ABSTRACT
This chapter explores place where trauma and culture intersect. It defines and contextualizes culture as it relates to trauma and discusses ways to become competent in this area. Social workers need to pay close attention to risk factors and other issues related to ethnicity when working with survivors. Most intimate partner violence interventions, for instance, incorporate individualist Western values, rather than the collectivist focus of African American cultures. Demonstrating how culture can be incorporated in trauma interventions, increasing their ethnic accessibility, Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy has been modified to fit American Indian and Alaskan native cultures, adding traditional healing techniques such as sweat lodge, drumming, smudging and vision seeking. Generally considered to be a key coping method, religion and spirituality can offer form of protection for those who are traumatized. In studies, Armenian survivors of genocide reported that prayer and faith inspired them and helped them cope, and Holocaust survivors exhibited greater faith and hope than control groups, demonstrating religion's contribution to resilience.
