Words Silenced, Words Unknown: The Hermeneutic Injustice Surrounding Undisclosed Child Trauma Survivors

Abstract

Childhood trauma is an often life-altering experience that impacts behaviours, relationships, cognition, psychological health, and neurological functioning. In order to mitigate against the multiple effects of trauma, early treatment and support is recommended. Unfortunately, treatment is often not obtained due to lack of disclosure in childhood, which often leaves survivors of child trauma to attempt to understand their experiences in silence. This article centres on the concept of hermeneutic injustice as it relates to undisclosed child trauma survivors. Interpretive findings speak to the impacts of memory and language in relation to traumatic understanding, the often-isolating experiences of living in non-disclosure, the potential of teachers to be hermeneutic allies in the provision of trauma education, and the possibility of schools as a site of traumatic unearthing and learning.