Journeys Through Hell [Paperback]

Dennis J. Stouffer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 1994 | ISBN-10: 084767892X | ISBN-13: 978-0847678921 | Edition: 1

Based on detailed interviews with twenty adult burn survivors, Journeys Through Hell examines self, identity and social reality. Stouffer integrates theoretical perspectives with the survivors' own words to show how trauma affects the survivor's worldview, how support and acceptance are achieved, and how such an achievement is embedded within a social process involving not only the survivor but also doctors, nurses, therapists, friends and family members.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This kind of personal testament, admixed with sociological knowledge, adds so much more to the knowledge of the field than the popular statistical aridities we generally get. This book is a major contribution and should be in the public eye as soon as possible. (Norman R. Bernstein )

In describing how survivors cope with their altered lives, Journeys Through Hell serves as a model for how the survivor (of the holocaust, of rape, of a sudden disability resulting from an accident, possibly the acquiring of AIDS, etc.) discovers and constructs both personal and social meanings relative to his or her injury. This manuscript is indeed a significant contribution to scholarship. (Louise LevesqueLopman )

This is a brilliant, interpretive, pathbreaking study of catastrophic burn victims. Written from a victum's point of view, this existentially grounded inquiry charts the moral career of the burn survivor, showing how lives are shattered and then reassembled with dignity and new self-awareness, almost always with the help of loved ones and other co-survivors. A bench mark for future studies. (Denzin, Norman K. )

It is through the surfaces of our bodies that our mutual identities are displayed. Burns disrupt that surface while pain disrupts the psyche. In this fascinating book the author follows in detail the reconstruction of identities damaged in both these ways. There are no easy answers, but much to be learned from the variety of patterns of rebuilding. (Harre, Rom )

. . . a vivid portrait . . . Stouffer's research is clear, and its findings are compelling. . . . insightful analysis . . . a valuable resource . . . (Contemporary Sociology )

About the Author

Dennis J. Stouffer is a member of the Board of Directors of the Alisa Ann Ruch California Burn Foundation and an Emergency Planning and Management Specialist for Hughes Aircraft Company. He has a Ph.D. in Sociology (University of California, Union Institute) and has done extensive research on the long term consequences of burn injury.

Product Details

• Paperback: 298 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers; 1 edition (September 28, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 084767892X
• ISBN-13: 978-0847678921
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,575,635 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unearths the complexities of surviving burns, September 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Journeys Through Hell (Paperback)

JOURNEYS THROUGH HELL - STORIES OF BURN SURVIVORS' RECONSTRUCTION OF SELF AND IDENTITY, is compelling and griping without being purposefully dramatic. Mr. Stouffer takes an approach of linking the personal accounts of survivor's stories with responsible narrative language that provides guidance and understanding into a world most of us don't understand. He establishes a dialogue that informs individuals about the nature of burn injuries and the involved procedures for burn treatment, and, takes the time to focus on recovery for both the survivor and the survivor's family.

JOURNEYS THROUGH HELL, skillfully managaes to combine the language of social science with the basic elements of trust, care, and the re-establishment of identity. It is without a false note and is deserving of a read by all.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Journeys Through Hell; a social psychological study, February 5, 2002

By 

Thomas W Spalding (Chatsworth, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Journeys Through Hell (Paperback)

Journeys Through Hell is an important book that takes the reader into the inner, private lives of burn injury survivors. This is a gem of a book, a social psychological study that relies on the narrative stories provided by burn survivors themselves who, in biographical fashion let us look at what it means to be a survivor of a terrible injury. What it means, very much unanticipated by the severely injured person in the initial stages of the injury, is pain, anguish, torture, and very importantly, hope and anticipation of a healed future.

While the book focuses on severe burns, it really has a much broader appeal: it is really about what it means to be a trauma survivor. The trauma could be physical, psychological or both. In any case, the book is about how people experience the most extreme personal loss, and sudden, terrifying change. In instantly experiencing the destruction of their normal, everyday lives, and in having their worlds shattered, we see how the survivors slowly struggle to be reborn, and come whole again.

What Dr. Stouffer does so well, often very eloquently and with great sensitivity to the survivors, is the fact that he draws out from the survivors their hidden stories, fears, and deep feelings of loss as well as hope. He shows how survivors slowly come to understand what they have lost and how, with the help of caring others, they may go on to find deep, abiding strengths they never realized they possessed. Stouffer gives strong voice to the survivors, allowing them to tell their stories, while skillfully weaving their accounts into a sociological, constructionist foundation. This book is not dull sociology, or mind numbing psychological theory. It is vividly presented real human drama that helps illuminate how we all cope with personal loss, and how we build our lives. I strongly recommend Journeys Through Hell.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unearths the complexities of surviving burns, September 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Journeys Through Hell (Paperback)

JOURNEYS THROUGH HELL - STORIES OF BURN SURVIVORS' RECONSTRUCTION OF SELF AND IDENTITY, is compelling and griping without being purposefully dramatic. Mr. Stouffer takes an approach of linking the personal accounts of survivor's stories with responsible narrative language that provides guidance and understanding into a world most of us don't understand. He establishes a dialogue that informs individuals about the nature of burn injuries and the involved procedures for burn treatment, and, takes the time to focus on recovery for both the survivor and the survivor's family.

JOURNEYS THROUGH HELL, skillfully managaes to combine the language of social science with the basic elements of trust, care, and the re-establishment of identity. It is without a false note and is deserving of a read by all.