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Marked Eip Final Draft
Marked Eip Final Draft
Gracelyn Ross
Professor Gordon
“The world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are strong at the broken places”
I first heard this quote in a powerful film called Broken Places directed and written by
Academy Award nominee, Roger Weisburg. Broken Places is a documentary on early childhood
adversity. This documentary poses the complex question of why some children can overcome
adversity and thrive, while others are left severely damaged. To answer this question, Weisburg
documented several families battling various forms of adversity over a 40-year time span,
recording from a time lapse perspective of how the families evolved. Through the moving 76
minute film, the audience gets the chance to peer into the lives of three families and their
personal battles with adversity followed by each of their feats of individual resilience. This
documentary has the ability to touch the hearts of viewers, as it did mine, and is an empowering
must see! I owe this documentary and its cast my utmost gratitude for raising my curiosity on
this topic and inspiring me to pursue my Extended Inquiry Project focusing on childhood trauma.
In my inquiry project, I will be addressing the impacts Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Commented [4]: Defined ACEs
For some of you who are new to this topic, you may be wondering what in fact are
ACEs? In 1998, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Kaiser Permanente Commented [5]: Defined CDC
caused a shift in the medical community's approach to disease by looking at the root of mental
and social health problems through addressing the concept of ACEs (Adverse 1-5). Adverse Commented [6]: Added in-text citations
Childhood Experiences are evaluated by using an ACEs test. As represented in the figure below,
this is a test formulated from ten questions intended to explore different childhood traumas based
The higher the score in said category or all categories, the more adverse childhood experiences a
person has been exposed to and, therefore, the higher likelihood of health and social problems. Commented [7]: Added comma
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National Council for Behavioral Health (2019), nearly half of adolescents (ages 0-17) in the
United States are exposed to adversity in their home lives. These adversities are linked to risky
health behaviors, chronic health conditions, low life potential, and even early death (About
Adverse). The original 1998 ACE study of 17,000 middle class citizens, documented a direct
correlation between peoples’ ACE scores to significant negative physical and mental health
outcomes that impacted more than 60% of those adults (Adverse 1-5). The picture below,
provided by the National Public Radio, illustrates some of the potential negative impacts ACEs Commented [8]: Changed from "NPR"
cause.
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I wanted to discover for myself how ACEs impacted the UNCC community around me. I
created a survey using the ten ACEs evaluating questions and asked classmates to complete the
anonymous survey. I did not receive as many responses back as I would have liked, nevertheless,
I appreciated the results I did receive. I learned that the top three ACEs that the people I
surveyed had experienced (1 being the most common) were:1) One or more household members
struggled with alcoholism or drug use 2) One or more household members struggled with a
mental illness and/or attempted to end their own lives 3) Parents have been separated or
divorced. I was not surprised that these were the top three results, but it is still very disheartening
to recognize how commonly these issues occur. These results as well as the 1998 ACE study
results, continue to be reaffirmed with more recent studies to conclude: As the number of ACEs
increase per child so does their susceptibility for these negative outcomes. Commented [9]: Added my survey feedback and
findings
The presence of ACEs does not guarantee that all children will experience these negative
consequences, but it does significantly increase their chances. The Broken Places film touches Commented [10]: Added comma
heavily on this concept with the main point addressing the question of why some children are
more or less likely to be emotionally taxed by adversity than others. In the film, the Chief of the
Division of Developmental Medicine at UCSF, Dr. Thomas Boyce, dissected this question and
gave a meaningful and easy understanding of this concept on the differences between children
who seem to be completely unfazed by childhood stressors and those who tend to be more
sensitive to their surroundings. Over his years of experience, he began to liken these two types of
children and identify them as either a ‘dandelion’ or an ‘orchid’. Boyce explains how the
majority of kids tend to be “dandelion children” and are resistant in terms of coping with stress.
