Exploring the Salience of Intergenerational Trauma among Children and Grandchildren of Victims of Apartheid-Era Gross Human Rights Violations

Abstract

Apartheid, as a systemised and institutionalised process of race-based discrimination, exploitation and oppression, left in its wake a deeply traumatised society. Many feel that this collective trauma has not been sufficiently addressed and that this has rendered the peace achieved after Apartheid’s demise increasingly fragile. In addition to this, we are reminded that traumatic memories affect not only those who have personally experienced conflict and violence, but also future generations through what is known as intergenerational transmission of trauma. This paper explores the salience of intergenerational trauma in South Africa. At a conceptual level, it is framed by the life course perspective and historical trauma theory. Methodologically, a hermeneutic phenomenological approach was utilised. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 children and grandchildren (females = 10, males = 10) of victims of Apartheid-era gross human rights violations. The interview data was subjected to an interpretative analytical process that yielded a number of themes which provide support for the salience of intergenerational trauma amongst descendants of victims of Apartheid-era gross human rights violations. These themes – secondary traumatisation, socio-economic and material impact, and sense of powerlessness and helplessness – are discussed along with their possible implications, and foci for further research pointed to.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Cyril Kenneth Adonis

Dr Cyril Adonis is a Research Specialist at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in Pretoria, South Africa. Registered as a Research Psychologist with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), he obtained his Master’s degree in Research Psychology from Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa, in 1999. Subsequently he was a Fulbright Scholar at Nova Southeastern University (NSU) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in the USA, where he obtained his PhD in Conflict Analysis and Resolution in 2011.

Dr Adonis’s research has focused mainly on issues related to transitional justice, and his most recent publications appeared in the Journal of Psychology in Africa (2015) and the South African Journal of Psychology (2014). He has presented papers at several local and international conferences.

The research on which the current paper is based was presented at the conference on Soul Wounds: Trauma and Healing across Generations held at Stanford University in the USA from 4 - 6 June 2015.