Deafness and Resilience

Christiane Grimard (IRD, CRIR)
Colette Dubuisson (UQAM, CRIR)

Introduction Theoretical Framework Resilience Trauma Resilience mechanisms and supports Methodology Social Isolation and its consequences Defence Mechanisms Internal Mechanisms Resilience Supports Conclusion References

Introduction

Based on accounts from deaf individuals involved in a qualitative research project we have found that some subjects, in spite of traumatic social experiences (rejection and isolation over long periods of time), not only succeed in transcending those experiences, but also succeed in pursuing their personal development.

The concept of resilience broadly espoused by Cyrulnik (2003, 2002, 2001) appears to be an interesting theoretical framework for analysing and understanding the data we have collected. It is within this framework that we attempted to understand how individuals who experience frequent incidences of rejection and social isolation during the critical period of childhood and adolescence, succeed in pursuing their personal development without presenting symptoms of severe mental health or adaptation problems. For us, this framework is adequate to describe both the experience and the development of the subjects. Contrary to the principles of determinism, it permits us to maintain hope and provides leads to the resolution of problems and the challenges that exceed the individual's ability to adapt at certain moments in life. Indeed, it differs from the precepts of traditional psychology that generally maintain that past weaknesses influence the development of the individual. The impacts of trauma may, according to Cyrulnik (2002: 89), leave traces, but if the child or the teenager meet on his path resilient tutors, the development may proceed in spite of the effects of the trauma. Cyrulnik (2003) uses the knitting metaphor to describe the construction process of resilience: "alone, a child has no resilience. This is not a quality inherent with the child, it is an interaction, a relationship. Therefore we must knit each other together, there must be two of us to build resilience. And if I willingly use a household term, it is because it is very often in household situations that resilience is built."

We believe that some characteristics of the person, but mostly of the human environment act as protective agents and tutors of resilience.

In this presentation, we will first briefly describe the two subjects and their experiences with regards to the lack of social communication. We will then present the theoretical framework that we have selected and the definitions relevant to resilience. Finally, based on the life stories of the subjects, we will attempt to highlight the internal and external mechanisms that may have facilitated the development of their resilience and explain how they succeeded in pursuing their development.

In determining our theoretical framework, we used the concepts of resilience, trauma and resilience tutors.

The term resilience was borrowed from the field of physics. Its primary meaning refers to the property of certain materials to resist shocks. For example, gold may be melted, stretched, transformed, but it does not break. Therefore resilience does not mean resistance. Resilience is "an ability to adapt and to return to its original form", (Cyrulnik, 2003) whereas resistance is what can be applied to a material until it breaks. The strategy is not at all the same in its reaction to a stress: "resilience is more adaptive and evolutionary strategy" (ibid.)

Nor should resilience be confused with the ability to be happy. According to Cyrulnik (2002: p. 50), the concept of resilience "designates the ability to resist blows and not an aptitude towards happiness". In other words, a person may be resilient and sad.

In fact, resilience is "the ability to succeed, to live and develop positively, in a socially acceptable manner, in spite of stress or adversity that would normally be expected to have a high risk of producing a negative outcome" (Vanistendael, 1998, quoted by Ck, 2001).

Trauma

According to Cyrulnik (2003), there can be no resilience without trauma. In the workplace, we define trauma as an event that has a strong emotional impact that can significantly affect the individual’s performance. As Cyrulnik (2003) states, even an innocuous event such a change of residence may be traumatic for some children. However, "two agents are required to cause trauma. The first is in reality; the second in the representation of reality. […] The first blow in reality is the injury, it is the abused child who aches, who is broken, […] that is, we hurt and we heal or, sometimes we do not heal but build our life around the wound. It remains in the child’s memory." (Freud quoted by Cyrulnik, 2003)

The real cause of the trauma is the second blow. This can be the child’s story or interpretation of what he has experienced or the way he relates it to another. It is the "concept that child sees under our observation [...] It is you, the normal being, the normal adult who transforms the injury into a trauma." (Cyrulnik, 2003)

We use internal and external mechanisms to protect ourselves against the trauma and often intense emotions that result from it.

