Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma across Three Generations: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

This qualitative study reports a preliminary investigation of the intergenerational transmission of trauma across three generations, and across three types of trauma. Representatives of three families in which the first generation had experienced a trauma were examined. Trauma included experiencing the Holocaust, being placed in a transit camp following immigration from Morocco, and being forced to dislocate as the result of a war. The representatives of successive generations were administered qualitative, open–ended interviews regarding their life as survivors or victims, or as the second/third generation of survivors/victims. A content analysis revealed that the intergenerational transmission of three types of trauma was perpetuated across three generations.