Does literature traumatize children?

March 10, 2022 6:17 AM

I'm a high school English teacher. We have an ongoing debate in my school between the English department and the guidance counselors. English teachers want to teach literature that deals with difficult topics, whether that be tragic plays or texts about racism. Guidance wants us to avoid literature that might upset students, many of whom have experienced a great deal of trauma. I'm interested in RESEARCH on either side of this question. Is there a way to teach this kind of literature that won't upset students? Is it better to keep to texts that have no difficult topics? I know that a lot of folks will have strong opinions about this on one side or the other, which is why I'd rather read actual studies, or at least scholarly articles. Thanks!
posted by chaiminda to Education (7 answers total)

The bottom of this article has some citations for the type of research you seem to be looking for.

Trauma-Informed Teaching Strategies

And there seem to be a lot of good strategies on this site: Learning for Justice. I especially like what they say in the Reading Against the Grain article.
posted by dawkins_7 at 6:41 AM on March 10, 2022 [2 favorites]

Here's a recent article that looks promising: Wolfsdorf et al (2019). It's kind of a case study, but the references should be useful, as well as forward citations. You may also be interested in tracking down more work by the lead author:
Adam Wolfsdorf is an Instructor at New York University. His research focuses on the intersection between psychology and literature, Shakespeare, American Literature and student trauma.
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:42 AM on March 10, 2022 [3 favorites]

I know you're asking for studies relating to trauma and triggers in literature, but I don't think that's what you need. My biggest problem with the situation you have presented is that nobody seems to recognize that avoiding the topic of racism is, in itself, racism. By removing literature that discusses racism from your curriculum, you will be directly perpetrating racism on your students.

Here's the kind of study that you actually need: "...Empirical findings suggest a relationship between [color blind racial ideology i.e. avoiding discussions of race and racism] and increased racial prejudice, racial anger, and racial fear. Implications for education, training, and research are provided.

You might also want to share some basic Racism 101 type readings with your guidance counselors which discuss why color blind racial ideologies are racism in action.
posted by MiraK at 6:44 AM on March 10, 2022 [38 favorites]

This study speaks to the question of how to best present potentially disturbing literature to people with trauma.
posted by reren at 1:14 PM on March 10, 2022

Here is one: “The Last Block of Ice”: Trauma Literature in the High School Classroom by Amber Moore and Deborah Begoray:

the findings were encouraging, pointing to the need to create space to address trauma, especially sexual trauma, to combat the silencing that typically surrounds such intense topics. . . .

If we risk exploring trauma stories, we can provide learners with potentially transformative learning experiences and also demonstrate that these significant experiences deserve attention and may well melt “the last block of ice.” To do this work, many levels of support are needed; teachers, overwhelmed and intimidated by such material, must know that they have their education community behind them if they embark on this work so they also feel cared for.

Like the others mentioned above, looking at the references sections leads to several more relevant studies. Some of the more promising of them:

• Potentially Perilous Pedagogies: Teaching Trauma Is Not the Same as Trauma-Informed Teaching
• Practicing What We Teach: Trauma-Informed Educational Practice
• Fear Journals: A Strategy for Teaching about the Social Consequences of Gendered Violence
• Teaching with Awareness: The Hidden Effects of Trauma on Learning
• The role that teachers play in overcoming the effects of stress and trauma on children’s social psychological development: evidence from Northern Uganda

The through-line there is definitely not "here is research that proves/disproves the fact that trauma literature will re-traumatize students" but rather, "we know that many students in every setting have been victims of trauma; with that in mind, here are ideas to address teaching literature to students in a way that will be productive and lead to healing, and here is how well those ideas worked."
posted by flug at 1:26 PM on March 10, 2022 [6 favorites]

I don’t have the book and so can’t look at the bibliography, but The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt discusses research on this topic. Obvious from the title, it takes a particular stance on this question. However, it’s not as reactionary as the title seems.
posted by Comet Bug at 6:10 PM on March 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

If you're teaching books with racism as a subject matter, they should be written by members of the oppressed group. The oppressor's shallow take on racism actually perpetuates it. Avoid Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird. Instead bring out The Color Purple or Their Eyes Were Watching God.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 9:11 PM on March 14, 2022