ABSTRACT
Perpetrator trauma is, in its simplest encapsulation, the trauma that is experienced by the person who commits some wrong because of committing that wrong. The idea of perpetrator trauma brings together the study of trauma—which recognizes trauma as a phenomenon situated not only in medicine and psychology but also in a range of fields in the social sciences and humanities—and the burgeoning field of Perpetrator Studies, but it carries its own distinct set of features and difficulties as well. This chapter examines the idea of perpetrator trauma. By identifying and probing the contours of the concept as well as its controversies, this chapter seeks to present a sketch of the concept and to raise a number of questions for further inquiry and research. Ultimately, the chapter defends the study of perpetrator trauma, calling attention to the potential for recognition of perpetrator trauma to contribute both to greater comprehension of trauma and to a more nuanced understanding of perpetrators, the choices they make, and the appropriate avenues for reckoning with those choices.
