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Trauma in Urban Sierra Leone: Exploring Its Sociocultural, Historical, and Political Context.

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Title: Trauma in Urban Sierra Leone: Exploring Its Sociocultural, Historical, and Political Context.
Authors: Steidl, Andreas, Kamara, Aruna, Massaquoi, Anthony Sheku, Aziz, Abdul, Exenberger, Silvia
Source: Journal of Loss & Trauma. 2025, Vol. 30 Issue 6, p784-812. 29p.
Subjects: Post-traumatic stress disorder, Community health services, Middle-income countries, Research funding, Qualitative research, Social factors, Culture, Interviewing, Questionnaires, Ethnology research, Psychology & religion, War, Descriptive statistics, Emotional trauma, Information services, Thematic analysis, Research methodology, Practical politics, Public administration, Interpersonal relations, Counseling, Low-income countries
Geographic Terms: Sierra Leone
Abstract: Cross-cultural research acknowledges culturally dependent ways of understanding, interpreting, and processing psychological trauma. Discourses about individual responses to traumatic events in low-income countries like crisis-ridden Sierra Leone ought to consider a person's psychosocial background in a sociocultural, historical, and political context. As a sub-study of a research project in Sierra Leone, we chose a qualitative approach to facilitate a comprehensive understanding of trauma in the West African country. Semi-structured interviews with 20 Sierra Leonean students and 4 Sierra Leonean experts from trauma-related scientific fields were conducted in the capital Freetown. Our emic findings revealed unique culture-specific insights, such as a cultural notion of trauma belonging to life, collective efforts to "forgive and forget"—reinforced by the government after the civil war—as well as religious and interpersonal counseling, to have an impact on an individual's response to trauma in Sierra Leone. While we found specific tendencies of sociocultural, historical, and political patterns on a macro-level, the participants' statements sometimes had a different manifestation on the micro-level. Therefore, these patterns should rather be assessed from case to case for a thorough understanding of an individual's response to trauma in a specific culture. This research highlights the benefit of emic, culture-sensitive approaches and encourages more comprehensive trauma discourses. Our findings confirm that the impact of trauma is not only related to a limited event but also shaped by a person's psychosocial environment, which is influenced by society, culture, history, and politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Loss & Trauma is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Label: Title
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  Data: Trauma in Urban Sierra Leone: Exploring Its Sociocultural, Historical, and Political Context.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Steidl%2C+Andreas%22">Steidl, Andreas</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Kamara%2C+Aruna%22">Kamara, Aruna</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Massaquoi%2C+Anthony+Sheku%22">Massaquoi, Anthony Sheku</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Aziz%2C+Abdul%22">Aziz, Abdul</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Exenberger%2C+Silvia%22">Exenberger, Silvia</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Loss+%26+Trauma%22">Journal of Loss & Trauma</searchLink>. 2025, Vol. 30 Issue 6, p784-812. 29p.
– Name: Subject
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Post-traumatic+stress+disorder%22">Post-traumatic stress disorder</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Community+health+services%22">Community health services</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Middle-income+countries%22">Middle-income countries</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Research+funding%22">Research funding</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Qualitative+research%22">Qualitative research</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+factors%22">Social factors</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Culture%22">Culture</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Interviewing%22">Interviewing</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Questionnaires%22">Questionnaires</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Ethnology+research%22">Ethnology research</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychology+%26+religion%22">Psychology & religion</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22War%22">War</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Descriptive+statistics%22">Descriptive statistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Emotional+trauma%22">Emotional trauma</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Information+services%22">Information services</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Thematic+analysis%22">Thematic analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Research+methodology%22">Research methodology</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Practical+politics%22">Practical politics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Public+administration%22">Public administration</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Interpersonal+relations%22">Interpersonal relations</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Counseling%22">Counseling</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Low-income+countries%22">Low-income countries</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Sierra+Leone%22">Sierra Leone</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Cross-cultural research acknowledges culturally dependent ways of understanding, interpreting, and processing psychological trauma. Discourses about individual responses to traumatic events in low-income countries like crisis-ridden Sierra Leone ought to consider a person's psychosocial background in a sociocultural, historical, and political context. As a sub-study of a research project in Sierra Leone, we chose a qualitative approach to facilitate a comprehensive understanding of trauma in the West African country. Semi-structured interviews with 20 Sierra Leonean students and 4 Sierra Leonean experts from trauma-related scientific fields were conducted in the capital Freetown. Our emic findings revealed unique culture-specific insights, such as a cultural notion of trauma belonging to life, collective efforts to "forgive and forget"—reinforced by the government after the civil war—as well as religious and interpersonal counseling, to have an impact on an individual's response to trauma in Sierra Leone. While we found specific tendencies of sociocultural, historical, and political patterns on a macro-level, the participants' statements sometimes had a different manifestation on the micro-level. Therefore, these patterns should rather be assessed from case to case for a thorough understanding of an individual's response to trauma in a specific culture. This research highlights the benefit of emic, culture-sensitive approaches and encourages more comprehensive trauma discourses. Our findings confirm that the impact of trauma is not only related to a limited event but also shaped by a person's psychosocial environment, which is influenced by society, culture, history, and politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Loss & Trauma is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=pbh&AN=187069019
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1080/15325024.2025.2471814
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 29
        StartPage: 784
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Post-traumatic stress disorder
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Community health services
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Middle-income countries
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Research funding
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Qualitative research
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Social factors
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Culture
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Interviewing
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Questionnaires
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Ethnology research
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Psychology & religion
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: War
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Descriptive statistics
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Emotional trauma
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Information services
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Thematic analysis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Research methodology
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      – SubjectFull: Practical politics
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      – SubjectFull: Public administration
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      – SubjectFull: Interpersonal relations
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      – SubjectFull: Counseling
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Low-income countries
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Sierra Leone
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Trauma in Urban Sierra Leone: Exploring Its Sociocultural, Historical, and Political Context.
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            NameFull: Massaquoi, Anthony Sheku
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            – D: 01
              M: 08
              Text: 2025
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