Senseless violence a symptom of Tonga's deeper social trauma [1]
Tuesday, April 9, 2013 - 06:15. Updated on Thursday, May 1, 2014 - 14:29.
Article first posted: Thursday, June 5, 2008 - 16:35
Kristi Seymour is a psychologist who lived in Tonga for two years 2006-08. Matangi Tonga Online first posted her article in June 2008, amid concerns over rising violence in the community, and we are reposting it today, five years on. Seymour observes: “If anything constructive can come from these tragedies, perhaps it's a reminder of the importance of human connections, a greater sense of connection among people helps prevent such tragedies.”
By Kristi Seymour, LPC, MBA.
Violence is a learned behavior. Community violence is a traumatic event that is a bad symptom of something that has reached deep into our society. It is a behavior of citizens who are stressed, who are trying to cope and solve problems. Some of the sources of stress include poverty, lack of housing, joblessness, family pressures, and hopelessness. When tragedies like random violence (in Tonga, the events of 16/11, the recent Westpac shooting, an armed robbery and domestic violence shooting) occur, it affects many of us very deeply for several reasons.
Emotionally unstable
Usually, those who would do something as senseless and violent as what these shooters have done lately are emotionally unstable. They tend to be isolated loners who feel angry and hopeless, and have dehumanized others in their minds. They are willing to take risks to get what they want, even if the way to do it is through violence.
It has been shown that in societies with a strong middle class, those middle class people fear losing that position and or facing public humiliation. They do not want to lose respect either at work or through their community relationships.
If anything constructive can come from these tragedies, perhaps it's a reminder of the importance of human connections, a greater sense of connection among people helps prevent such tragedies.
How does violence affect us?
Research has shown that intentional violent acts by people (rather than a random act of nature, for example) are the most difficult to recover from. The randomness of events like the Westpac shooting causes us all to fear for our children and for ourselves, as there is nothing to distinguish the victims from anyone else. Any of us could have easily been outside the bank at that moment. Often with violence, we look for things that would set us apart from the victims so that we can still feel safe and less at-risk ("I never walk alone with lots of money, so a robbery wouldn't happen to me").
In most of life's dangerous situations, there are at least one or two warning signs of impending danger, and we use those signs to help us avoid being hurt. However, in instances like shootings or random community violence, like we are seeing here in Tongatapu, there are no warnings. This should make us all realize that something like this could happen to us.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Researchers have found that repeated exposure to violence can cause a mental health condition called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Children and adolescents are especially vulnerable. Some people think that young children are not psychologically affected by exposure to community violence because they are too young to understand or remember the violence, sadly this is far from true, studies have found post traumatic symptoms and disorders even among infants and toddlers.
Children who witness violence display disorganized or agitated behavior and have nightmares that may include monsters. They may become withdrawn, fearful, or aggressive, and they may have difficulty paying attention. They may regress to earlier behaviors such as sucking their thumbs and bed-wetting, and they may develop separation anxiety. They may also engage in play that compulsively reenacts the violence.
Adolescents at risk
Adolescents who are exposed to violence also experience nightmares and intrusive thoughts about the event. They may be easily startled and avoid reminders of the trauma. They can become depressed, angry, distrustful, fearful, and alienated, and they may feel betrayed. Many do not feel they have a future and believe that they will not reach adulthood. Other trauma-related reactions can include impaired self-esteem and body image, learning difficulties, and acting out or risk taking behaviors such as running away, drug or alcohol use, suicide attempts, and inappropriate sexual activities.
Children's and adolescents' risk for developing PTSD increases with the severity of exposure, the level of negative parental reactions to the exposure, and how close the child is to the community violence.
The impact of community violence exposure is not felt by young people alone. It affects the whole family. Parents worry increasingly about their children's health and well-being. Parents may become overprotective (causing self-worth issues) or use harsh discipline in response to their child's trauma-related acting out behavior, thus increasing their exposure to violence. Relationships among family members can become strained. Parents find themselves having to face the task of reassuring their child while trying to cope with their own fears, especially if there is chronic risk for future community violence exposure.
Coping with Violence and Trauma
The first step is the most important - Talk. Having a strong, supportive network is important for anyone, but after a traumatic event, it's a must. It's important to process strong feelings you may have, and most of us do that more easily by talking things out with someone we trust - this can be a good friend, a husband or wife, a pastor or a therapist. Talking things out helps because, in addition to adding social support, it helps us process what's going on inside. Putting words to feelings or images in our heads is very important to helping process the feelings we feel. Even if the person we're talking to has no solutions, the act of talking about what we're feeling, and examining our feelings in the context of a conversation, makes it easier for us to move past these feelings.
If you start having intrusive thoughts about a trauma, become preoccupied with feelings of anxiety, experience nightmares related to the event, or if you find that your reactions to a traumatic event are interfering with your normal functioning, you are showing signs of post traumatic stress and it's a very good idea to talk to a therapist.
Notice as you talk to your support person where in your body you feel the feelings. If you are feeling tense in your stomach, try relaxing those muscles. The reason that it is important to talk about the feelings of the trauma and get them in a narrative and not have them stored in your body, in your muscles. Your body remembers through the five senses - through what you smelled at the time of the incident, what you saw, what you felt and what you thought. A trauma is like a stuck drawer, sometimes you need help from the other side to get it unstuck.
In my experience of working with people over the last 12 years, when people are upset and frustrated, taking a long walk, or doing some hard exercises helps loosen up the mind, it helps relax the muscles where the trauma and tension are hiding out and allows your thoughts to flow more freely.
Avoid trouble
The second step is to take charge of those things that are in our control. One way we can feel safer is to look at all the ways we can avoid trouble - by avoiding dangerous situations, or having an emergency plan for natural disasters. We can learn to listen to that inner voice that we all have inside of us, that warns us if something is not right, and don't second guess it! If something is not right, go with the feeling and figure it out at a later date why it was not right - but at that moment it is more important to just get out of there!
Research has shown us that individually journaling has many positive effects on health and wellbeing. The most effective form of journaling involves writing about one's feelings, and also brainstorming solutions to troubling situations. Keeping this in mind, journaling can be a helpful tool for dealing with distress, especially for people who don't have a supportive network in place or aren't as comfortable talking to others about their feelings.
Weapons, zero-tolerance
The last and hardest step is for all of us to look for solutions to head off violence. For example, a village or a business could require a zero-tolerance policy for weapons ( as is the case in the Solomon Islands following the Civil unrest , villages now have signs stating "this village is now weapons free, please respect our wishes"). In the case of 16/11, citizens should be able to safely share their frustrations at a place where they can go to find solutions to problems. For example, individual voices might need to be heard as a collective in a positive, non-violent way. Things people can do include creating a petition of signatures on the issue; they could visit their Parliament representative, send them emails or write letters. These examples are not something to be done once, and then hope for results. That would lead to more frustration. These ideas are something people need to do again and again; for change takes time, and can be better brought about by non-violent perseverance.
References- Foy, D.W. & Goguen, C.A. (1998). Community violence-related PTSD in children and adolescents. PTSD Research Quarterly, 9(4), 1-6.
- Sanders-Phillips, K. (1997). Assaultive violence in the community: Psychological responses of adolescent victims and their parents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 21, 356-365.