Tortured families: a Coordinated Management of Meaning analysis

Torture is known to affect both the individual and the family. The aim of the present study was to reach a better understanding of the significance of communication and information about parental exposure to violence in torture-surviving families. The theoretical background is Social Constructionism and Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM). In-depth interviews were carried out with 14 members of 3 Middle Eastern refugee families living in Denmark in which the father had been exposed to torture. The 3 families experienced their life stories and situations as refugees in very different ways, ranging from meaninglessness, discontinuance, and alienation to a sense of community, solidarity, and openness. Communications about past events were related to such meaning-providing contexts. The way in which parents talk with their children about torture and organized violence can be understood in terms of "stories told" and "stories lived." When stories told (e.g., the experience of torture and organized violence) are in contradiction to stories lived, a situation of ambiguity and uncertainty is created. The meaning-providing contexts for making sense of the family history of violence and exile can be more or less coherent or contradictory, and might result in a strengthened relationship or confusion, powerlessness, and action paralysis. Clinicians can help traumatized families deal with their past histories of violence by paying attention to such ambiguities and contradictions.