Understandings of Trauma: Contrasting Sudanese Refugees and Holocaust Survivors

Abstract Responses to deeply traumatic events vary according to cultural context, yet we have little insight into why these discrepancies occur. In order to explore cultural variation in models of trauma, we draw on data from semi-structured interviews with Sudanese refugees (n = 12) and with Holocaust survivors (n = 13) in Melbourne, Australia. Using descriptive phenomenological analysis, we examine the similarities and differences between the two groups. Group differences were found in the meaning of traumatic memory, the communication of somatoform symptoms in the Sudanese-refugee group only, conceptions of self after the traumatic event and the relationship change with the social world. Similarities included the persistence of traumatic memory, an impact on identity, a change in one’s relationship with the social world and the emergence of existential anxiety. The findings contribute to uncovering delineation points between cultural models for understanding trauma, while simultaneously presenting a potential cross-cultural language useful for understanding trauma.