Reflections on Displaced Positionality and Families: Trauma and Resilience

This chapter explores trauma and resilience as interrelated processes, moving away from pathologizing perspectives. Impact of forced dis-placement on diverse levels and the Danish restrictive laws exerting pressure, dehumanizing and devaluing the displaced persons’ sense of belonging, are delineated. We ask how some traumatized displaced persons overcome dehumanization and build dignified lives, and what factors are involved in the process of resilience. We present a case study of a young Afghan woman, Nadia, who migrated with her fam¬ily from Afghanistan to Denmark in the 1990s, and a follow-up two decades later. We analyze the case study through diverse theoretical perspectives and empirical studies. Nadia is described as a human being, avoiding stereotypes of both a “helpless victim” and a “super survivor.” We discuss how displacement, trauma, and resilience involve intergenerational memories, and how, through long-term supportive interaction with the surroundings, suffering can be transformed into competencies to construct a dignified life.