Intergenerational Communication about Historical Trauma in Asian American Families

Little is known about how Asian American families, as well as other racially marginalized families, communicate about ethnic and racial group histories, particularly regarding historical trauma. Unlike personal trauma, historical trauma refers to distressing or life-threatening events which members of a group with a shared social identity experience together and pass on to their descendants. It has been studied in a variety of groups and contexts, notably in Holocaust survivors and their families and in Native American communities. The concept has seen limited application to Asian American groups, despite its relevance to their unique and shared lived experiences. For instance, the majority of Asian Americans have immigrated from countries across Asia that have been profoundly affected by war and political upheaval in the past century. Research on historical trauma among Asian Americans has focused primarily on refugees who fled the US wars in Southeast Asia, with some research on Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during World War II. Historical trauma related to other major events, such as the India/Pakistan Partition, the Chinese Civil War and Cultural Revolution, the Korean War, and the Sri Lankan Civil War, have not been examined among Asian Americans. A lack of recognition of these historical traumas within families and communities, as well as in the psychological literature, may mask important pre-migration history effects on Asian American families across generations. In this paper, we consider how historical trauma impacts Asian American individuals, families, and communities. We also examine the role of intergenerational communication in historical trauma and in Asian American families and communities. Finally, we discuss historical trauma among Asian Americans within the framework of radical healing, particularly how intergenerational communication about historical trauma can raise critical consciousness, facilitate ethnic-racial identity development, and reinforce ethnic-racial socialization.