By Patsy Carter & Andrea Blanch, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Summer 2019.
It’s no secret that our health, education, and social service systems are failing the people they intend to serve. The US infant mortality rate is higher than in most developed countries, and the gap is widening. American children’s educational performance ranks very low in comparison with the 35 other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. The United States incarcerates people at a rate far higher than that of any other nation, and prisons have become the de facto mental health system for many people diagnosed with serious mental illness. Intergenerational poverty and violence are persistent, particularly among groups that have faced historical discrimination. More recently, the opioid epidemic has presented complex social challenges that are extremely difficult to unpack and address.
While a majority of participants in social and educational programs make progress, some flounder. Over time, this pattern has reinforced the mistaken belief that social problems are inherent in individuals, rather than created and sustained by environmental conditions.
The science of trauma has opened new pathways for understanding and addressing social problems resistant to traditional programs and services. Beginning with the seminal Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study, which the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published in 1998, a growing body of research has demonstrated that adverse experiences and chronic stress, particularly in childhood, can harm the developing brain. Repeated exposure to perceived danger alters the connections between brain cells and floods the body with hormones. These biological changes accumulate over time and can have long-term consequences for emotional function, regulatory capacities, physical health, and successful performance in a variety of domains, such as education, parenting, and employment. Research in the field of epigenetics has even suggested the possible biological transmission of trauma from generation to generation.
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