Skip to main content

Psychic Trauma in Children

Observations Following the Chowchilla School-Bus Kidnapping

  • Chapter
Coping with Life Crises

Part of the book series: The Springer Series on Stress and Coping ((SSSO))

Abstract

The Chowchilla school-bus kidnapping commanded international attention. All 26 children (age range, 5–14 years) who enrolled in the Alview Dairyland summer school disappeared for 27 hours, and they eventually escaped from their captors. After their return the children disclosed that their school bus had been stopped by a van blocking the road, three masked men had taken over the bus at gunpoint, and they had been transferred to two blackened, boarded-over vans in which they were driven about for 11 hours. They were then transferred into a “hole” (actually a buried truck trailer), and the kidnappers covered the truck trailer with earth. The children were buried in the hole for 16 hours until 2 of the oldest and strongest boys (ages 10 and 14 years) dug them out. By then the kidnappers had left the vicinity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Miller, G.,& Tompkins, S. “Chowchilla: The bitterness lingers.” Fresno Bee, Nov. 14, 1976.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Terr, L. Children of Chowchilla: A study of psychic trauma. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 1979, 34, 552–623.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Freud, S. Beyond the pleasure principle (1920). In J. Strachey (Ed.& Trans.), Complete psychological works, standard ed., vol. 18. London: Hogarth Press, 1955.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Chodoff, P., Friedman, S., Hamburg, D. Stress, defenses, and coping behavior: Observations in parents of children with malignant disease. American Journal of Psychiatry, 1964, 120, 743–749.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Cain, A.,& Fast, I. Children’s disturbed reactions to parent suicide. In A. Cain I. Fast (Eds.), Survivors of Suicide. Springfield, Ill.: Charles C. Thomas, 1972.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Neubauer, P. Trauma and psychopathology. In S. Furst (Ed.), Psychic trauma. New York: Basic Books, 1967.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Rado, S. Pathodynamics and treatment of traumatic war neurosis. Psychosomatic Medicine, 1942, 4, 362–368.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Hartmann, H. Essays on ego psychology: selected problems in psychoanalytic theory. New York: International Universities Press, 1964.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Freud, A.,& Burlingham, D. War and children. New York: International Universities Press, 1944.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Wangh, M. A psychogenic factor in the recurrence of war. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 1968, 49, 319–323.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Horowitz, M. Stress response syndromes. New York: Jason Aronson, 1976.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Freud, S. Remembering, repeating, and working through (1914). In J. Strachey (Ed.& Trans.), Complete psychological works, standard ed., vol. 12. London: Hogarth Press, 1958.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Lifton, R. The sense of immortality: On death and the continuity of life. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 1973, 33, 3–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Freud, S. Thoughts for the times on war and death (1915). In J. Strachey (Ed.& Trans), Complete psychological works, standard ed., vol. 14. London: Hogarth Press, 1957.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Terr, L. Forbidden games: Traumatic child’s play. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 1981, 20, 741–760.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Lifton, R., Olson, E. The human meaning of total disaster. Psychiatry, 1976, 39, 1–18.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Erikson, E. Childhood and society. New York: Norton, 1950.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1981 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Terr, L.C. (1981). Psychic Trauma in Children. In: Moos, R.H. (eds) Coping with Life Crises. The Springer Series on Stress and Coping. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-7021-5_24

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-7021-5_24

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-306-42144-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-7021-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics