A Revised Biosocial Analysis to Social Suffering: Reframing a Paradigm on Mental Health for Palestinians Living Under Trauma

Abstract

The goal of this research is to shed light on the chronic, systematic violence that the Palestinians endure on a daily basis using a different approach from the Western model of PTSD and war trauma. The Palestinians have been under systematic oppression for more than six decades (Giacaman, 2004) and the study of mental health in the Palestinian population have become increasingly more popular by western organizations, using a western model that may not reflect all of the complex intricacies of daily oppression that includes systematic violence (Giacaman, 2010, 2014). A new analysis is necessary to better understand the trauma these Palestinians are enduring that takes into account economic duress, lack of infrastructure, daily harassments, violence, and the lack of freedom to move in one’s own country. Certain academics believe that minimizing the Palestinian struggle to a humanitarian cause casts away the reality of political violence (Roy, 2014 and Giacaman 2011) that interferes with every day life. Farmer suggests a ‘biosocial’ analysis that takes into account the political, biological, and social environment that affects the health and well being of a society (Farmer, 2004). A closer examination to better understand the trauma of the Palestinians is necessary as evidence that daily violence may have an effect on not only psychosocial symptoms, but also negative behaviors such as smoking and abuse, as well as a detrimental pattern of lifestyles including poor academic performances, poor outlook on life, and aggressive behaviors (Giacaman, 2011 and Yoke, 2014).