Passports to Success

Assuring Positive Educational Experiences
For Children in Out-of-home Care


Module 4: Page 4 of 8

Is all trauma essentially the same?

There are different kinds of trauma:

Simple trauma

Simple trauma occurs when an individual is overwhelmed and unable to cope in response to a frightening single event, such as witnessing the devastation of a tornado or experiencing a serious auto accident. Simple trauma:

  • is generally related to a specific incident of relatively short duration,
  • does not involve interpersonal violence,
  • has little to no negative stigma attached, and
  • can often result in helpful community support.

Temporary trauma symptoms, such as nightmares, are common following such frightening events.

Complex developmental trauma

Complex developmental trauma is different. It occurs as the result of a child experiencing multiple threatening physical or emotional incidents. Complex developmental trauma:

  • occurs within the context of an intimate relationship, often the parent-child or caregiver-child relationship,
  • represents a violation of the child’s  basic trust and sense of self,
  • persists over time, but the repeated incidents are episodic and unpredictable,
  • often results in a sense of shame and worthlessness experienced by the victim,
  • often does not result in community support for the victim, and
  • may offer the child no safe place to go, physically or emotionally, because the adults who are supposed to protect the child and care for the child are often the ones harming (or failing to protect) the child through their actions or inactions.

The most prevalent causes of this type of trauma are child abuse, chronic neglect and repeated exposure to family violence –the personal histories of most of the children in out-of-home care.


All or almost all of the children in out-of-home care have experienced trauma; many have experienced complex developmental trauma.

 

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