WWU's Center for Cross-Cultural Research to host Michael Salter Nov. 8

WWU's Center for Cross-Cultural Research will host a virtual presentation from Michael Salter,  associate professor of Criminology and Scientia Fellow at the School of Social Sciences at Australia's University of New South Wales from 4-5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 8 via Zoom as part of its CCCR Invited Lecture Series.

Salter discuss his latest published paper, “Kylie’s story: Healing the intergenerational trauma of gender-based violence.” His summary of the research and presentation is below:

This paper identifies individual and collective dissociative responses as key contributors to the intergenerational transmission of gender-based violence. I argue that the endemic nature of gender-based violence constitutes a form of collective trauma that has given rise to social and institutional processes of distancing, denial and normalisation, which creates the conditions of helplessness and powerlessness that lead to psychological dissociation in victims of gendered abuse and violence. To illustrate this point, I draw on the life history of “Kylie”, a survivor of child abuse and domestic violence. Through her narrative, the paper traces the parallels and intersections between individual and collective dissociation. We argue that the primary prevention of gender-based violence would be enhanced by addressing the prevalence and burden of trauma for impacted individuals and families, with the aim of interrupting intergenerational transmission, and by addressing the dissociative underpinnings of collective failures to protect women and children from violence.

This event is free and open to the campus community; for a Zoom link and invitation, email WWU Associate Professor of Psychology Brianna Delker at delkerb@wwu.edu.