As explains Cyrulnik (2003), even an innocuous event such a change of residence may be traumatic for some children. Events have a different impact on each individual based on the meaning it acquires in relation to one’s life history.

Cyrulnik (2003) explains that resilient persons use both internal and external mechanisms that enable them to temporarily tolerate or isolate the suffering and, eventually to integrate it and continue their personal development. These mechanisms do not correspond to the child’s abilities but to a "whole that comes together, that has been instilled in the child, […]. It is therefore more a system than an aptitude of the child." (Cyrulnik, 2003)

The internal mechanisms are, for example, the internal language (interpretation and cognition), the ability to express the experience (story) and the psychological defence mechanisms (denial, cleavage, suppression, hatred, etc.)

External mechanisms are what Cyrulnik (2003) defines as resilience or development supports. According to him, they are much simpler than we believe, they are "emotional relationships […], social relationships, cultural values that, when available to the child allow him to continue his development". To those who say that early problems have lasting effects, Cyrulnik (2003 : 89) replies that "early problems provoke early responses that may be long lasting if the family and social environments maintain them as permanent stories."

Four supports to resilience appear important to us in explaining the behaviour of our subjects: family dynamics, the ability to narrate, the perspective of others and the social discourse.

For example, when a child grows in a stable, warm family where attachment and relationships are nurtured, he is developing his resilience. "First, the development of internal resources, starting in childhood, helps the child become secure in his environment and instil in his memory the fact that he can meet small challenges. This solid structure, combined with other coping mechanisms will help maintain a coherent whole when living the traumatic experience." Cyrulnik (2002:)

Cyrulnik also mentions language as a support to resilience: the ability to put words to an event helps distance one’s self from it "That is to say that the world changes when we talk about it and talking about it can change the world" (2001 : 152). The internal discourse can either aggravate the injury or it can heal it. For the injury to heal, we must "Turn this challenge into a confidence that acquires the value of a relationship." (Cyrulnik, 2002 : 106)

Cyrulnik (2002 : 90) emphasizes the importance of "distinguishing between the real effects of the trauma and the representation of the trauma". In other words, that the individual is told, tells himself, what he believes or understands of the trauma has the power to hurt him again or to repair the effects of the real trauma. This representation is closely linked to the social discourse. The way an individual interprets his trauma based on social discourse or experiences can be a significant factor in developing resilience.

The trauma, as we have seen, can in a way be confirmed when perceived by others. However, this perception may also help increase resilience. "The perspective of others can also have the power to mould." (Cyrulnik, 2002 : 101)

One must be able to express his distress to someone and that someone must have a perspective, or an empathic, strong and supportive presence: "It is not enough to state one’s distress in order to resolve it. The reaction of the person who hears the secret creates a feeling in the mind of the one who confides. That is why the revelation of the secret can result either in relief or in torture." (Cyrulnik, 2002 : 169).

The Social Discourse

Prejudice and stereotypes can diminish resilience. In fact, according to Cyrulnik (2003), it is often the social fabric itself that causes the most problems for the traumatised child: On the other hand, empowerment of the traumatised child may allow him to better integrate the trauma and continue to develop or, at the very least provide acceptable explanations for the trauma. The concept of social discourse brings into play the organization of services as well as their inherent values.

Cyrulnik (2003) explains: "the social stereotypes, prejudice, social discourse all affirm: these children have been hurt in their early childhood and are therefore lost. In so thinking, we offer them lifeless institutions [...] yet, when we realise that an evolutionary recovery is possible, if we know that after the trauma, life is still possible, we will organize states, decision makers and ourselves, we will plan around these children much simpler resources because we believe that they help a significant number of these children pursue their development."

According to Cyrulnik (2002 : 13)"Resilience is a natural process in which we are, at certain times required to work with ecological, affective and verbal environments."

