Individual and Collective Traumatic Memories: A Qualitative Study of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in Two Latin American Localities

A qualitative analysis of material from a number of field trips to Peru and Colombia shows the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to be culture related. When a local community consists of collective, functional units, as in some Peruvian villages, people have a tendency to not react solely with conventional PTSD symptoms, or to have the attitude that traumatic memory should be treated with crisis intervention. This is in contrast to some villages in Colombia where people are more individualistically oriented and reactions to trauma are more concerned with guilt and shame. In Peru, psychosocial work is carried out mostly by strengthening the construction of the local community, whereas in Colombia, individual psychological interventions are more widely used and accepted. The study demonstrates that the concept of traumatic memory should be considered in both collective and individual aspects, depending on the nature of the underlying organisation of society and culture.