Rhetoric of Health and Medicine Mar 2022 Open Access

The Trigger Warning and the Pathologizing White Rhetoric of Trauma-Informed Pedagogy

Mara Lee Grayson California State University, Dominguez Hills

Abstract

In this article, I analyze the trigger warning, a pedagogical practice often framed as student-responsive and trauma-informed, to elucidate the ways in which trauma-informed pedagogy functions rhetorically to pathologize and individualize experiences of racism and other societal inequities that cause collective trauma. I draw upon original interview data and rhetorical analysis through a systems framework to explore how reductive pedagogical practices developed within the confines of a white, western notion of trauma may subsequently perpetuate students’ marginalization. Finally, I highlight the potential for more comprehensive, inclusive pedagogies to address student trauma, acknowledge societal conditions that impact individual experiences, and shift popular discourse that pathologizes trauma.

Journal
Rhetoric of Health and Medicine
Published
2022-03-24
DOI
10.5744/rhm.4002
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Topics
rhetorical criticism discourse analysis writing pedagogy race and writing
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (2)

  1. Regidor (2023)
    “I’m a Bad Writer”: Latina College Students’ Traumatic Literacy Experiences
    College English
  2. Grayson (2022)
    Who Is It Really For? Trigger Warnings and the Maintenance of the Racial Status Quo
    College Composition and Communication

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