The data used in this presentation is a sub-set of the data gathered for the project "L’approche bilingue : vers une adaptation/réadaptation sociale optimale des Sourds du Québec (The Bilingual Approach: Towards an optimal social adaptation/rehabilitation of the Deaf in Quebec)", with financial support from the Conseil québécois de la recherche sociale/ Quebec Council for Social Research. The aim of this portion of the project was to collect detailed information on the experience of deafness, especially with regards to communication in LSQ and French.

The data was collected through various types of semi-directed interviews based on different topics such as family life/youth, educational experiences, family life/adult, social experiences and work. All of these aspects are explored from the perspective of communication. The interviews used here were all conducted by a hearing interviewer who met with all hearing and oral deaf subjects who elected to have the interview conducted in oral French.

The analysis of the interviews was completed using the methodology of phenomenological analysis used in psychology. (Giorgi, 1985; Bachelor et Joshi, 1986). In fact, we had not predetermined the type of analysis and the expectations as expressed to the subjects, while trying to be stimulating, were sufficiently broad to allow them to discuss their life history as they wished. We reconstituted the life history based on the phenomenological analysis.

In this presentation, we will focus on two subjects: Benoît and Laurence.

Benoît : At the time of the interview, Benoît was a 26 year-old young man with a profound neuro-sensory hearing loss. He wears hearing aids, is adept at speech reading and speaks clearly. He used oral communication until the age of 21. Afterwards, he elected to use sign language communication, having realized that it was effective and satisfying for him. He is pleased to be able to communicate orally but feels that on social level, he was disadvantaged when not using sign language. He works part time as he has returned to his studies in the evenings. He has two brothers but is the only deaf in the family. He comes from the middle class and grew up in the area. His father is a businessman and his mother dedicated her life to the education of her children.

Laurence : At the time of the interview, Laurence was a 24 year-old woman pursuing her university studies. She wears hearing aids. Her residual hearing allow her to benefit from the amplification. In her development, she changed her mode of communication. She began her studies in classes specialized for the Deaf. There, she learned sign language through contacts with other deaf children. At the end of kindergarten, she was integrated in her neighbourhood school and grew up in an oralist environment. After her secondary education, she returned to the study of sign language. Laurence has no difficulty in expressing herself orally. However, her oral comprehension is difficult and requires considerable effort. She prefers communicating in sign language because it is more efficient and helps her better understand in school and make friends.

Can we discuss trauma when there has been no physical or sexual abuse and no aggression? How can we define trauma as related to deafness? From our perspective, trauma does not require that the life of the individual be in danger. Cyrulnik (2002, 2001) discussed the inequality of traumas in the sense that the same injury may affect different persons in a different manner. Deafness, and especially the resulting limitations it imposes on communication, is lived differently by every deaf individual and has nothing to do with the true level of hearing loss as measured in decibels. Deaf individuals experience helplessness on a daily basis. They fear the gaze of others, their attitudes and they depend on them to develop a mode of communication and for making friends. They must manage and tolerate situations where their self esteem is rudely put to test, often accompanied by feelings such as frustration, resentment, bitterness and helplessness. The adaptation to deafness, its communication limits and especially the inevitable difference between one’s self and one’s social and family environment can be a shock for the child at some time in his life. We believe that being repeatedly subjected to such situations while unable to influence the environment may have the same effects as a traumatic experience. Both internal and external protective mechanisms are used as protection against these feelings.

The psychological mechanisms used by deaf persons are the same as those used by persons who have experienced a traumatic situation and whose life or that of a dear one was in real danger (denial, cleavage, suppression, rationalisation, avoidance, etc.)

Our subjects report that, in their childhood, they acted as if the pain associated to isolation was minimal (denial, suppression). Before encountering a resilience support, they did not experience truly satisfying communication. Consequently, they tolerated the meagre communication they experienced, having no other means to understand and live their reality. However, when they did encounter such a support, for example, the use of sign language which opened the door to rich and satisfying exchanges, they could become aware of the lack and express how much they suffered from the lack of relations and communication with their environment as oralists. Sometimes, temporarily, they claim to suffer more after having found their resilience support because their beliefs and identity must be revisited. Revolt and sometimes anger explodes at the thought of having suffered when they could have expected more. Some succeed in resolving this crisis and integrating the elements of their personal history into a coherent whole, knowing that there is at least one area where they will no longer live the same difficulties and feelings.

