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CURRENT trends within psychology inspire a revaluation and reformulation of the scope of our discipline, with attention being called to the investigation and promotion of a science of human strengths and optimal functioning (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). This movement towards a positive psychology is reflected in the recent development of interest in the potential for positive change through trauma and suffering.
As psychologists, many of us will be familiar with the human quest for improvement, whether it is alleviation from adversity or advancement from a more homeostatic plateau. Beyond the personal struggles and crises of those who seek our support, the media broadcast images of human devastation in the aftermath of such anguish as the Turkish earthquake and the Balkan war. Closer to home, the Paddington rail crash seized our attention, and the many reports of more individual victimisations such as rape or personal assault have become so commonplace as to be (wrongly considered) banal.
Yet the negative valence of these issues is only one side of the story - increasingly, positive outcomes are being recognised and documented following suffering. For example, `Tragedy propelled Briton into space' (Rhodes, 1999), described how the British astronaut Michael Foale set out on the path to fame only as the result of his own personal misfortune.
As the traumatic nature of varied experiences becomes increasingly recognised, so in parallel the list of circumstances grows in which positive adaptations have been identified. Nine out of ten survivors of the Jupiter sinking reported positive changes in their outlook on life (Joseph et al., 1993). More than half of a sample of cancer patients described reordering their priorities (Taylor, 1983). Perceived benefits following a heart attack were predictive of lower morbidity at an eight-year follow up (Affleck et al., 1987).
Survivors of a lightning strike were prompted to reappraise what was important in their lives (Dollinger, 1986). Childhood sexual abuse survivors acknowledged the development of stronger personalities and increased self-knowledge (McMillen et al., 1995). Combat veterans, one of the most consistently studied trauma populations, revealed greater psychosocial resiliency in later life (Elder & Clipp, 1989), and an increased probability of being featured in Who's Who in America (Lee et al., 1995). Thus, as the devastation wreaked by an increasing variety of events...