Shattered Assumptions [Hardcover]

Ronnie Janoff-Bulman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1992

This book investigates the psychology of victimization. It shows how fundamental assumptions about the world's meaningfulness and benevolence are shattered by traumatic events, and how victims become subject to self-blame in an attempt to accommodate brutality. The book is aimed at all those who for personal or professional reasons seek to understand what psychological trauma is and how to recover from it.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 250 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; 1st Edition, 2nd printing edition (April 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0029160154
• ISBN-13: 978-0029160152
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #237,309 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good, easily understood material for the lay-person, May 3, 2000

By 

Deborah Lovelace - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shattered Assumptions (Hardcover)

who: 1. Wants a basic, cognitive foundation in understanding how personal schemas, or ways of looking at and interpreting the world, are formed; 2. How change that causes us to question our basic assumptions that a. The world is benevolent, b. The world is meaningful, and c. The self is worthy -- can lead to psychological trauma including uneasy heightened physiological responses, feelings of anxiety, and a confrontation with the illusion that we are immune to death. Janoff-Bulman argues that the "adjustment of survivors rests largely" on their level of disillusionment and whether they despair or remain hopeful after a traumatic experience. The author does a quite adequte job of explaining the personal benefits of working through the trauma and learning to cope with change, and explaining why the ones we love the most are sometimes the least helpful, or even harmful, in supporting us in developing a new self and world view. Instead of just leaving us there, the author continues by telling us how others can be helpful in different ways and the fact that no one person can "be everything" or sole supporter of a traumatized individual. Finally, we are given a criteria for "ordinary levels of effective functioning" that can be used to gauge recovery. Perhaps the most valuable portion of this book, though, are the extensive Notes and Listing of References that help one to expand their research into trauma effects and recovery. The negative of this book is the author's overindulgance in rehashing psychotherapy's classic view of dissociative states as, the least,counterproductive to recovery, and, at most proof of psychosis. The author might have spent more time discussing how denial, a mild dissociative state, is "underappreciated," and is actually a coping mechanism that protects one from the overwhelming jar of dealing with every aspect of trauma at once. Overall a very good tool for the lay-person to use in understanding why trauma feels so bad, why others don't seem to understand and can even blame the traumatized for their own plight, and finding assurance that the traumatic experience can lead to a stronger self-image and more flexible take on change and reality. Highly recommend this book be purchased and kept in a secure place for easy access when trauma does catch one off guard.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for understanding CISM and other trauma-related issues, July 24, 2002

By 

Timothy L. Boschen "Saddlebag Photography" (Waynesboro, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Shattered Assumptions (Paperback)

Janoff-Bulman describes what happens to a person, male or female, when dealing with sudden life-disrupting events. The two greatest "assumptions" or basic beliefs assaulted by trauma are that the world is safe and that I am a valuable asset in it. She speaks to victims and therapists alike in non-clinical terms that are healing and educational. Therapists could easily recommend this book to persons surviving traumatic events.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightfull Book, April 1, 2011

By 

TwoWheelFree - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Shattered Assumptions (Paperback)

I highly recommend this book for anyone that either professionally works with trauma survivors or is a survivor themselves. I am a person coming to terms with my life as a child in a violent family situation and the physical injuries I received some forty years ago. I found my inner thoughts and feelings being expressed on the pages of this book as if she had interviewed me!! Often she expressed what I had been feeling but had not quite found the words to express. It was definitely a cathartic experience reading this book. If you are a survivor like me, you may experience wild swings of emotion as you read this book.