Sociocultural Traumatization and Resilience in Serbia: Family Legacies at the Turn of the Millennium

Abstract

This chapter describes changes in family structure and values and associated social tensions in Serbia since the dissolution of the former socialist Yugoslavia three decades ago. The authors address specific characteristics of sociocultural trauma related to civil wars and refugee crises, as well as the possible effects on relational well-being and mental health, including generational and gender differences, trans-generational transmission of trauma, and how past traumatic events are represented and revitalized in the present. The chapter concludes with practical implications for a systemic therapy approach to family adaptation and resilience, negotiating social change while deconstructing and reconstructing trauma-saturated narratives, balancing family cohesion and independence, and moving toward collective coping and healing.