Cine sunt eu într-o societate traumatizată?

Franz Ruppert looks at how trauma shapes people and shared life. He links harm early in life to cycles of abuse. People can suffer harm, then go on to harm others. Groups with political power can repeat these patterns. So can courts and health services. This book on the mind links mental health with social life.

Nine chapters move from the mind to shared ways of life. Ruppert looks at attachment, or the bonds we form. He also looks at memory, awareness and our sense of self. He asks how stress and trauma differ from mental health. He then turns to raising children, schools and rivalry. He looks at conflict between sexes, firms and nations.

The book traces trauma through a person's life. It covers our sense of who we are, love and sex. It also covers acts of force, loss and threats to life. Ruppert looks at splits in the mind, self-harm and suicide. He asks how those who suffer abuse can become abusers. He also asks how others help hide the abuse. One case looks at Anders Behring Breivik's childhood trauma.

Ruppert says societies often fight signs of harm, not their causes. This leaves people under strain. They fear lost jobs, a crash in finances, war or terror. He questions revenge, revolt, forgiving and saving others as ways forward. He also weighs faith, art, drugs and debate based on reason.

He draws on people's own accounts and identity-oriented psychotrauma theory. This theory links trauma with our sense of self. He uses cases to show and explain the intention method. He urges people to face the harm they have suffered. He says they must take responsibility for harm they have done. He links children's mental health with a healthier shared life. He also questions calls to serve higher goals. These may serve someone else's way of coping with trauma.

Ruppert's field is trauma psychotherapy, which treats trauma through the mind. He teaches at Munich's Catholic University of Applied Sciences. Radu Gabriel Parvu translated this edition.