Armenian Genocide: Transmission of Survivors Experiences to Their Children and the Resultant Psychological Effects a Qualitative Research Study

This paper will explore whether the Psychological and Emotional trauma experienced by the survivors of the Genocide has been transmitted to their offspring. Discussions include careful examination of the special features of extreme trauma that the survivors experienced and its enduring traces in the psychic structure of the victims that eventually help to explain why many of them consciously or unconsciously transferred their traumatization to their children. The brutality, fear, depression, anxiety, and hopelessness experienced by Genocide victims caused a "survivor syndrome" in these individuals, which was manifested in recurrent nightmares, or reliving of the past in the present (Porter, 1981). Through the children, the survivors attempt to heal and integrate their experiences. It is hoped that increased awareness of these "survivor syndrome" reactions may help therapists and investigators use them preventatively and therapeutically.