http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/trauma Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Sun, 26 Apr 2026 11:00:25 -0400 Sun, 26 Apr 2026 11:00:25 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1879/sensationalism-of-trauma-in-american-film-and-literature By Clare M. Nee - The Virgin Suicides written by Jeffrey Eugenides, as well as Sofia Coppola’s film adaptation, utilize the literary and cinematic tropes of suicide to explore female suicides as romantic notions and assertions of agency within the teenage world of five sisters. In a world in which suicide and mental illness are rapidly on the rise, one might ask: is it ethical to use suicide merely as a plot device to explore a narrative other than its own? The novel and film adaptation use suicide as a vehicle to exploit and sexualize the adolescent female body through a voyeuristic, collective male narrative... Fri, 19 Feb 2021 11:43 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1879/sensationalism-of-trauma-in-american-film-and-literature http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1871/understanding-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-in-children-a-comprehensive-review By Kailey M. Pate - Post-traumatic stress disorder in children under six years old has been formally recognized since 2013 (Veteran’s Affairs, 2019), yet the body of research is still lacking for this age group. An important step towards helping these youngest sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder is to determine whether symptomology assessments, social supports, and treatments that exist for older children can apply to those who are younger than six suffering from the disorder. This comprehensive literature review compiles the research on post-traumatic stress disorders in children from six to seventeen... Thu, 04 Feb 2021 08:56 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1871/understanding-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-in-children-a-comprehensive-review http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1768/trauma-and-silence-in-no-no-boy-an-interdisciplinary-reading By Yuxin Zheng - Depicting the rugged reintegration of Ichiro Yamada, a no-no boy imprisoned during WWII, Japanese American author John Okada presents a traumatized and conflicted Japanese American community during the mid-1940s in his novel No-No Boy (1957). Applying Dan McAdams’ psychological theory to their literary study of the novel, Floyd Cheung and Bill Peterson demonstrate that an interdisciplinary approach can “provide inspiration for different disciplines in the academy to view Asian American experience in new and exciting ways” (213). Using an interdisciplinary approach as Cheung and... Thu, 03 Oct 2019 08:09 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1768/trauma-and-silence-in-no-no-boy-an-interdisciplinary-reading http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1762/the-military-masculine-storytelling-and-role-playing-in-phil-klays-stories-of-war By William R. Fuller - This paper explores the conflict between hegemonic and new masculinity in Phil Klay’s Redeployment, illustrating the changing conception of gender roles and masculinity in storytelling about war. This paper juxtaposes traditional conceptions of masculinity by examining failures in role-playing in Klay’s short stories. Conflicts arise out of social expectations of the “hero,” the relationship between masculinity and femininity, and trauma caused by war. An additional important relationship is that of the storyteller and his tale. Importantly, some of Klay’s characters... Wed, 03 Apr 2019 07:55 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1762/the-military-masculine-storytelling-and-role-playing-in-phil-klays-stories-of-war http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1378/memories-and-fear-treatment-techniques-to-dissociate-traumatic-memories By Amy Roesler - Fear finds its place in the world through numerous forms, including natural disasters, genocide, war, trauma and countless other events which present lasting effects in the lives of those who maintain recollection. The research concerning the alteration of memories is a recent area of study, and while it could prove beneficial in regards to trauma and crippling fear, it also poses an ethical dilemma regarding a person’s identity. Memories associated with fear are seemingly permanently recorded by the brain and are unsusceptible to change. Yet as Michael Specter explained in a 2014 piece... Thu, 17 Mar 2016 01:15 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1378/memories-and-fear-treatment-techniques-to-dissociate-traumatic-memories http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1005/murakamis-hard-boiled-wonderland-as-a-commentary-on-the-holocaust By Molly E. Meadows - One of the clearest indicators of this work’s allegorical representation of the Holocaust is Murakami’s careful use of vagueness. Holocaust literature is both a delicate and powerful subject for many to read, but the confines of writing such literature are perhaps even more uncomfortable. As some observers note, writers of Holocaust literature can be torn between the desire to create deep characters out of the perpetrators and the fear that in so doing, readers might find unintended shreds of sympathy for true villains. Jeremy Metz suggests that the pressure of this ethical dilemma... Thu, 05 Mar 2015 08:38 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1005/murakamis-hard-boiled-wonderland-as-a-commentary-on-the-holocaust http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/898/trauma-reenactment-in-the-gothic-loop-a-study-on-structures-of-circularity-in-gothic-fiction By Andrea Juranovszky - Ever since its original emergence, Gothic fiction has been shaped by a unique narrative direction that is often described by scholars and readers alike as retrospective, repetitive, or circular in nature. Gothic texts progress as if through a series of flashbacks, always reviving deeds of the past in order to point out a problem, which, however strongly rooted in some ancient heritage, prevails in the present and calls for immediate resolution. David B. Morris defines the typically Gothic vision of history as one where “the past interpenetrates the present time, as if events were never entirely... Fri, 23 May 2014 10:46 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/898/trauma-reenactment-in-the-gothic-loop-a-study-on-structures-of-circularity-in-gothic-fiction http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/802/social-support-in-ptsd-an-analysis-of-gender-race-and-trauma-type By Hannah DeLong - The current study discusses social support systems and the ways in which they impact persons diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study analyzes three different variables (race/ethnicity, gender, and trauma type) in a group of 200 adults diagnosed with PTSD. Three measures, the Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ), the Inventory of Socially Supportive Behaviors (ISSB), and the Social