Introduction
Students in Romania are preparing to choose from the new educational offerings, including the option to study “The History, Slavery, and Deportation of Roma”.[1] Within this subject, students will receive extensive information about the persecution, detention, and attempts at extermination of this people, which may itself have a traumatizing character. Psychological trauma is defined as a vital experience of discrepancy between threatening situational factors and individual coping capacities, resulting in feelings of helplessness and abandonment, defenselessness, and thus causing a lasting disruption in one’s understanding of self and the world.[2]
According to Cypress[3], when referring to the period before, during, and after the Holocaust, whether considering the Romani or Jewish people, there is a set of traumatic events that together constitute a macro-trauma or collective trauma, which negatively impacts the individual’s well-being, life as a whole, society, and the world. Collective trauma represents a pathology of the entire population, in our case the Romani communities, a rupture in the understanding of the individual and collective world, and in the configuration of their originating culture.[4] The hardships of a life filled with poverty, devastation, and persecution result in a sense of loss of existential identity. Since Dr. Vivian Rakoff discovered the transmission of traumatic manifestations in 1966, research has expanded to include the families of survivors but, in contrast, post-traumatic rehabilitation was burdened by the continuation of societal hostilities.[5] Many people continued to maintain the same attitudes towards the liberated victims, avoiding contact with them, denying the existence of the Holocaust, or accusing them of engaging in immoral acts during and after detention to survive. In the absence of supportive individuals outside the family group, children were often witnesses to their parents’ traumatic stories.[6] In the study conducted by Thamer Bakó and Katalin Zana[7], the authors attempted to theorize the “transgenerational atmosphere”, defined as the experience lived by the traumatized person, which amplifies the effect of past events on their future.
Another linked major concept presented in their study is “deficient temporality”, explained by simultaneous experience at the individual level with stimuli, reactions, relationships, and attitudes from the detention period and the present time leads to the weakening of differences between generations living together, which strengthens the internalization and creation of traumatic memories without exposure to the actual experience. Sorscher and Cohen[8] state that the manner and quality of communication between parents and children about the suffered trauma is a good predictor of their adaptation quality and affective communication was positively correlated with ethnic identification but not with Holocaust ideation. We understand that poor communication, filled with unresolved conflicts, may cause adaptive disturbances in the child’s social, behavioral, and internal life, favoring the development of a wide range of distress.
By further exploring how the phenomena of self-disruption appears, we find Fonagy et al.[9] theorizing the idea of reflective self, which holds a central position in the mechanics of attachment development between the survivor and their children. The reflective self represents the ability to observe and analyze one’s own psychic life and, therefore, understand the world. The reflective self represents the capacity of each individual to analyze their own psychic life as well as that of the people around them, and when this is degraded due to a traumatic cause, people become incapable of responding to the mental stress of their descendants. In turn, the descendants will manifest a weak “reflective self” and will logically err in how they perceive the care given by the parents, which they will also demonstrate. The child needs coherence and consistency in the relationship with the attachment figure for beneficial attributes like meaning, security, and optimal development to manifest. Second-generation survivor patients reported feeling empty inside, constantly seeking and desperate, all directly linked to the mother’s inability to recognize and respond to their children’s emotional needs.[10] The mother’s trauma due to the Holocaust creates an internal condition in which cognitive capacities such as organization, informational processing, symbolic thinking, etc., collapse. By inheriting this emotional matrix, the child’s capacity to differentiate, discern, organize, and make sense becomes amorphous and crystallized.[11]
Observing the legislative changes in Romania and knowing the lack of information among both the majority population and the Roma minority about the tragic events from distant history to the present day, we wonder if providing information about these events has the capacity to create acute distress for the two targeted populations. Thus, this research proposes the idea that after being exposed to non-violent and public images of Roma prisoners, the Roma participants will exhibit differences at the moments of evaluating variables such as discrimination, vigilance, ethnic exploration, sentimentality towards their ethnicity, and ethnic affirmation. Additionally, the paper seeks to determine if there are differences in the levels of maladaptive post-traumatic beliefs, dimensions of traumatic stress, and ethnicity among the research groups.
