• Case Study: Trauma and Child Survivors of Genocide in Guatemala
  
  Weekly Topic Overview: This week we turn our focus to the specific case study of children and adolescents who survived the genocide and civil war in Guatemala. The most brutal period of the genocide (1978-1983) left hundreds of thousands of children orphaned and even more traumatized by witnessing horrific murders, kidnappings, tortures, rapes, village burnings, and other brutal forms of state sponsored terror. Our aim this week is to gain a sense of what happened in Guatemala during the genocide and the years following it. In particular, we will explore the experiences of Guatemalan child survivors, the majority of whom identify as Maya indigenous peoples. We will examine how this group of child survivors experienced the war in ways that may differ from those of adult survivors. We will analyze research that was conducted with child survivors in order to determine what short- and long-term effects the trauma of genocide and war has had on their lives. 

Lastly, we will investigate how Guatemalan child survivors have managed to not only survive but also thrive in some cases despite having to live in an environment of perpetual violence and insecurity.

Weekly Learning Objectives:

This week you will...

1. Gain an understanding of what happened in Guatemala during its 36-year civil war and brutal genocide.

2. Explore the experiences of Guatemalan child and adolescent survivors who witnessed some of the worst atrocities known to humankind.

3. Examine how trauma brought about via state-sponsored terror, war and genocide has affected the lives of Guatemalan children and adolescent survivors following the genocide and today in adulthood.