Institutional Trauma: A Critical Psychological Perspective on Power, Violence, and Harm

By Lucy Thompson

This book develops a critical psychological account of trauma as an institutional phenomenon, which is currently missing in psychological discourse.

While a great deal of attention has been paid to understanding trauma in individualized terms, comparatively little attention has been paid to understanding trauma as a feature of institutions. Based on the observation that experiences of trauma are deeply lodged in institutional conditions, this book asks what comes into view when psychological trauma is approached as an institutional phenomenon. Recognizing that the personal is political, this book proposes an expanded institutional analytic of trauma and lays critical foundations for responses that treat institutions as sites of trauma and its management. Drawing on a range of disciplines including critical psychology, feminist theory, postcolonial studies, and critical trauma studies, this expanded institutional analytic advocates for institutional transformation within and beyond the confines of dominant psychological knowledge(s) and practice.

Institutional Trauma is fascinating reading for academics, students, practitioners, and anybody interested in understanding institutional power, violence, and harm.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 036748725X
• ISBN13: 9780367487256
• Release Date: November 2025
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 148 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.5" x 8.5"