These mechanisms have an adaptive function and will be abandoned when the person finds no more advantage in their use. While the trauma is being experienced, the individual may not be aware of the extent of their distress or may split as a defence against the pain.

Internal Mechanisms

In spite of the fact that Benoît succeeded in his studies and that oralism allowed him to develop speech, of which he is proud, he remains very much alone. During adolescence, unable to maintain his childhood friendships, he finds that contacts are difficult to maintain and the feelings of being abandoned or rejected is an experience that leaves him at a loss. He avoids social events where he may be hurt in his self esteem. He invests in his studies and a sport for which he is passionate.

Benoît likes to think that if he had learned sign language earlier, he would not speak as well. He thus denies that the isolation due to the fact that he did not know LSQ was in vain. He minimized the pain associated with this isolation.

"[…] I am pleased that I learned sign language a bit late, when I was twenty one years old, because if I had learned sign earlier, maybe I would not speak as well today. But on the other hand, my social life suffered a bit from that."

Laurence, like Benoît, minimizes the difficulties encountered in learning speech and that this allowed her to communicate with hearing people as she can today.

The fact that he lived in a stable, warm environment and that his mother invested so much energy and time to help her son learn speech, provided Benoît with a solid basis that helped him live the difficulties of isolation from the end of his adolescence until adulthood.

"There were maybe five deaf children and five hearing children. And, at the same time, I was taking audiology courses. In my case, it worked well, not only because of the school but also because of my mother who took care of me full-time. It worked well. […] My relations with my teachers, with my parents, with my family were always excellent, excellent."

Benoît is grateful that his parents always supported him, even when he decided to move to Montreal to have more contacts with the deaf community.

"My parents always encouraged me to go to Montreal. I am pleased. I am pleased to have good parents."

Laurence’s family environment was also stable and caring, and her mother also devoted much time teaching her to speak. (See quote below). With both of our subjects, the family environment was an important support to resilience.

Benoît and Laurence both have access to a language that allows the to put words to the experiences they live. This does not mean that they can talk about them with others. During the end of his adolescence and his early adulthood, Benoît was very isolated, he was unable to discuss his personal reality with anyone. It is only when he comes out of this stage that he can share his experience. That is also because he knows that his experience is not unique. His encounter with the deaf community was a rescue. The word rescue refers to experiences that describe survival in situations such as drowning. We can imagine that he was suffocating in his solitude even though nothing in his speech and behaviour indicates that.

On the other hand, Laurence could only talk about her experience of rejection and discomfort when her situation changed. When living the rejection, she could not talk about her life experience because she was isolated and because no one could understand her situation.

Access to information and to exchanges with others

Both Benoît and Laurence have developed good pronunciation and speech reading skills which helped the access information and succeed in their studies . Socially, Benoît felt well integrated until he reached tenth grade.

Laurence is pleased with her oral communication.

"But I am very happy that my mother taught me because now, I can speak like hearing people; I can communicate because I am oralist. And also because people understand what I say. They say it is clear, that my voice is clear."

The fact that she is competent in oral French combined with the openness that she perceives in students and teachers towards her deafness made it possible for her to express deafness to hearing individuals and vindicate certain communication needs without fear of their judgement.

"It is there (in the new school) that I began to be able to explain, to be responsible, I was not shy. Later, in grade nine, I was able to go to them and say: "It is clear, I am deaf, I did not understand." If they thought I was ignorant, it was their fault, not mine."

Discovery and use of LSQ and access to a more satisfying social life.

For Benoît, the perspective of others, when they were only hearing, reflected the image of his difference. After meeting with LSQ and the vast deaf-bilingual community, which provides access to a social life, to satisfying social relationships, the perspective of others reflect a different picture: "You are like us. There is nothing to being deaf." Only then can Benoît live his real self, "A socially committed individual" who becomes conscious of his desire to see people, who has excellent social skills and a definite ability to make friends.

