomorrow!

What is Trauma?

2008-02-04T17:17:00.000-08:00

Last week, we talked about some operationalized "definitions" of trauma, in terms of how the medical, psychological, and psychiatric professions have conceived of "PTSD" or "Posttraumatic stress disorder." But if post-traumatic stress disorder is the "definition" of trauma, what does the "T" in PTSD stand for? What is "trauma" anyway?

How can "trauma" seem to refer to the cause and the consequences?

So people were wondering what constitutes a trauma... and how PTSD and trauma could be referred to using the same word.

"Trauma" refers to both an "injury/wound" and the "conditions caused by this" (for physical and psychological "injuries").

The first known publication of the word "Trauma" in English was in 1693 in Blancard's Physical Dictionary. The definition was "a wound from an external cause."

The Oxford English Dictionary Offers This Definition of Trauma (and "traumatic")
1. Pathology. A wound, or external bodily injury in general; also the condition caused by this; traumatism.

2. Psychoanalysis and Psychiatry. A psychic injury, especially one caused by emotional shock the memory of which is repressed and remains unhealed; an internal injury, especially to the brain, which may result in a behavioural disorder of organic origin. Also, the state or condition so caused.

* * * * *

An Extensive List of Links to Definitions of TRAUMA on the Web

Most definitions focus on an "injury" or "wound" and many definitions make specific reference to the body, for example "a physical injury" or "an injury to the body."

Not as many mention emotional, psychological, or spiritual traumas, and many of the definitions focusing on bodily injury do not mention the corresponding injury to the self/mind/emotions that can accompany physical injury. Many of these are medical sites, which could account for some of the skewing towards physically-focused definitions.

Some definitions stipulate that it is "caused by an external force." How do you think this definition deals with suicide or self-cutting?

A rare few implicate "violence" as the cause of trauma. Do you think violence has to be present in order for trauma to occur?

How do you define trauma? What do you think of these definitions? Have you read other definitions?

"Violence Exposure, a Chronic Psychosocial Stressor, and Child Health" Event this Thursday

2008-01-30T20:59:00.000-08:00

THE BERKELEY DIVERSITY RESEARCH INITIATIVE
THE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH &THE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WELFARE ANNOUNCE

The BDRI Faculty Candidate Talk
Shakira Franco-Suglia, ScD Research Fellow
Harvard School of Public Health Department of Environmental Health
"Violence Exposure, a Chronic Psychosocial Stressor, and Child Health"
THURSDAY, JANUARY 31 4:00-6:00 PM203 CALIFORNIA HALL

Dr. Shakira Franco Suglia is a research fellow in the Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health. Her research focus is multidisciplinary as she examines the effects of social and environmental factors on children's psychological and physical health. She was recently awarded a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to explore how social factors, both negative (i.e. housing dilapidation, economic hardship, parental stress) and positive (i.e., social support, mother-child activities), may modify the impact of psychological stressors on children's health. In 2007 she received a Minority Trainee Award by the American Thoracic Society and is currently a mentor for undergraduate and graduate students for the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos, Latinos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS).

Presentation Topics

2008-01-30T11:48:00.000-08:00

Here are the Student Presentation Topics. We tried to arrange them according to people's interests and also to cover a broad range of topics.

Please feel free to contact us if you would like to switch topics for any reason. Most "groups" are pairs; some people proposed new ideas and others are welcome to join them. Jenn and Ruby will be available to help and consult or participate in the student presentations to whatever extent you (the student presenters) want us to be involved.

Week 4

February 12

Biopsychosocial Perspectives (continued)
Ruby & Jenn

Violence Against Women

Ruby

Week 5

February 19

Religion, Race/Ethnicity and Violence

Jenn &:

1. Janelle

2. Anna G

Week 6

February 26

Intimate Partner Violence, Domestic Violence

Perpetrators of Violence

1. Amanda

2. Kate

Week 7

March 4

Child Sexual Abuse

1. Diana

2. ___________________________________________

Suicide

1. Ronna

2. ___________________________________________

Week 8

March 11

War, Crimes Against Humanity, and Genocide Macro

Ruby &:

1. Ana S

2. Jenn K.

3. Nathan

4. Natasha

Week 9

March 18

Violence, Poverty, and Crime

1. Ellen Joe

2. Reed

(March 25)

(NO GROUP MEETING => SPRING BREAK!!!!)