Reactions Questionnaire (SRQ) will be utilized to compare differences in the three variables: race/ ethnicity, gender, and trauma type. These variables will be analyzed using means-descriptive analysis... Thu, 21 Nov 2013 12:12 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/802/social-support-in-ptsd-an-analysis-of-gender-race-and-trauma-type http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/727/from-nostalgia-to-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-a-mass-society-theory-of-psychological-reactions-to-combat By Joshua A. Jones - This paper analyzes the evolution of the construct known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Specifically, it examines the ways in which its name has changed over millennia and how soldiers suffering from this mental condition were treated by society during different eras of human history up until it was accepted by the mental health community in 1980. Moreover, it identifies certain social factors that have influenced public perception of the disorder through the application of mass society theory. In some respects, its analysis bears resemblance to Foucault’s (1961/1965) examination of... Sun, 17 Feb 2013 01:24 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/727/from-nostalgia-to-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-a-mass-society-theory-of-psychological-reactions-to-combat http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/568/tim-obriens-the-things-they-carried-postmodern-fiction-for-a-postmodern-war By Laurence R. Kowalewski - In the western history of human existence the event, idea, and act of war stands totemic in the landscape. Borders both physical and mental have been defined by its threat and execution, and its aura hangs heavily over the last century as the bloodiest in the entire narrative of humanity.[1] During a period widely considered to be the most perfect example of the efficient, mechanised destruction of life—the Holocaust—David Rousset gave a name to the experience he saw inside the internment camps as “l’univers concentrationnaire,” a world apart.[2] This succinct explanation... Wed, 31 Aug 2011 08:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/568/tim-obriens-the-things-they-carried-postmodern-fiction-for-a-postmodern-war http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/398/rebecca-wests-the-return-of-the-soldier-analyzing-the-interrelationship-of-male-and-female-traumas By Emily R. Hershman - Rebecca West’s 1918 novel The Return of the Soldier dissects the socioeconomic and psychological tensions wrought by the upheaval of the First World War. In a nuanced reiteration of the typical trope of a soldier’s return, Christopher Baldry is dispatched from the Western front when it becomes apparent that selective amnesia has trapped his mind fifteen years in the past. This preoccupation with shell-shock and immersion in the past subtly couches the novel’s larger motifs in the language of the trauma narrative, as Christopher struggles to reconcile his idealization of a past... Tue, 01 Mar 2011 09:28 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/398/rebecca-wests-the-return-of-the-soldier-analyzing-the-interrelationship-of-male-and-female-traumas http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/289/logotherapy-and-the-holocaust-uniting-human-experience-in-extremity-and-normality By Ryan A. Piccirillo - During the Holocaust, Dr. Frankl witnessed extremes of human suffering. He watched men tackle fear, fear destroy men, and prisoners develop tricks to retain their humanity and hold onto hope. His psychological background compelled him to psychoanalyze not only his fellow prisoners, but himself as well. Of his most important observations, his assertion that “an abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behavior” (Frankl 38), is instrumental in helping the outsider understand concentration camp behavior. He explains that, “it is very difficult for an outsider to grasp... Mon, 20 Sep 2010 06:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/289/logotherapy-and-the-holocaust-uniting-human-experience-in-extremity-and-normality http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/274/and-i-of-ladies-most-deject-and-wretched-diagnosing-shakespeares-ophelia-with-post-traumatic-stress-disorder By Ellen T. Goodson - If William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is “the most famous play in English literature,” his Ophelia is arguably the field’s most tragic female figure (Meyer 1588). Torn from her lover and bereft of her father, the young woman falls into grief-stricken madness that ends, in many literary and theatrical interpretations, in suicide. Critics and directors have characterized her as an innocent child, a passive daughter, compassion-inducing soul, and an undeserving victim. Yet her clichéd portrayal as “helpless, crazy wretch” gains a humanizing dimension when seen... Wed, 28 Jul 2010 07:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/274/and-i-of-ladies-most-deject-and-wretched-diagnosing-shakespeares-ophelia-with-post-traumatic-stress-disorder http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/211/embodied-memory-and-trauma-recovering-from-rape-in-jasmila-zbanics-grbavica By Michael A. Gold - On its simplest level, Jasmila Zbanic’s 2006 film Grbavica examines how the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s still shape life in post-conflict Sarajevo. The film’s protagonist, Esma, is struggling to cope with the aftermath of being a victim in the systematic rapes committed by soldiers during the Yugoslav wars. Over ten years after her rape and subsequent pregnancy, Esma is now the single mother of an adolescent daughter who begins to question her identity. As Esma tries to protect her daughter from the fact of her birth, she also struggles to recover from her personal trauma and shake... Tue, 23 Mar 2010 09:20 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/211/embodied-memory-and-trauma-recovering-from-rape-in-jasmila-zbanics-grbavica http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/35/the-relationship-between-stockholm-syndrome-and-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-in-battered-women By Rebecca A. Demarest - The Diagnostic and Statistics Manual IV-TR (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) defines PTSD as the development of several characteristics following a traumatic experience where intense fear, helplessness, or horror is experienced. The symptoms include persistent reexperiencing of the event, persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the event, a numbing of general responsiveness, and persistent increased arousal for more than one month (APA, 2000). Abuse by an intimate partner has been repeatedly shown to increase the abused person’s likelihood of exhibiting PTSD. (Hughes and Jones... Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:19 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/35/the-relationship-between-stockholm-syndrome-and-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-in-battered-women