Background: The impact of witnessing a colleague’s line-of-duty death or suicide on firefighters is profound, potentially elevating the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicide risk. Although violent loss has been acknowledged as more traumatic than natural loss, research exploring the specific outcomes of experiencing a colleague’s death within these contexts are scarce.

Background: Studies have shown that media exposure to critical public events can lead to secondary traumatic stress (STS). Personal trauma history, self-compassion and resilience are important factors influencing STS in healthy professionals. However, whether these variables are associated with social media-induced STS in college students and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The purpose of this study was to explore the complex relationship linking childhood trauma to social media-induced STS in a large sample of college students.

This paper introduces the concept of Intergenerational Colonial Trauma Syndrome (ICTS) as a necessary intervention in trauma studies, critiquing the Western psychiatric model that frames trauma as a discrete past event. PTSD, a widely accepted framework, assumes that trauma occurs as an isolated moment, after which healing is possible. However, for colonized and oppressed populations experiencing ongoing systemic violence, forced displacement, and genocide, trauma is not a past event but a continuous, inherited condition that is structurally reinforced. 

This dissertation answers the question: In what ways is the University of Groningen (RUG) historically connected to Dutch colonialism, and should the university address this legacy? Through analysing historical artifacts, including gravestones located in the Academy Building, the university’s founding act (The Eternal Edict), and The Tree of Knowledge mural, this study demonstrates that the RUG has been linked to colonial structures since its foundation in 1614.