Recovery from psychosocial trauma often occurs in a cultural context of profound inequity and dehumanization that results from the intersection of multiple types of identity-based bias, disparities, discrimination, disenfranchisement, oppression and violence discrimination, disparities, hate, violence and oppression (Alessi et al., Citation2018; Allwood, Ford, et al., Citation2021; Allwood, Ghafoori, et al., Citation2021; Bryant-Davis, Citation2019; Charak et al., Citation2023; Douglas et al., Citation2021; Ford, Citation2009; Freyd, Citation2017; McClendon et al., Citation2021; Mekawi et al., Citation2021; Park et al., Citation2023; Salomaa et al., Citation2023; Valentine et al. Citationthis issue). Addressing inequity and intersectionality thus is essential – although too often still absent – in trauma-informed research, theory, clinical practice and public health policy, in order to protect and promote the healing of the most vulnerable (and resilient) and populations of trauma-exposed youth and adults globally.
A recent Special Issue of the Journal of Trauma and Dissociation on “Discrimination, Violence, and Healing in Marginalized Communities” (Gomez et al., Citation2021) exemplified and highlighted how traumatic stress research can be located in a context of intersectionality. In that issue, articles explored the intersection of interpersonal trauma and racial discrimination (Mekawi et al., Citation2021), discriminatory stress, race/ethnicity, and gender (McClendon et al., Citation2021), culture, historical trauma, and posttraumatic growth (Ortega-Williams et al., Citation2021; Tineo et al., Citation2021), and gender, military culture, and deployment trauma (Brown et al., Citation2021). However, a key sequelae of exposure to complex interpersonal trauma (Ford & Courtois, Citation2021; Hyland et al. Citation2020), including the intersection of cultural, racial, and historical trauma (Hamby et al., Citation2020) – dissociative disconnection from relationships and community and fragmentation of the self – has yet to be systematically investigated from the perspective of intersectionality. For that reason, a new Special Issue of the Journal of Trauma and Dissociation with a focus on “Understanding, Preventing, & Healing Dissociation in the Context of Intersectional Inequalities” is now being developed (with qualitative and quantitative research, review, theory, clinical, and policy articles invited until October 15, 2024: https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issues/understanding-preventing-healing-dissociation/). As stated in the Call for Manuscripts, “The purpose of this special issue is to understand how intersectional inequalities are associated with varied forms of dissociation in multiply marginalized people.” The Special Issue Editors (Drs. Gomez, Gobin, and DePrince) have drawn on classic works by leading scholar/advocates such as W. E. B. DuBois and Patricia Hill Collins to frame the issue as a wide-ranging examination of the role of “intersectional inequalities (e.g., racism, sexism, religious discrimination, nationalism, classism, ableism, ageism, homophobia, heterosexism and transphobia) on varied manifestations of dissociation.” The ground-breaking papers in this Special Issue will provide a foundation, a guide, and an impetus for scholarly and clinically and policy-relevant work for many years to come. Please consider submitting an original manuscript for review if your work addresses some portion of this crucial yet neglected area of knowledge, services, and advocacy.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
References
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