Perpetrators of Trauma

People are traumatized in various ways, including but not limited to natural disasters, transportation accidents, work-related trauma, illness, accidents, assault, childhood abuse, terrorism, and genocide. The effects of interpersonal trauma (trauma perpetrated at the hands of others) are different in certain ways from the effects of traumatic events that are not of human design. The awareness that another person has inflicted harm can adversely affect an individual's sense of safety with other people and have negative effects on relationships. If the perpetrator of the trauma is someone known to the trauma survivor, and particularly if the perpetrator is a family member, the resulting betrayal of trust can be very damaging to the survivor's sense of self and impair the ability to trust people. If the ...