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GROUP IDENTITY, trauma & VIOLENCE
“The divisions in this country are not so different from those in other areas of the world. They are created by leaders who induce anxiety that foreigners or someone from the outside are coming and they’re going to harm their way of life.”
VAMIK VOLKAN
Robert E. Lee, Charlottesville, Virginia
“The large group identity relies on chosen traumas to give the group a sense of unity. In some cases, perceived threats or insults can trigger those traumas and release underlying aggression.“
BRYAN MC KENZIE, THE DAILY PROGRESS
“They induce fear. Someone is bringing danger. Someone is coming from outside. That creates a sense of victimization followed by entitlement... It’s what is happening in America now.”
VAMIK VOLKAN
“To draw on one of Professor Volkan’s terms, as a nation we seem to be gripped in a 'time collapse,' the blurring of past and present, fantasy and reality. Our Civil War is very much alive. Perhaps we need our own Truth and Reconciliation Commission.”
MOLLY CASTELLOE
“I hope the film will provide a deeper understanding of the nation’s divisions and the group dynamics that fuel those divisions.”
MOLLY CASTELLOE
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