Method
To develop this quasi-experiment, three groups of 30 participants each were formed from different Romanian cities and villages, primarily from Vrancea County. The first group consisted of Roma ethnicity participants (13 women, age mean = 29 years, range = 18-43; 17 men, mean = 35.4 years, range = 18-65). Only three participants had higher education. This group was exposed to images of Roma victims of the Holocaust or Deportations to Transnistria. Twenty-two participants reported having family members who experienced deportations or slavery. All but one participant failed to recognize the ethnicity of people in the treatment images. The second group comprised non-Roma participants exposed to the same treatment (17 women, age mean = 22.1 years, range = 18-33; 13 men, age mean = 26.4 years, range = 19-56). Six participants had completed higher education. No participants reported family histories of eugenics or slavery victims, and five failed to recognize the ethnicity of victims in the images. The control group (n = 30) included both Roma and non-Roma participants (mean = 30.4 years, range = 18-52) and received no treatment.
Evaluations and treatment exposure were conducted in-person or online with assistance. Participants were informed about anonymity, the absence of any form of reward, the potential emotional impact of viewing the images, and that they retained the right to withdraw from the experiment at any point
The following instruments were used: PCL-5[12]: A 20-item self-administered questionnaire evaluating PTSD symptomatology (α = .96, convergent and discriminative validity = .84.[13] Everyday Discrimination Scale[14]: A nine-item scale assessing everyday discrimination (α = .77). Major Experiences of Discrimination[15]: A nine-item scale evaluating major life discrimination experiences. Heightened Vigilance Scale[16]: A nine-item self-administered questionnaire measuring ethnicity-related vigilance (α = .72). Posttraumatic Maladaptive Beliefs Scale[17]: A 15-item clinical scale assessing beliefs about self and the world post-trauma (α = .82; items 2, 3, 6, 7, 11, 13, 14, 15 reverse-scored). Ethnic Identity Scale[18]: A 17-item questionnaire with three subscales: ethnic affirmation (α = .71-.75), exploration tendency (α = .82-.88), and ethnic feeling (α = .83-.88)[19]. Items 1, 2, 7, 9, 10, 13, and 16 are reverse-scored. All scales used a 5-point Likert scale (1 = total disagreement, 5 = total agreement).
Conditions and Design
The study design is quasi-experimental with descriptive components. There is only one form of treatment, applied once and to volunteers who were not randomly assigned to groups, but based on their declared ethnic affiliation. The first procedure consisted of an initial analysis, prior to the application of treatment, of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms and Major Experiences of Discrimination between groups. The variables measured pre-test and post-test are daily perceived discrimination and the vigilance necessary to avoid it, affirmation of one’s ethnic identity, sentimentality towards it, and its exploration. The third part of the analysis is the post-treatment exploration of acute stress symptoms and traumatic beliefs. The independent variable is represented by the treatment consisting of exposure to visual public information of Roma victims of the Holocaust, using images sourced from various history museum websites, textbooks, and encyclopedias. For the statistical part, RStudio version 2023.03.1+446 was used, which utilizes the R programming language version 4.3.0.
Results
From the descriptive analyses, it appears that for certain variables, the values of normality conditions are outside the optimal parameters and taking these data into account, non-parametric statistical tests were chosen for data analysis. To compare the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder prior to applying the results, the Kruskal-Wallis test was performed for all dimensions of this disorder. The results show significant differences across all dimensions, and we further analyze the differences between groups using the Dwass-Steel-Critchlow-Fligner pairwise comparisons test. For the re-experiencing dimension, there are no significant differences. In the case of avoidance symptoms, there are differences between the Roma experimental group and the non-Roma group, p = .001, W = 4.93. For negative cognitions, the non-Roma experimental group differs from the control group, p = .035. From the Mann-Whitney U test, we observe that the non-Roma group shows more pronounced mean scores in this dimension compared to the control group, with means of 16.5 compared to 12.0 and medians of 15.0 and 11.5. A similar situation can be observed for the Hyperarousal variable, where the first group differs significantly from the control group p = .003, W = –4.61, as well as the second group from the control group, p = 0.004, W = 0.004. The mean and median of the first group are 13.0 and 12.0, for the second group 14.8 and 15.05, and for the control group 10.0 and 10.0. Major discrimination shows differences among the 3 groups, p < .001, c² = 41.8, and from the comparison between groups, the Roma experimental group has much higher scores than the non-Roma experimental group, p < .001, U = 127. The same trend is observed for the mixed ethnic control group compared to the non-Roma experimental group p < .001, U = 47.5, thus suggesting that Roma participants in both groups, regardless of treatment, experience an accentuated level of discrimination.
