Exploring Traumatic Identities Through Narrative

• In Event: Roundtable: Research on Trauma and Victimization

Abstract

Analysis of individuals’ use of narrative provides insight into the way individuals construct meaning around their experiences and integrate various identities into a coherent self. Narrative analyses are particularly useful when considering the effects of criminal victimization and the construction of “traumatic identities” (identities that are non-voluntary, permanent, non-normative, and that coincide with the loss of another identity). This paper outlines key issues that affect the construction, use, alteration and maintenance of such narratives including timing, audience, social context, relevant social support, and the individual’s level of commitment to the lost identity, as well as the new identity’s visibility, permanency, and associated stigma.

Author

• Kristen Lee Hourigan, State University of New York at Albany