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Chapter 7 - Understanding the Role of Trauma and Dissociation in Youth Responses to Climate Crises

Eco-Neglect as Institutional Child Abuse

from Part I - Conceptual Foundations of Climate Distress in Young People

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2024

By
Karen Hopenwasser
Edited by
Elizabeth Haase  and
Kelsey Hudson
Elizabeth Haase
Affiliation:
University of Nevada, Reno
Kelsey Hudson
Affiliation:
Climate Psychology Alliance North America
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Summary

Humans have evolved as a species with unique capabilities to destroy this world that we inhabit. Some of this destructiveness is a function of a loss of embodied wisdom and a dissociative disconnection from the complex systems of life on the planet. Inaction about climate change is a failure to protect our children and can be considered institutional child abuse. Climate disasters, along with other social injustices, traumatize all life on the planet, and disproportionately impact those already struggling with loss of community support. Fostering posttraumatic wisdom in youth requires recognition that some are vulnerable to maladaptive psychic numbing, while others manifest a resilience born from imagination and creativity.

Keywords

knowing and not knowingtraumadissociationchild abuseACEsposttraumatic wisdomembodied awarenessclimate change
Type
Chapter
Information
Climate Change and Youth Mental Health
Multidisciplinary Perspectives
 , pp. 130 - 147
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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