Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Lifespan Development and the Brain
- PART ONE SETTING THE STAGE ACROSS THE AGES OF THE LIFESPAN
- PART TWO NEURONAL PLASTICITY AND BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION: MICROSTRUCTURE MEETS THE EXPERIENTIAL ENVIRONMENT
- PART THREE NEURONAL PLASTICITY AND BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION: ATYPICAL BRAIN ARCHITECTURES
- PART FOUR BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION: SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS AND DOMAINS
- PART FIVE PLASTICITY AND BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION IN LATER LIFE
- PART SIX BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION: FROM MICRO- TO MACROENVIRONMENTS IN LARGER CULTURAL CONTEXTS
- 13 Characteristics of Illiterate and Literate Cognitive Processing: Implications of Brain–Behavior Co-Constructivism
- 14 The Influence of Work and Occupation on Brain Development
- 15 The Influence of Organized Violence and Terror on Brain and Mind: A Co-Constructive Perspective
- 16 Co-Constructing Human Engineering Technologies in Old Age: Lifespan Psychology as a Conceptual Foundation
- PART SEVEN EPILOGUE
- Author Index
- Subject Index
- References
15 - The Influence of Organized Violence and Terror on Brain and Mind: A Co-Constructive Perspective
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Lifespan Development and the Brain
- PART ONE SETTING THE STAGE ACROSS THE AGES OF THE LIFESPAN
- PART TWO NEURONAL PLASTICITY AND BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION: MICROSTRUCTURE MEETS THE EXPERIENTIAL ENVIRONMENT
- PART THREE NEURONAL PLASTICITY AND BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION: ATYPICAL BRAIN ARCHITECTURES
- PART FOUR BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION: SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS AND DOMAINS
- PART FIVE PLASTICITY AND BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION IN LATER LIFE
- PART SIX BIOCULTURAL CO-CONSTRUCTION: FROM MICRO- TO MACROENVIRONMENTS IN LARGER CULTURAL CONTEXTS
- 13 Characteristics of Illiterate and Literate Cognitive Processing: Implications of Brain–Behavior Co-Constructivism
- 14 The Influence of Work and Occupation on Brain Development
- 15 The Influence of Organized Violence and Terror on Brain and Mind: A Co-Constructive Perspective
- 16 Co-Constructing Human Engineering Technologies in Old Age: Lifespan Psychology as a Conceptual Foundation
- PART SEVEN EPILOGUE
- Author Index
- Subject Index
- References
Summary
Genetic interventions make us better animals. Humans, we become, however, because of the ways that culture and our individual constructions exploit the brain and make it our servant.
(Baltes & Singer, 2001, p. 72)ABSTRACT
The human brain is formed by two interactive systems: the genetic-biological and the sociocultural systems. The brain, in turn, regulates behavior and thereby acts on the societal environment. This chapter examines how experience shapes the brain and describes the interaction of brain, behavior, and culture under conditions of extreme and traumatic stress as present in many of the world's war-torn regions. Traumatic events massively change the brain's structure and function. Within our model of biological-cultural interaction, we analyze how these experiences foster violent behavior and deal with the societal consequences of the traumatization of large parts of the population.
INTRODUCTION
In this day and age, humans are raised and live in a complex sociocultural environment with increased demands for the brain, the body, and the social structures to adapt. More information at increasingly complex levels has to be processed than ever before at an ever-increasing velocity and over an extended lifespan. This places high pressure on the individual and society to continuously adjust to new environmental conditions, resulting in a stream of continuous microstressors. At the same time, modern societies are becoming increasingly aware of the effects of macrostressors, including traumatic stress, which, although seemingly transient, may be changing the brain's processing machinery, resulting in characteristic behavioral, physiological, and psychological (mal)adaptations to environmental conditions and – when a whole community is affected – changes in the local culture.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Lifespan Development and the BrainThe Perspective of Biocultural Co-Constructivism, pp. 326 - 349Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006
References
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