Research surrounding children's traumatization experiences, including identification of the various symptoms of trauma and repercussions.
Lenore Terr, Clinical Professor at the University of California, conducted research on children’s trauma experiences in 1990. Terr defined trauma as the “sudden, unexpected, overwhelmingly intense emotional blow or a series of blows which assaults the person from the outside. When trauma happens, this cataclysmic effect alters the emotional stability in the child’s life, permanently."
Pfefferbaum and other researchers in 1999 studied the effects of the Oklahoma Bombing on children’s developing symptoms of trauma and loss. They discovered that few studies actually examined the relationship between trauma and loss, particularly with children.
Terr's research resulted from an incident regarding the Chowchilla tragedy in 1976. This occurrence involved the kidnapping of schoolchildren on a bus by three masked gunmen. The children were placed in a van and held custody for eleven hours in total darkness and silence. They received no explanations or restroom breaks. Sitting in their own urine and sweat, the children were eventually ordered out of the van and into a hole where they were buried alive for 18 hours. No physical harm came to the children; however, Terr found evidence of trauma from their experiences.
Trauma Symptoms
The effects of trauma from childhood can be found immediately or after periods of time. Children traumatized may:
- Freeze into permanently saddened states of deep depression
- Have trouble sleeping and eating normally
- Exhibit severe behavior problems
- Transfer their rage to other relationships
- Focus their anger on one single category. For instance, they hate all men who wear blue shirts.
The Trauma Process
At the instant a terrible event strikes, children become:
- Immobilized
- Frozen
- Pale
- Extremely infantile and submissive in their behavior
Children fear there are no options during the traumatic event. The fear of the loss of the family and their life leads them to believe that the situation will only worsen. Due to the shock of the ambush and the overwhelming sense of being overpowered by an attacker, the child feels totally helpless, terrified, and enraged. Although the incident is resolved, the terror lingers.
The impact of the trauma experience on a child's life results in:
- Emotional storms
- Frenzied, undirected, disorganized behaviors
- Panic
- Wheezing
- Vomiting
- Defecating uncontrollably
It is important to respect the power of a child’s expression of terror. Unfortunately, younger children are not able to put into words any memory of the incident until years later. The fear of continued terrifying experiences creates great difficulty for children in leaving any abusive environments. Externally, trauma continues to exert an influence on the attitudes and behavior of children for the remainder of their lives.
The trauma process occurs in phases resembling
- Terror
- Rage
- Denial
- Numbing
- Unresolved grief
- Shame
- Guilt
Repercussions of Trauma
After the traumatic event is over, fears continue to plague children. Children fear:
- The dark
- Strangers
- Looming objects
- Being alone
- Being inside
The main difference between ordinary childhood fears and fears based on trauma is the passion and the long lastingness of the fear. Robbed of their autonomy, any stressful event may trigger a child’s psychological and physiological readiness for fight, flight, or freeze.
Repeated Traumatic Incidences
Trauma that occurs repeatedly will most likely promote major character changes in children. Children may stay sad or turn passive, or possibly turn away from relationships altogether because it feels too painful to lose them. Those who become accustomed to chronic repeated traumas begin to shut off from their consciousness. They feel nothing and they go numb. Terr described these children as battle weary, bracing for each shock.
