Journeys through Hell: Stories of Burn Survivors' Reconstruction of Self and Identity by Dennis J. Stouffer, Jack D. Douglas (Foreword by)

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(Paperback)

  • Pub. Date: January 1995
  • 285pp

    Reader Rating: (2 ratings)

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    Product Details

    • Pub. Date: January 1995
    • Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
    • Format: Paperback, 285pp

    Synopsis

    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.

    Author Biography: 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.

    Customer Reviews

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    • Ratings: 2Reviews: 2

    Journeys through Hell: Stories of Burn Survivors' Reconstruction of Self and Identityby Anonymous

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    December 27, 2001: Truth to be told I have known the author for more than 30 years. This aside I believe I can honestly comment upon this very insightful and moving book about burn survivors. This book moved me to tears at times. The stories of struggle for survival and for meaning when such a life-changing event occurs were inspirational. To know that ones' everyday life could change so radically in a split second, especially since 9/11/01, makes one pause and appreciate how truly important and special just being alive and well is in this life. I recommend this book. It is an intelligent and concise work. Well written and sensitively presented.

    Journeys through Hell: Stories of Burn Survivors' Reconstruction of Self and Identityby Anonymous

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    October 14, 2001: Using burn injury as a prototypical example of catastrophic trauma, Journeys Through Hell takes us into the private world of trauma survivors, the personal worlds that most of us never see, and that we can barely anticipate. Perhaps the most important feature of the book is the author?s ability to give a strong, clear voice to the survivors themselves, letting them tell the stories of their lives following their injuries, injuries that are often horrifying. While at times graphic, telling us of the overwhelming pain and anguish of being burned, and going through the arduous, invasive, and often humiliating medical care that followed, the author avoids being fictionally dramatic. The drama presented is real, and it is the drama of each survivor struggling, fighting every day, to be accepted, and to create a normal life while often being disabled, and dreadfully disfigured. It is often quite amazing to read about how the survivors are treated in public by some people; shunned, avoided, stared at, and continuously reminded that they are different, and too often made to feel that they are no longer human. This is an important book not only for burn and trauma survivors, and their families and caregivers, but it is important for survivors of other types of trauma and critical illness as well. It helps us understand what survivors of overwhelming personal loss face, how they must struggle against very difficult odds, day in and day out, to create lives of meaning for themselves, and to create new selves from what was taken from them. Throughout the book, the author remains true to the survivors, letting us see into their lives, to better understand how we all can grow from our everyday traumas, even though for most of us, our traumas pale in comparison to what we see here. Without the real sensitivity and compassion of the author, none of us would ever be able to read these important stories of real human survival in the face of terrible, disabling personal loss. This book is what interpretive sociology should be about, telling us about the real lives of real people.