Week 10

April 1

Sexual Violence and Rape

1. Ruby

2. ___________________________________________

Violence Against LGBTQ populations

1. Maureen

2. Reese

Week 11

April 8

Interventions for Trauma Part 1: Individual Interventions

Greg Merrill

Week 12

April 15

Interventions for Violence and Trauma Part 2:

Child-Parent Psychotherapy; Family Therapy Mezzo

Jenn & Ruby

SUPER BOWL (BULL?) SUNDAY?

2008-01-29T17:53:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone -

A common "fact" that is circulated in IPV conversations is that Superbowl Sunday is the day of the highest incidence of violence against women. I was once told this by a professor of mine, and because I respected her and her creditability, I believed her.

However, upon further investigation, it appears this notion is controversial. It is a good example of examining our firmly held beliefs in regards to violence and trauma, and weighing our experience with evidence, or at least being open to alternative proposals and explanations.

Of course, there are many reasons why this assertion would make sense - alcohol, a violent sport, testosterone - all might add some apparent creditability to this claim. However, especially in the area of violence and trauma, we have to be careful about the assertions we make, and there are also those waiting in the wings with counter evidence...

Here is the story, presented from many different sides.

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A VERY critical view of this assertion can be found in the story - Super Bull Sunday

http://www.snopes.com/crime/statistics/superbowl.asp

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A Response from FAIR, the group accused of distorting the "facts" -

Is Super Bowl Sunday one of the worse days of the year for domestic violence in homes around the United States, or is it just another urban legend?

Recently, About's Urban Legend Guide David Emery, who does an excellent job of tracking the latest myths and hoaxes perpetrated on the Internet and beyond, promoted an article on Super Bowl Sunday Folklore in which he referred to the fact that more women are abused on Super Bowl Sunday than any other day as one of those "larger-than-life 'urban beliefs' in the U.S."

Emery's article pointed to Cecil "The Straight Dope" Adams' column that supposedly "debunked" the claim that domestic violence increases on Super Bowl Sunday, a story that has been making the rounds since the Super Bowl of 1993.

How did all of this controversy begin and what is the truth of the matter? Does domestic violence increase during America's unofficial national football holiday, or not?

The story began in 1993 when Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) convinced the NBC Television network to run a public service announcement prior to the start of the Super Bowl broadcast. The announcement warned: "Domestic violence is a crime."

Debunking the Debunkers
Shortly after the game ended a bevy of reporters, from Ken Ringle of the Washington Post to Rush Limbaugh, attempted to "debunk" FAIR's effort to call attention to a crisis that, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, claims thousands of women's lives per year.

The debunkers charged that FAIR had claimed that "national studies" supported their assertions, that FAIR made "predictions" of Super Bowl Sunday violence using false statistics, and that FAIR had "acknowledged" that its evidence was largely "anecdotal."

But FAIR denied any accusations that it distorted the facts and figures. In an article by Laura Flanders headlined Super Bowl Success Sparks Good Ol' Boys' Backlash, FAIR said when negotiating with NBC to run the PSA they referred to no national studies or statistics on the subject and made no predictions. In fact, FAIR told NBC that studies on domestic violence are gravely underfunded and understudied.

" 'Anecdotal' was the word used in countless interviews by FAIR; stories from women on the front lines were something that made the campaign stronger, not something anyone was forced to 'acknowledge,' " wrote Flanders.

What is the bottom line on this issue? Flanders' article spelled it out: "Workers at women's shelters, and some journalists, have long reported that Super Bowl Sunday is one of the year's worst days for violence against women in the home. FAIR hoped that the broadcast of an anti-violence PSA on Super Sunday, in front of the biggest TV audience of the year, would sound a wake-up call for the media, and it did."

That PSA saved lives, Flanders said.

