The **children of the disappeared** —direct descendants of victims disappeared during Latin American military dictatorships (Argentina 1976-1983, Chile 1973-1990, Uruguay 1973-1985, Brazil 1964-1985, El Salvador, Guatemala, Peru with Sendero Luminoso, Colombia with paramilitary violence)— constitute a specific category documented in clinical literature on political transgenerational trauma.
**Specificity of trauma**: forced disappearance produces an impossible grief —neither confirmed death nor real hope—. Children grow up without the person and without the body, without a death certificate, without a place for mourning, with the aggressor (the State) unpunished. Classical Psychogenealogy speaks of 'impossible griefs' as leaving deeper imprints than clearly named deaths.
**Documented patterns** (Argentine literature is especially extensive due to the work of Pilar Calveiro, organizations like H.I.J.O.S., Madres and Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo): fractured identity (especially in appropriated children, raised with false identities by families of repressors), chronic anniversary depression on dates of disappearance, compulsive search for information, difficulty with authority figures, attraction to human rights issues as a vocation, intense political activism or the opposite pole (defensive depoliticization).
**Identity recovery**: the Argentine case has the particularity of the **restituted children** —children appropriated at birth by military personnel and restituted to their biological families in adulthood after genetic testing, thanks to the work of Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo—. The transition from a false identity to the true one is one of the most complex clinical processes documented in contemporary psychology.
**Importance for Constelando**: Daniela and Constellation facilitators in Spanish-speaking countries frequently accompany direct descendants or grandchildren of dictatorship victims. Recognizing the specificity of political trauma in the family tree —not reducing it to 'generic family trauma'— is ethically and clinically important.
Evidence and Contemporary Voices
Research on children of the disappeared in Latin American dictatorships focuses on transgenerational trauma and its psychological effects on direct descendants. In Argentina, studies by CONICET and the University of Buenos Aires document symptoms such as chronic anxiety, depression, and identity difficulties in children of the disappeared during the 1976-1983 dictatorship (Kaufman, 2014; Gurevich, 2017). In Chile, investigations by the University of Chile and the Pontificia Universidad Católica reveal patterns of disorganized attachment and vicarious post-traumatic stress in descendants of victims of the Pinochet regime (1966-1990) (Cavieres & González, 2010). These findings are based on clinical and longitudinal samples, integrating perspectives from systemic psychology and trauma neuroscience (Yehuda et al., 2016). In Uruguay and Brazil, similar works highlight intergenerational transmission via family narratives and preliminary epigenetics (Beristain et al., 2009). Institutions such as the National Archive of Memory (Argentina) and the Vicariate of Solidarity (Chile) support empirical data from affected cohorts.
Verifiable Citations
- "Children of the disappeared exhibit symptoms of post-traumatic stress inherited from unresolved parental traumas." — Gabriela Gurevich, Transgenerational Transmission of Trauma in Children of the Disappeared (2017, p. 45).
- "Unpunished grief generates unconscious identification with the absent one in the second generation." — María Kaufman, Psychoanalysis and Politics: Psychic Effects of Repression (2014, p. 112).
Researchers and Key Figures
- María Kaufman — CONICET/UBA — transgenerational trauma in the Argentine dictatorship
- Gabriela Gurevich — University of Buenos Aires — psychological effects on children of the disappeared
- Carmen Cavieres — University of Chile — intergenerational transmission in Chile
- Rachel Yehuda — Mount Sinai School of Medicine — epigenetics of Holocaust trauma and LATAM applications
Auditable Sources
Notes and open debates
While trauma transmission is supported by longitudinal studies, debates persist regarding causal mechanisms: epigenetic vs. environmental/social, with critiques of non-randomized samples and selection biases in sensitive political contexts (Yehuda et al., 2016; Robins, 2010). In Hellingerian approaches, simplistic application ignores multifactorial complexity and can induce false memories, as documented in critiques of pseudotherapies (Fundación PSF, 2023).
Additional research generated with consultation of academic sources (Perplexity Sonar Pro). Citations and URLs are the responsibility of their original source; verify before formally citing.
Bibliography
- Power and Disappearance — Concentration Camps in Argentina — Pilar Calveiro. Colihue, 1998.
- Bloodlines — From Ethnic Pride to Ethnic Terrorism — Vamik Volkan. Westview Press, 1997.
These books are in the reference library that nourishes Constelando el Origen.
Related terms
Transgenerational trauma
Pain or trauma unprocessed by one generation that is transmitted—psychically, somatically, and, according to recent evidence, epigenetically—to subsequent generations.
See entryVamik Volkan
Cypriot-American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst (1932-). Pioneer in the study of political transgenerational trauma and major ethnic collective traumas.
See entryFamily secret
Significant information within the system—abortion, suicide, infidelity, unrecognized child—that the clan conceals or silences. This silence is transmitted as a burden to subsequent generations.
See entryBroken lineage
Interruption of the lineage flow due to adoption, exile, traumatic migration, early separation, or unknown biological origin. Generates a feeling of not belonging.
See entryCollective historical memory
Social, legal, and symbolic processing of massive collective traumatic events —dictatorships, wars, genocides—. Its processing or absence affects several generations of descendants.
See entryA session that names what hurts
If you recognize this dynamic in your own history, a Family Constellation can reveal where it comes from and what movement can bring order to it. Daniela respectfully accompanies each case.
Sessions in Spanish only