Volkan, V. D. (2001). Transgenerational Transmissions and Chosen Traumas: An Aspect of Large-Group Identity. Group Analysis, 34(1), 79-97.

Abstract

Large-group (ethnic, national, religious) identity is defined as the subjective experience of thousands or millions of people who are linked by a persistent sense of sameness while also sharing numerous characteristics with others in foreign groups. The main task that members of a large group share is to maintain, protect, and repair their group identity. A “chosen trauma’ is one component of identity. The term “chosen trauma’ refers to the shared mental representation of a massive trauma that the group’s ancestors suffered at the hand of an enemy. When a large group regresses, its chosen trauma is reactivated in order to support the group’s threatened identity. This reactivation may have dramatic and destructive consequences. This process is illustrated by the Serbs’ chosen trauma concerning the mental representation of the Battle of Kosovo and its role in the atrocities in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the current conflict in Kosovo. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)