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A more balanced yet still skeptical view -

From the Family Violence Prevention Fund Webpage

Domestic Violence & The Super Bowl:
The Myth
February 1, 2005

On February 6, millions of people will tune in to watch Super Bowl XXXIX. In the past, Super Bowl Sunday has been a time of public debate over the prevalence of domestic violence in our communities. At times, domestic violence experts and those working to help victims have been criticized, in part because of decade-old claims that abuse increases on game day.

Two years ago, for example, columnist and commentator George Will raised the issue on ABC’s This Week, criticizing “feminists” for spreading false information about a link between the Super Bowl and domestic violence, and telling women to “relax and enjoy the game.”

This week, the Lansing State Journal carried a column on the Super Bowl “hoax.” It said, in part, this “month brings the anniversary of feminists depicting Super Bowl Sunday as the annual high-water mark for the beating of American women by their husbands and boyfriends. Feminists find this self-evident, since on that day men celebrate the testosterone-besotted violence of professional football . . . Lies about domestic violence only serve to trivialize a serious problem.”

Others have referred to the claim that domestic violence increases on Super Bowl Sunday as an “urban myth” or a “noble lie.”

Today advocates stress that there is no conclusive evidence that domestic violence increases during the Super Bowl. “Violence against women is wrong whether it happens on Super Bowl Sunday or on any other Sunday,” said Family Violence Prevention Fund President Esta Soler. “While there have been no rigorous national studies on whether rates of domestic violence increase during the Super Bowl, we do know that women are beaten and killed every day by the men in their lives – whether there is a football game or not.”

The Myth

The Super Bowl and domestic violence probably became entwined in Americans’ minds in 1993, when advocates helped convince the NBC television network to broadcast a public service announcement (PSA) on domestic violence during its Super Bowl coverage. The PSA featured a well-dressed man sitting in a jail cell saying, “I didn’t think you’d go to jail for hitting your wife.” Afterwards, the announcer said, “Domestic violence is a crime.”

While many commentators applauded NBC’s decision to air the PSA, others claimed the network had been coerced by inflated claims about Super Bowl Sunday being “a day of dread” for battered women – a day when abuse increases. That same year, in a front page story entitled, “Debunking the ‘Day of Dread’ for Women,” Washington Post reporter Ken Ringle quoted experts and battered women’s advocates saying there was no discernible increase in battering on Super Bowl Sunday, or on any days when football games are played. Some later claimed that Ringle had taken their remarks out of context.

Conflicting Data

Although there are claims linking sports broadcasts to increased violence and abuse, no rigorous national studies have confirmed a link.

A limited study conducted by the Southern California Injury Prevention Research Center at UCLA’s School of Public Health found that football Sundays in general are not significantly associated with increased domestic violence dispatch calls.

A 2003 study by researchers at Indiana University Bloomington, which examined police reports of domestic violence incidents in 14 cities, found a small increase on Super Bowl Sunday, but the increase was much smaller than on holidays such as Christmas or Memorial Day.

Athletes and Violence

Due in part to incidents of violence involving Kobe Bryant, University of Colorado football players and other athletes, public attention may once again turn to the link between professional sports and violence against women this week.

“Because professional athletes are so much in the public eye, if they do commit violence against women, the media tends to report it,” said Soler. “But, as public figures, athletes are in a unique position to take a stand against violence, and many are doing just that. We commend the professional athletes who are helping to raise awareness about abuse and doing their part to end violence against women and children.”

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MOST RECENT RESEARCH

A 2008 study at Indiana Bloomington University found that the relationship between televised football and DV might be less prevalent than previous reports would suggest...actually they found that ANTICIPATION of a game, rather than the game itself, may be associated with domestic violence...

Part of the reason this link may have been made also involves the studied relationship between soccer games in Europe and violence. However, although it was hypothesized that the LOSERS would be more violent, a study suggests that it is actually WINNING that promotes incidents of violence...!

http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/11/2/69
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So, what do you think?

Definitions

2008-01-29T17:15:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone - Thanks for a lively discussion today on the definitions of trauma. We'll talk more about definitions of violence next week in reference to the World Health Organization Report.

As you can already see, definitions of trauma are definitely topics of lively debate. Here are the clinical definitions we brought up in class. Please free to post definitions you've found, or your own thoughts on the issue. For example, is oppression trauma? When could a person experience trauma, and not PTSD? Who would recognize this and how would it be assessed? Is poverty trauma? Death of a loved one? What is the difference between trauma and grief?