First Experimental Group Analysis (Roma)
To measure the effect of the intervention, the Non-parametric Repeated Measures ANOVA test was performed. For the Roma experimental group, the variable representing daily experience of discrimination differs significantly between the two measurement points, p < .0001, c² = 20.6, with means and medians being 18.9 and 18.0 before treatment and 29.4 and 30.0 post-treatment. Vigilance for avoiding discrimination also shows significant differences p < .001, c² = 17.3, with means for the two time points being 16.3 and 21.8, and medians 16.0 and 23.0. Affirmation of one’s ethnicity also shows differences p = 0.002, but the tendency is to decrease between time points, with means being 25.6 and 22.4 and medians 26.0 and 22.0. The same phenomenon is observed for sentimentality towards ethnicity, p = 0.074, with means being 14.1 and 13.4 and medians 15.0, 14.0, but exploration of ethnicity does not contain significant differences p = 0.0227.
Second Experimental Group Analysis (Non-Roma)
The variable of daily perceived discrimination does not meet the condition of statistical significance for the difference between the two time points, p = 0.059, as well as vigilance, p = 0.144, ethnic affirmation, p = 0.166, sentimentality towards ethnicity, p = 0.49, but not ethnic exploration, which has a significance score of p = 0.034, with means of 23.9 and 26.4 and medians of 23.5 and 26.5.
Third Group Analysis (Control)
The daily discrimination variable shows significant differences p = 0.007, but the tendency is for it to decrease between measurement points, with means being 20.8 and 18.1 and medians 24.5 and 19.0, as well as vigilance, p = 0.023, means 16.1 and 17.9, medians 17.0 and 18.0. Upon closer inspection, differences are noted only in the post-test variable, with higher scores for Roma ethnics p = 0.021, a possible explanation being the constant tendency to avoid discrimination even when it is not experienced. Ethnic affirmation p = 0.841 and ethnic sentimentality p = 0.239 do not meet the condition of significance for the two time points, while ethnic exploration obtains a score of p < .001, means 19.7 and 26.8 and medians 19.0 and 25.0.
Only post-test variables
In the case of dissociation, re-experiencing, avoidance, and arousal level, as subdimensions of acute stress, all groups have significant differences. The means of the three groups (Roma, non-Roma, Control) for the dissociation variable are 15.5, 11.7, and 6.07, and the medians are 16.0, 12.0, and 5.50; the means for re-experiencing are 13.2, 10.1, and 5.37, medians 14.0, 9.00, and 5.00; for the avoidance variable: 15.1, 11.4, and 5.77, and the medians: 15.5, 11.5, and 5.00; and for the intrusion variable: 23.0, 16.2, 7.20, and medians: 24.0, 17.0, and 7.00. In the case of the traumatic beliefs dimension, differences between groups can be observed for all its variables. For the variable measuring the perception of threat, significant differences p < .001 are found between the Roma group and the non-Roma group, as well as between the Roma group and the experimental group, with means being 15.0, 10.9, and 9.23 and medians 15.0, 11.0, and 9.00. Self-esteem shows differences only between the Roma group and the control group p = 0.011, with a mean and median of 9.80 and 10.0. The last variable is trust in others, where statistical differences are observed only between the two experimental groups, Roma and non-Roma, p= 0.009, with means being 14.5 and 12.5 and medians 14.0 and 12.0.
Discussion
Analysis of the initial variables aimed at observing the pre-existing situation of the groups reveals that the Roma group consistently demonstrates a tendency to avoid any stimuli related to traumatic situations. However, the non-Roma group exhibits higher levels of negative cognitions and hyperarousal. Major experiences of discrimination are most strongly felt by the Roma group and Roma participants in the control group, thus establishing a pre-existing disparity among participants, regardless of group affiliation. Post-treatment, the Roma group tends to perceive higher daily discrimination and demonstrates increased vigilance in avoiding it. Additionally, there is a decrease in affirmation and positive sentiments towards their own ethnicity following exposure to photographs of Roma detainees. In the non-Roma group, only interest in exploring their own ethnicity increased, potentially attributable to a desire to understand the role of the majority ethnic group in the presented historical events. The control group, which received no treatment, shows a tendency towards decreased variable scores, specifically in discrimination and vigilance. Within the latter, inter-ethnic differences persist as an effect of major discrimination, while other variables do not present statistically significant modifications. Acute Traumatic Stress positions the Roma group at the forefront with elevated scores across all subdimensions, namely dissociation, re-experiencing, avoidance, and arousal. The dimension of traumatic beliefs also places the Roma group in a significant comparative position regarding perceived threat, lowered self-esteem, and trust in others, where a strong negative accentuation trend is clearly visible.