Encounters with the deaf community meant that Benoît could develop a sense of belonging and facilitated communication with others.

"Then, fortunately, a few months later I met deaf people. I found sign language...that saved me. […] It saved me because I am happy now. […] It’s wonderful, because of that, because of the deaf community. Today, in Montreal, all my friends are people in the deaf community: deaf and hearing individuals, people who work with the Deaf, interpreters, social workers, all hearing persons in the deaf community. I have no friends outside of the deaf community, none. That does not bother me because there are people in the deaf community. I get along well with, I am comfortable with them... because all those people have life experience. And, well... the hearing involved in the community understand the deaf experience."

Laurence also experienced a lot of isolation but much younger than Benoît. When she was placed in a mainstream school for hearing children after pre-kindergarten with deaf children, she lost her sense of belonging.

"When I arrived at school, really, I did not know what to do. I could see that they were all hearing and that I was the only deaf; I wondered how I would communicate. I missed my deaf friends because we have the same culture and we understood each other. I was now alone among the hearing. I tried, I experienced integration. May, June, things went well but two months is a short time, rather light."

Later, her education, integrated with hearing children went well. During high school, Laurence nonetheless returned to her study of sign language, that she had abandoned in kindergarten and, gradually, she changed her preferred choice of communication. This change is another support to resilience because, as she says, it gave her access to education and to meaningful communication with users of LSQ.

"In secondary school, before cégep, I began to learn sign with friends who I met, I watched how they signed; I was interested. […] With signs, we understand immediately, we don’t have to ask to repeat or focus on the lips. Since I was young, I always read lips, it was exhausting. With sign, I did not have to work as hard, I could understand signs more quickly. It was clear, I understood immediately. It was good for me. It rested my eyes."

Social Discourse

The organization of society manifests itself, in part, by the availability and quality of services available to the Deaf. These services can become supports to resilience by supporting individuals.

Many individuals in the education system believe that it is normal that deaf children not succeed as well as hearing children. Deaf children who succeed in spite of such social beliefs and the over investment in their studies are extremely proud of their achievements. One person who graduated from high school and succeeded in getting training that gave her access to interesting work, is considered to have accomplished a kind of feat.

Social integration is perceived as a social promotion and the criteria required for this integration, especially educational success, means that only the those students displaying higher performance are integrated. Yet, educational integration constantly emphasises the differences. Laurence expresses this feeling of isolation that integration inflicted on her, not so much when she tried it as when she actually lived it.

Conclusion

Today, Benoît has a family and a good job. He pursues his studies. He regularly offers his skills to other deaf individuals and devotes considerable time to the recognition of the rights of the Deaf. He maintains links with the bilingual deaf community. He has been able to build his life by integrating his identity, the trauma and the isolation lived in is adolescence.

Since the interview, Laurence has successfully completed her university studies and works in her realm of studies. The suffering related to the isolation and rejection that she experienced during part of her education appear to have had an impact on her identity as well as on her self perception and self esteem. Laurence has been able to use her personal resources to confront and tolerate the pains she has experienced. She was able to take control of her differences. The hurtful comments about her intellectual ability to pursue her studies motivated her to prove her skills. She saw herself change, gradually, positively. Laurence is a dynamic, courageous and persevering young woman. She now knows how to find her place and give meaning to her life.

References

Bachelor, A. et P. Joshi (1986). La méthode phénoménologique de recherche en psychologie, guide pratique. Québec, Les presses de l’Université Laval.

Cyrulnik, B. (2003) Entrevue de Chasseur d’idées, Télé-Québec.

Cyrulnik, B. (2002) Un merveilleux malheur, Odile Jacob poches, Paris.

Cyrulnik, B. (2001) Les vilains petits canards, Odile Jacob, Paris

Giorgi, A. (1985). "Sketch of psychological Phenomenological Method", In A. Giorgi (ed.) Phenomenology and Psychological Research. Pittsburgh : Duquesne University Press.