ALSO, see
http://www.veteransresources.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1197
for some thoughts on new definitions of PTSD in the DSM V!

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DSM-IV-TR Criteria for PTSD

Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Early Childhood Revised Edition (DC:0-3R).
Includes the above as well as a "serious threat to the physical or psychological integrity of the child" Definition now on bspace in pdf form.

The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders
World Health Organization, Geneva, 1992

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

F43.1 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Week 2: History and Theory

2008-01-28T23:05:00.000-08:00

1984 Anti Sikh Riots

2008-01-28T20:30:00.000-08:00

News came out just a few days ago on the BBC that 11 life sentences were passed to those connected with the Gujarat riots. In an age of reconciliation when governments are being called to task on human rights violations, it seems out of place that the world’s largest democracy would still cover up its recent past of violence. Genocide, in general, is not uncommon. It spreads across time and space from the Native American genocide, the Turkish atrocities on the Armenians to the most well known, the German Holocaust on Jews, the LGBT population, gypsies, and the disabled. Others include the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, East Timor, Guatemala, Papua, Indonesia, Sudan, possibly now Kenya. The list continues. Why, in the context of the 20^th century then would the anti Sikh genocide be worth talking about?

If you have not heard of the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 do not be surprised. Books about the topic are impossible to find. Television shows and movies are heavily censored within India. For a government-sponsored genocide, it is chilling how few people are aware that up to 20,000 people died and even more women were raped in roughly a week. Yet as terrible as it may be, why should the world care about the 1984 riots?

First of all we have to take into consideration what were the consequences for the government which inflicted this genocide? Unlike many other governments, leaders in the Congress party of India has never been held accountable for their actions. Many are still in power. For a country with an emerging economy, holds nuclear arms, and an increasing weight in global politics, we must as a global community must examine what kind of values does such a government really hold? While many countries have their own dark spots, India, claims to value multiculturalism, tolerance, secularism, capitalism, and democracy. It has done well in promoting the image of a peaceful, stable nation which has attracted many international investors. However if these values genuine, a democratically elected government has a responsibility to not only the international community but to its own citizens to respect their right to security and freedom in their own country.

The anti-Sikh Riots of 1984, which was followed by 10 years of human rights violation in the northern state of Punjab, is one of the most under examined acts of government-endorsed violence in modern history. The casualties count from 5,000 to 20,000, at the very least, five times as many as the now infamous Gujarat riots. By continuing this silence we also endorse this silencing of the past. We also deny justice and validation of the survivors of these crimes. While we cannot change the past, by simply being aware of the capability of a government that is strikingly similar to our own, we can hope to not only encourage healing but show the world that not even a democratic, secular, multicultural government should get away with this.

Here are a few documentaries that explain the background:

This one is the beginning of a series called 1984 Sikhs' Kristallnacht. It gives a good background on the lead up to the 1984 riots as well as a good description on what had happened.

This one is a second part of the five part series which goes into further detail on the riots.

The second video is a 45 minute documentary called “Storming the Temple” which appeared on the history channel which also explains the lead up to the anti-Sikh riots in 1984, such as the attack on the Golden Temple (the Sikh equivalent to Mecca or the Vatican).

Room Change!

2008-01-23T14:33:00.000-08:00

We are very happy to announce that we will be moving to a room where we can all comfortably fit!!

The group study will now meet in Haviland 2.

"Survivor Stories" Film Series

2008-01-22T13:12:00.000-08:00

As a complement to the Violence and Trauma Group Study, there will be a Tuesday Night Film Series shown this semester on campus (open to the Berkeley community). The films tell the stories of violence survivors in their own words, from their own unique perspectives.

The films correspond with several areas of focus which the group study will be researching over the semester, and viewing the films together will enrich the students' learning experiences. There will be time for debriefing and discussion after each film and resources for how people can get involved with solutions at a variety of levels.

Films will be shown on Tuesdays from 5-7pm at the Media Resource Center, in the basement of Moffitt library (Group Viewing Room B).

