Trauma-Integrating Narratives As Opportunity to Transform Polarization in Collectives

Background: Biographical narratives are constructs of our perception of the world, shaped by the interaction between the self and the environment. We can create various narrative constructs unable to distinguish symptoms of individual from collective traumatic experiences.This discussion is quite closed related to the question of agency as the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices. The structure versus agency debate understood as an issue of socialization against autonomy in determining whether an individual acts as a free agent or in a manner dictated by social structure might be twinned with the question of differentiation between individual and collective drama symptoms. Research Question: Is it possible to overcome the polarization between winners and losers through the creation of trauma-transformative narratives, using individual unconsciouessness emotional material to get in contact to individual and bridging in this way to the collective trauma as well? Methodology: In a single-case study, subjective experiences are constructed as both victim and perpetrator narratives. These narratives are then transformed into an integrative narrative through confrontation with unconscious, unresolved traumatic elements and their integration. Results: The identification of agency related aspects of traumatization versus collective traumatization was helpful for differentiation between individual and collective trauma symptomes. The trauma integrative narrative opens up access to new narratives and perception spaces and seems to help overcome the victim-perpetrator polarization.

Agency is the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices. The structure versus agency debate may be understood as an issue of socialization against autonomy in determining whether an individual acts as a free agent or in a manner dictated by social structure.