From these results, the hypothesis positing that historical information can create acute distress and alter perceptions of ethnic identity and discrimination experiences is confirmed through the differences observed between Roma and non-Roma participants, thus demonstrating that two distinct populations react differently to traumatic historical information. An unexpected phenomenon is the combination of increased discrimination awareness and vigilance among Roma participants coupled with a decrease in their ethnic affirmation tendency, suggesting the application of coping strategies to reduce symptoms associated with traumatic stress. The application or inclusion of this information in other works must be done with great caution, as certain biases may be present in participant selection, treatment application methods, scale administration, reduced time between applications, research design, and lack of data normality. Future research necessitates a more profound study of this phenomenon, and to establish clear and concrete effects, more empirical data, clearer establishment of inclusion criteria for study participants, and replication of existing research are needed. The study aimed to affirm the importance of historical knowledge in shaping psychological life and the need for greater attention and care when referring to historical traumas and discrimination, as these impact different groups in entirely distinct ways.
References
Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor, Delfino Vargas-Chanes, Cristal D. Garcia, Melinda Gonzales-Backen, “A Longitudinal Examination of Latino Adolescents’ Ethnic Identity, Coping with Discrimination, and Self-Esteem,” The Journal of Early Adolescence 28 (2008): 16–50.
Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor, “The Ethnic Identity Scale,” in What Do Children Need to Flourish? Conceptualizing and Measuring Indicators of Positive Development, ed. Kristin Anderson Moore and Laura H. Lippman, The Search Institute Series on Developmentally Attentive Community and Society (Boston, MA: Springer US, 2005).
Alessandra Cavalli, “Transgenerational Transmission of Indigestible Facts: From Trauma, Deadly Ghosts and Mental Voids to Meaning-Making Interpretations,” Journal of Analytical Psychology 57, no. 5 (2012): 597–614.
Brigitte S. Cypress, “Collective Trauma: An Evolutionary Concept Analysis,” Nursing Forum 56, no. 2 (2021): 396–403.
D.R. Williams et al., “Perceived Discrimination, Race and Health in South Africa: Findings from the South Africa Stress and Health Study,” Social Science and Medicine 67 (2008).
D.R. Williams et al., “Racial Differences in Physical and Mental Health: Socioeconomic Status, Stress, and Discrimination,” Journal of Health Psychology 2, no. 3 (1997): 335–51.
Dawne S. Vogt, Jillian C. Shipherd, and Patricia A. Resick, “Posttraumatic Maladaptive Beliefs Scale: Evolution of the Personal Beliefs and Reactions Scale,” Assessment 19, no. 3 (2012): 308.
Frank Weathers et al., “The PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5),” National Center for PTSD, (2013).
Gilad Hirschberger, “Collective Trauma and the Social Construction of Meaning,” Frontiers in Psychology 9 August 10, (2018): 1441.
Gottfried Fischer, Peter Riedesser, Tratat de Psihotraumatologie, traducere de Roxana Melnicu (București, Editura Trei, 2001).
John J. Sigal and Vivian Rakoff, “Concentration Camp Survival: A Pilot Study of Effects on the Second Generation,” Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal 16, no. 5 October 1, (1971): 393–97.
Michelle J. Bovin et al., “Psychometric Properties of the PTSD Checklist for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (PCL-5) in Veterans,” Psychological Assessment 28, no. 11 (2016): 1379–91.
Nechama Sorscher and Lisa J. Cohen, “Trauma in Children of Holocaust Survivors: Transgenerational Effects.,” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 67, no. 3 (1997): 493–500.
Patricia Dashorst, Trudy M. Mooren, Rolf J. Kleber, Peter J. de Jong, Rafaele J. C. Huntjens, “Intergenerational Consequences of the Holocaust on Offspring Mental Health: A Systematic Review of Associated Factors and Mechanisms,” European Journal of Psychotraumatology 10, no. 1 December 31 (2019).
Peter Fonagy, Miriam Steele, Howard Steele, George S. Moran, Anna C. Higgitt, “The Capacity for Understanding Mental States: The Reflective Self in Parent and Child and Its Significance for Security of Attachment,” Infant Mental Health Journal 12, no. 3 (1991): 201.
