The Empire Of Trauma Analysis

In The Empire of Trauma, Dider Fassin and Richard Rechtman analyze the history of trauma and how the notion of trauma became recognized by society. They assess how trauma was constructed by society and the ways in which it became accepted. One of their main goals is understanding how the doubt and suspicion around trauma shifted to a notion that was understood. This understanding included a need for psychological care and empathy to treat the psychologically wounded victims. This is apparent at every event that is categorized as traumatic because psychiatrists and psychologists are always present to offer assistance in situations of violence and threat. This instant response of empathy qualifies that society recognizes the trauma. This allows them to better understand how the moral economy of modern society has shifted. In 1960, the role of the women become a contested dispute by women, society, different movements, and medical authorities. The common mission of the women as “loving wives and dedicated mothers” who would “ensure the welfare of future

The truth of these traumatic experiences was also proven by radiologists who found fractures on young children who experienced abuse. Feminists hoped to expose these truths of abuse and also wanted proof from medicine. It was difficult to prove this since the abuse had occurred further back in time, and therefore there was no guarantee that medicine would acknowledge the suffering of the women. These women also began losing faith in psychoanalysis because it failed to expose the truth of the traumatic events occurring in reality. Robert Spitzer, a psychiatrist, was appointed director of the DSM-III task force and his job was to develop scientific proof to the practice of psychiatry and to redefine mental illnesses. The main indicator of trauma became “an event outside the range of usual human experience”