February 5
Alive Day Memories: Home From Iraq
In a war that has left more than 25,000 wounded, Alive Day Memories: Home From Iraq looks at a new generation of veterans. Executive Producer James Gandolfini interviews ten Soldiers and Marines who reveal their feelings on their future, their severe disabilities and their devotion to America. The documentary surveys the physical and emotional cost of war through memories of their "alive day," the day they narrowly escaped death in Iraq.

February 12
Until The Violence Stops
Until the Violence Stops features playwright and activist Eve Ensler in a powerful film that documents how The Vagina Monologues grew into an international grassroots movement called V-Day to stop violence against women and girls. In 2002, eight hundred cities around the world participated in V-Day by staging benefit performances of The Vagina Monologues. Until the Violence Stops shows women from Harlem to Ukiah, California; from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to the Philippines and Kenya, uniting and courageously revealing their intimate and deeply painful experiences with abuse ranging from rape to female circumcision.... More than just testimonies and performances, Until the Violence Stops is a film about empowerment and the importance of dialogue in the healing process. A celebration of women reclaiming their bodies and lives, this moving documentary leaves us with hope that change can happen.

February 25
Lost Boys of Sudan
Lost Boys of Sudan is a feature-length documentary that follows two Sudanese refugees on an extraordinary journey from Africa to America. Orphaned as young boys in one of Africa's cruelest civil wars, Peter Dut and Santino Chuor survived lion attacks and militia gunfire to reach a refugee camp in Kenya along with thousands of other children. From there, remarkably, they were chosen to come to America. Safe at last from physical danger and hunger, a world away from home, they find themselves confronted with the abundance and alienation of contemporary American suburbia.

March 11
Ghosts of Rwanda
"Ghosts of Rwanda," a special two-hour Frontline documentary to mark the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide -- a state-sponsored massacre in which some 800,000 Rwandans were methodically hunted down and murdered by Hutu extremists as the U.S. and international community refused to intervene -- examines the social, political, and diplomatic failures that converged to enable the genocide to occur.... Through interviews with key government officials, diplomats, soldiers, and survivors of the slaughter, "Ghosts of Rwanda" presents groundbreaking, first-hand accounts of the genocide from those who lived it: the diplomats on the scene who thought they were building peace only to see their colleagues murdered; the Tutsi survivors who recount the horror of seeing their friends and family slaughtered by Hutu friends and co-workers; and the U.N. peacekeepers in Rwanda who were ordered not to intervene in the massacre happening all around them. The documentary features interviews with Canadian Gen. Romeo Dallaire, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and former National Security Adviser Anthony Lake as well as haunting interviews with the Hutu killers themselves, and a powerful interview with BBC journalist Fergal Keane who travelled through Rwanda as the genocide was drawing to a close

April 1
Grbavica: Land of My Dreams
This is a Bosnian film about the aftermath of sexual violence and war, even many years later. It won many film awards, including a Golden Bear at the Berlin film festival. The plot summary is: Sara (Luna Mijovic) is a young girl whose class plans to go on a school trip. Since children of fallen warriors in the last war are not suppose to pay, Sara thinks that she is one of them (because her mother told her that her father got killed in war). Esma (Mirjana Karanovic), her mother Esma has two things to deal with: the explanation to her only child that she was raped-- that Sara's father is not a fallen warrior, and she has to collect the money for her daughter to go to the school trip. Esma gets a job as a waitress at a nightclub and is confronted with memories and fears from the past as Sara becomes increasingly rebellious and demanding of information about her father.

April 15
Beyond the Call
In an Indiana Jones meets Mother Teresa adventure, three middle-aged men, former soldiers and modern-day knights travel the world delivering life-saving humanitarian aid directly into the hands of civilians and doctors. Ed Artis, James Laws and Walt Ratterman inspire through deeds not words, in some of the most dangerous yet beautiful places on Earth, the front lines of war. Knightsbridge International is a unique humanitarian organization, whose motto is "High Adventure and Service to Humanity." They explain, "We're not there to change anybody's politics, we're not in the God business, and we pay our own way." They add simply, We do what we can, when we can, because we can.

Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

2008-01-21T09:08:00.000-08:00

Today is a day to celebrate and reflect on the life and work of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I spent some time watching videos and listening to his words, and I am happy to share some of the most inspiring ones I found with you. I will also spend some time in quiet contemplation to cultivate compassion and peace in my own heart. Listening to Dr. King's words strengthens my commitment to pursuing social justice causes through nonviolent means. I hope you find some truth or inspiration here.

I look forward to meeting everyone tomorrow at our first meeting of the Violence and Trauma Group Study!

MLK - A Knock at Midnight

Here MLK talks about how he endured the persecution he and his family experienced in retaliation for his civil rights work.

His Last Speech, "I've Been to the Mountaintop"

Prophetic words, he was assassinated the next day.

Martin Luther King on War

From Birmingham to D.C.

This video follows Dr. King from the movement in Birmingham to DC. Highlighting his speeches in 1963 and ending with his last speech in 1968. Set to music by DeVotchKa "How It Ends."

In The Name of Love

In memory of MLK...slideshow set to U2's "Pride(In The Name of Love)."

Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride

In the name of love
What more in the name of love

Week 1 Slides: Self-Care

2008-01-19T17:15:00.000-08:00

Readings for Week #1

2008-01-14T13:13:00.000-08:00

Our first class is Tuesday, January 22 from 12-2pm in Haviland 201.

We'll be talking about self-care during the first class. Here you can view the first few pages of the book we're focusing on during week 1. We'll provide a hard copy of the chapter for the first day of class, but you might want to take a quick look ahead of time.

Stamm, BH. (1999). Secondary traumatic stress: Self-care issues for clinicians, researchers, and educators. MD: Sidran Press. Assigned Readings: pps. 3-28.

http://www.amazon.com/Secondary-Traumatic-Stress-Clinicians-Researchers/dp/1886968071

We will be talking more about these next 2 in the second week, but here they are for your convenience. These readings for the first week are are on bspace, but here are some quick links for your ease:

NASW. (1999). Code of Ethics.
http://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/code/code.asp

World Health Organization Report on Violence and Health. (2002). (Just the summary, not the whole thing)
http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/world_report/en/

War Veterans and Posttraumatic Stress

2008-01-06T07:38:00.000-08:00

U.S. War Veterans and PTSD Awareness

Hero After War: Combat Vets and PTSD

We are more aware of what PTSD is now because of the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. Vietnam veterans are now reporting for treatment of their own wounds they thought they escaped. These occupations have brought out memories they have had to deal with for over thirty years and now they need help. Both the older generation and the new generation of veterans are reaching out and helping each other heal. It can be done but the rest of us cannot just stand by and watch. They need our help.

Talking Post Trauma Blues (PTSD)

What's going to happen when our "hidden injuries" run out of places to hide?

A Talking Blues about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Studies suggest that one out of four coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan bring with them PTSD or PTSD related problems. For an online PTSD support forum, see:
http://www.ptsdforum.org/

Dr. Alicia Lieberman Colloquium

2008-01-01T13:02:00.000-08:00

The Violence and Trauma Group Study is pleased to announce that we will be hosting Dr. Alicia Lieberman for a School of Social Welfare sponsored colloquium on April 21st.

Alicia F. Lieberman, PhD is the Irving B. Harris Endowed Chair in Infant Mental Health and Vice Chair for Academic Affairs at the UCSF Department of Psychiatry, and Director of the Child Trauma Research Project at San Francisco General Hospital. She is a clinical consultant with the San Francisco Human Services Agency. She is active in major national organizations involved with mental health in infancy and early childhood. She is president of the board of directors of Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families, and on the Professional Advisory Board of the Johnson & Johnson Pediatric Institute. She has served on peer review panels of the National Institute of Mental Health, is on the Board of Trustees of the Irving Harris Foundation, and consults with the Miriam and Peter Haas Foundation on early childhood education for Palestinian-Israeli children.

Dr. Lieberman will discuss Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) as a treatment method for young children who have been exposed to violence. She will be responsive to the interests of the group, so perhaps we can prepare some questions or topics before the colloquium for her to address. There will also be time during the event for questions and discussion.