Teletia R. Taylor, Thomas W. Kamarck, and Saul Shiffman, “Validation of the Detroit Area Study Discrimination Scale in a Community Sample of Older African American Adults: The Pittsburgh Healthy Heart Project,” International Journal of Behavioral Medicine 11, no. 2 (2004): 88–94.
Tihamér Bakó and Katalin Zana, “The Vehicle of Transgenerational Trauma: The Transgenerational Atmosphere,” American Imago 75, no. 2 (2018): 271–85.
Yael Danieli, International Handbook of Multigenerational Legacies of Trauma (New York, Plenum Press, 1998).
NOTE
[1] https://www.worldbank.org/ro/news/speech/2016/02/24/the-study-of-roma-history–a-door-to-more-inclusive-growth
[2] Gottfried Fischer, Peter Riedesser, Tratat de Psihotraumatologie, traducere de Roxana Melnicu (București, Editura Trei, 2001).
[3] Brigitte S. Cypress, “Collective Trauma: An Evolutionary Concept Analysis,” Nursing Forum 56, no. 2 (2021): 396–403.
[4] Gilad Hirschberger, “Collective Trauma and the Social Construction of Meaning,” Frontiers in Psychology 9 August 10, (2018): 1441.
[5] John J. Sigal and Vivian Rakoff, “Concentration Camp Survival: A Pilot Study of Effects on the Second Generation,” Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal 16, no. 5 October 1, (1971): 393–97.
[6] Yael Danieli, International Handbook of Multigenerational Legacies of Trauma (New York, Plenum Press, 1998).
[7] Tihamér Bakó and Katalin Zana, “The Vehicle of Transgenerational Trauma: The Transgenerational Atmosphere,” American Imago 75, no. 2 (2018): 271–85.
[8] Nechama Sorscher and Lisa J. Cohen, “Trauma in Children of Holocaust Survivors: Transgenerational Effects.,” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 67, no. 3 (1997): 493–500.
[9] Peter Fonagy et al., “The Capacity for Understanding Mental States: The Reflective Self in Parent and Child and Its Significance for Security of Attachment,” Infant Mental Health Journal 12, no. 3 (1991): 201.
[10] Patricia Dashorst et al., “Intergenerational Consequences of the Holocaust on Offspring Mental Health: A Systematic Review of Associated Factors and Mechanisms,” European Journal of Psychotraumatology 10, no. 1 December 31 (2019).
[11] Alessandra Cavalli, “Transgenerational Transmission of Indigestible Facts: From Trauma, Deadly Ghosts and Mental Voids to Meaning-Making Interpretations,” Journal of Analytical Psychology 57, no. 5 (2012): 597–614.
[12] Frank Weathers et al., “The PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5),” National Center for PTSD, (2013).
[13] Michelle J. Bovin et al., “Psychometric Properties of the PTSD Checklist for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (PCL-5) in Veterans,” Psychological Assessment 28, no. 11 (2016): 1379–91.
[14] D.R. Williams et al., “Racial Differences in Physical and Mental Health: Socioeconomic Status, Stress, and Discrimination,” Journal of Health Psychology 2, no. 3 (1997): 335–51.
[15] D. R. Williams et al., “Perceived Discrimination, Race and Health in South Africa: Findings from the South Africa Stress and Health Study,” Social Science and Medicine 67 (2008).
[16] Teletia R. Taylor, Thomas W. Kamarck, and Saul Shiffman, “Validation of the Detroit Area Study Discrimination Scale in a Community Sample of Older African American Adults: The Pittsburgh Healthy Heart Project,” International Journal of Behavioral Medicine 11, no. 2 (2004): 88–94.
[17] Dawne S. Vogt, Jillian C. Shipherd, and Patricia A. Resick, “Posttraumatic Maladaptive Beliefs Scale: Evolution of the Personal Beliefs and Reactions Scale,” Assessment 19, no. 3 (2012): 308.
[18] Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor, “The Ethnic Identity Scale,” in What Do Children Need to Flourish? Conceptualizing and Measuring Indicators of Positive Development, ed. Kristin Anderson Moore and Laura H. Lippman, The Search Institute Series on Developmentally Attentive Community and Society (Boston, MA: Springer US, 2005).
[19] Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor et al., “A Longitudinal Examination of Latino Adolescents’ Ethnic Identity, Coping with Discrimination, and Self-Esteem,” The Journal of Early Adolescence 28 (2008): 16–50.
