Prussing Erica
University of Iowa
Transcult Psychiatry. 2014 Jun;51(3):436-58. doi: 10.1177/1363461514531316. Epub 2014 Apr 30.
The concept of historical trauma (HT) is compelling: Colonialism has set forth cumulative cycles of adversity that promote morbidity and mortality at personal and collective levels, with especially strong mental health impacts. Yet as ongoing community-based as well as scholarly discussions attest, lingering questions continue to surround HT as a framework for understanding the relationships between colonialism and indigenous mental health. Through an overview of 30 recent peer-reviewed publications that aim to clarify, define, measure, and interpret how HT impacts American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) mental health, this paper examines how the conceptual framework of HT has circulated in ways shaped by interactions among three prominent research approaches: evidence-based, culturally relevant, and decolonizing. All define current approaches to AIAN mental health research, but each sets forth different conceptualizations of the connections between colonialism and psychological distress. The unfolding trajectory of research about HT reflects persistent tensions in how these frameworks interact, but also possibilities for better integrating them. These considerations aim to advance conversations about the politics of producing knowledge about AIAN mental health, and support ongoing calls for greater political pluralism in mental health research.
历史创伤（HT）的概念很有说服力：殖民主义引发了累积性的逆境循环，在个人和集体层面上导致发病率和死亡率上升，对心理健康的影响尤为强烈。然而，正如正在进行的基于社区的讨论以及学术讨论所证明的那样，围绕HT作为理解殖民主义与本土心理健康之间关系的框架，仍然存在一些问题。通过概述30篇最近经过同行评审的出版物，这些出版物旨在阐明、界定、衡量和解释HT如何影响美国印第安人和阿拉斯加原住民（AIAN）的心理健康，本文探讨了HT的概念框架是如何以三种突出的研究方法（循证、文化相关和去殖民化）之间的相互作用所塑造的方式传播的。所有这些方法都定义了当前AIAN心理健康研究的方法，但每种方法都对殖民主义与心理困扰之间的联系提出了不同的概念化。关于HT的研究发展轨迹反映了这些框架在相互作用方式上的持续紧张关系，但也有更好地整合它们的可能性。这些考量旨在推动关于生成AIAN心理健康知识的政治问题的讨论，并支持心理健康研究中对更大政治多元化的持续呼吁。
