The Politics of Trauma-Informed Care
Political? Yes, thinking in a trauma-informed way is a political issue. It gets to the very heart of what happens when injustice occurs. Much of the injustice in this world is perpetrated and/or ignored by many of those with money and power. Josh Lown identified “the loss of sense of self and safety as a result of a capitalist economy. This is trauma, but it’s not well understood.” The Revolution Must Be Trauma-Informed, 2018
Lowe posits that, in order for a more just society to be created, we cannot ignore the need for understanding communities. In order to build up our communities we need to “understand the realities of those communities and the impact of capitalism’s ruthless grip on them.” It is a fact, in the U.S., that money begets power begets political influence. Wealth concentration returning to ‘levels last seen during the Roaring Twenties,’ Christopher Ingraham, 2019
In an upcoming segment of my book, (The Puppy Story, An Introduction to Trauma-Informed Theory and Practice) I discuss Internalized Blame of Self: Why Saying ‘It’s not your fault’ Is Not Good Enough. A primary point is “it’s all about resources”. Children lack resources for coping with shocking events and circumstances. The same is true for “undeserved” and “under-served” communities. Lowe shows that economic inequality results in “…a system that relies on the unequal distribution of resources.” Cheap labor comes from oppressed populations—those without adequate resources, including advocacy. Without resources, individuals as well as groups cannot sufficiently recover from one trauma to the next. The result is an environment in which ways of coping draw upon whatever is available. These are often not “healthy” or life-affirming. Individually and generationally, people are affected psychologically, physiologically, developmentally, spiritually and sometimes, cognitively. The post-traumatic stress response becomes “complex”.
One dictionary’s definition states that complex means, “consisting of many different and connected parts”. When one makes a thorough study of the effects of the many types of relational and event-focused trauma, it is easy to see why this adjective is used to describe Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (I’d rather say “Response”). It is easy, as well, to then recognize that many oppressed communities are full of individuals that could be seen through the lens of CPTSD.
How have these communities been described under the U.S.’s capitalist system? A common tactic has been to categorize people as “deserving” versus “undeserving” poor. The Deserving and Undeserving Poor: A Persistent Frame with Consequences, Martin Levine, 2018. What does this mean?
“Need” versus “merit” seems to be the focus of the discussion regarding “undeserving” populations. Those who (supposedly) don’t ‘want’ to work or become self-sufficient. Self-sufficiency is that shiny American ideal that many believe built the country. These ideas are espoused, especially by those silver-spooned individuals born into families and cultures where they had many advantages. They judge others as “undeserving” of what they already have. Thus these populations can be ‘written off’ as “lazy, worthless, no ambition”, etc. Those who have theirs can go along their way with no concerns about their fellow American.
But, a trauma-informed thinker works to develop their compassionate lens. AND a balanced attitude. We can support those with less AND offer them resources to improve their lives. Yet, it can’t be done if there is an underlying agenda to exploit many to benefit a few.
I believe that keeping the extreme versions of capitalism in operation requires the application of what has been called “toxic masculinity”. Relando Thompkins-Jones, MSW, LLMSW observes: “The sense of entitlement that accompanies toxic masculinity is often maintained through violence, or the threat of violence.” Toxic Masculinity Is a Macro Social Work Issue, in The New Social Worker, 2016
Whether males or females are exhibiting this toxic belief system, harm is inflicted upon others and imbalances of power are maintained.
Try substituting the word “violence” for the word “trauma” throughout this reading. Do you get the full sense of what the Trauma-Informed movement is about? It is about addressing violence on an individual, family, community and worldwide scale. It is about creating a world that is just and safe for everyone, not just a few who own most of the resources, thus power. You can’t get any more political than that.
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