Citation

Long D, Wong YL. Am. J. Orthopsychiatry 2012; 82(2): 241-250.

Affiliation

Institute of Psychology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences York University.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, American Orthopsychiatric Association, Publisher Wiley Blackwell)

DOI

10.1111/j.1939-0025.2012.01144.x

PMID

22506526

Abstract

This article introduces a timescape perspective to enrich our understanding of postdisaster secondary trauma and social capital. Drawing upon a 2-year ethnographic study in 2008-2010 of a high school most devastated by the Wenchuan Earthquake in Sichuan, China, this article discusses how the national future-oriented timescape of recovery produced the secondary trauma among the surviving teachers. In particular, this article elucidates the pervasiveness of the industrial linear and mechanical calendar and clock time in the state and societal response. This article proposes that human connectedness-the key component of social capital crucial to the restoration of self and community efficacy in postdisaster recovery-requires a temporal frame that allows multiple levels and rhythms of grieving and reconnecting with existing social relations. This article also highlights the critical role of teachers in the collective healing of students and the community efficacy of the school.

Language: en