HKIER

Abstract

Understanding how cultures create social psychological mechanisms to assist victims of natural and human-induced traumatic events requires knowledge of cultural systems and the nature of traumatic experiences. The purpose of this article is to present a holistic cultural view of trauma and posttraumatic syndromes in the light of theoretical assumptions and operating principles in Western psychology and trauma interventions currently applied in the global context. It reviews the literature pertaining to culture, trauma, and posttraumatic syndromes, including concepts of trauma archetype and trauma complex, and presents ten hypotheses about posttraumatic interventions in culturally diverse populations. A cross-cultural analysis of posttraumatic interventions revolves around the question of “What works for whom under what conditions?” It is suggested that healing and recovery is person-specific within culturally sanctioned modalities of counseling and interventions that include traditional practices, rituals, communal ceremonies, and conventional medical treatments. A set of core questions are proposed to guide future research and the development of culture-sensitive trauma theory and practice.

摘要

要了解文化如何塑造出協助天災人禍受害者的社會和心理機制，就必須掌握文化系統的知識及心理創傷經驗的性質。本文基於西方心理學的理論假設及運作原則，以及現時世界各地的心理創傷介入方法，旨在整全地展示心理創傷及心理創傷後症候群的文化觀點。文章首先檢閱有關文化、心理創傷及心理創傷後症候群（包括創傷原型及創傷情意結）的文獻，繼而展示在不同文化中心理創傷後介入的十項假設。對心理創傷後介入的跨文化分析圍繞一個問題：「在甚麼條件下哪些方法對誰人有效？」本文建議，在文化認許的輔導和介入形態（包括傳統方法、儀式、宗教典禮、醫藥習俗）下，治療和康復方法仍是因人而異。本文提出一套關鍵問題，期望能為切合不同文化的心理創傷理論及實踐的未來研究及發展作出一點指引。