PSYC 101
The Effects of Trauma on Family Members and Processes In Lenore Terr's book, Too Scared to Cry, the author describes the effects of a traumatic event on the family of the traumatized person. The family processes are disrupted, and the family members of the victim of trauma can be deeply affected. In the book, Terr describes several families who have been forever changed by the traumatic event, and these specific cases illustrate the contagious nature of trauma, and the branching out of trauma of a single individual to the ordeal of the family of the traumatized. One case Terr describes was that of the Banks family of Chowchilla. Both children, Tania and Benji, were victims of the Chowchilla bus kidnapping. At the time of the event, Tania was 8, and Benji, 5. Both children were traumatized by the kidnapping. Tania, originally described by her family as a happy and outgoing child, underwent a severe personality change after the kidnapping. Because she was prevented from going camping with her parents and their cousins by a "no children" rule, the kidnapping, for her, was linked to this anger and resentment at her family. In fact, when Terr describes her visits with the Banks family,
Cindy's post traumatic play involved keeping string, the very word she used for Holly's intestines, close by. Cindy perceived Holly's intestines, submerged in the pool, as strings. Hitchcock's work and many of his pranks show an obvious obsession with confinement (handcuffing two actors together for a day, locking another actor in a phone booth, chaining a cameraman to his camera for an entire night, and then giving him a laxative). Anyone who talked about making the parents' meetings into a stable society, allowed the kidnapping discussions to consume their "whole life," or spoke too much of the event was the subject of much anger and resentment on the part of the Sturgis parents. In this case from Terr's book, the effects of trauma on a family member are brought about in a different way than most other cases. He believed Holly made it rain every time they visited her grave, and would make it rain if they went to Disney World as planned. " After visiting with the police and learning of his daughter's traumatic event, Jack jumped at sounds of knocking, the telephone, or a siren. " Wilma tells of the "social clubs" being started by other parents of kidnapping victims, and both parents express distaste of the other parents' methods of handling the kidnapping. The Fellows found out about the assaults when they were shown pictures of an adult penis pressing on their daughter's abdomen. One common thread runs through these very different cases, however: the families were profoundly affected by the trauma of their parent, child, or sibling, and the trauma in some way disrupted the lives or family processes of the family of the trauma victim. This single event in Hitchcock's life paved the way for not only his films, but his efforts to personally traumatize those around him. He also told of how Holly closed doors behind him when he didn't want them closed. She told a story consisting of Holly's intestines on the pool floor, Duane's face, her parents' reactions - all of which were part of the stories the rest of the family told from their own points of view.
Common topics in this essay:
Alfred Hitchcock,
Holly Harrison,
Harrison Holly's,
Susan Fellows,
Tania Benji,
Sandra Chowchilla,
Lois Tania,
Scared Cry,
Paul Wilma,
Harry Lois,
traumatic event,
family processes,
terr describes,
holly's intestines,
harrison children,
effects trauma,
paul wilma,
trauma family,
effects trauma family,
chowchilla kidnapping,
traumatic event family,
fellows family,
sandra's traumatic event,
effects traumatic event,
stories rest family,
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Acceptance Essays