However, the minority of kids are “orchid children,” and are biologically more reactive to their
circumstances. Like the flower, Boyce says, “The orchid child is the child who shows great
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sensitivity and susceptibility to both good and bad environments in which he or she finds herself
or himself” (Broken Places). I found this concept to be significant because it breaks down an Commented [11]: Changed from "meaningful"
abstract and complex thought into something more simplistic. This analogy can be applied to
everyday ideals and reminds us to approach others with compassion because everyone is
Pictured: Dr. Thomas Boyce and his book The Orchid and the Dandelion
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Science and medical professionals are beginning to understand the biology behind
multigenerational trauma and how the impact of even one childhood experience can pass on
through generations. The epigenetics field has started to look into how trauma can “activate”
certain genes leading to negative physical and mental consequences. (Coffey). Commented [12]: Removed a sentence before that
seemed repetitive
To understand the root of childhood stressors, it is important that we first understand the Commented [13]: Added comma
role of stress. Stress itself is a subjective experience to each individual. If one is in a healthy and
supportive environment, this stress may not be toxic. On the other hand, toxic stress can be
experienced when a child is exposed to prolonged and frequent adversity. This prolonged
activation can disrupt all parts of the brain and body leading to the negative outcomes addressed
earlier (Adverse 1-5). Nevertheless, stress is an individual experience for everyone, and for one Commented [14]: Added comma
child, what may seem to be a traumatic experience may be merely a hiccup in another child's life, Commented [15]: Added comma
Another key point to recognize when addressing childhood stressors is the biology behind
trauma. As a child grows and acquires new experiences, there are three main influential systems
that are present: social/behavioral, neuroendocrine, and genetic. One's ability to overcome the
different adverse situations life has to offer depends heavily on the interactions between these
three systems. In recent studies, scientists have observed several key factors that contribute to
childhood traumas including facts such as: the brain is not fully structurally complete at birth, Commented [16]: added "the"
structural development of the brain can be affected by one's environment, and effective Commented [17]: Changed from "cues
stimulation requires interactions with other people (Adverse 1-5). All of these facts help to shed
When looking at ACEs from a neurological standpoint, there are many pieces to this
complex puzzle. After a child undergoes a traumatic experience, psychological and psychosocial
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mechanisms are known to then be activated in the brain and, in some situations, cause mental Commented [18]: Added comma
disorders. Due to “cognitive compromising” in the brain towards threatening stimuli, these
alterations impact functional day-to-day behaviors that reside in the stress and emotion Commented [19]: Added dashes
processing parts of the brain. These respective brain regions include the hippocampus, ACC, and
amygdala, and all become especially vulnerable to ACEs. Several studies have shown that
exposure to selective ACEs affect the sensory systems differently, dependent on the percent of
Psychologists and other physicians are beginning to see the benefit in identifying Commented [20]: Removed unnecessary sentence
before this
children's ACEs in order to combat social problems due to childhood stressors before they
become detrimental. Physicians are looking into preventative measures to reduce the likelihood
of these stressors negatively impacting children's futures. Dr. Rahil Briggs, National Director of
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Healthy Steps, (a program providing behavioral health and parenting interventions for parents
and children), identifies innovative solutions for preventative mental health care. Some of these
solutions include maternal depression screenings, parental ACE screenings, the Ages and Stages
Questionnaires (Broken Places). Another point for optimism is that there are now several
effective clinical treatments for kids suffering from adverse childhood experiences including
Based on the information provided, there are many variations of impacts ACEs have on
children including mental, physical, and emotional imbalances. That said, pinpointing a definite Commented [21]: Added comma
negative outcome that affects every child in the same way is not simple. Individual experiences
cause individual negative impacts. However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel of ACEs. As Commented [22]: Changed from "there is however"
research on childhood traumas becomes more prevalent, more evidence based treatments similar
to the Trauma Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Parent-Child Interactive Therapy are
being created. The question remaining is what kinds of early childhood interventions are most
effective at strengthening resilience, and how can we make these interventions widely available
to the children most at risk? In the words of director Roger Weisburg, “I believe that the answers
to these questions hold the keys to solving the greatest public health crisis we face today.”The Commented [23]: Added to conclusion in order to tie
in Broken Places film
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greater the awareness on adverse childhood experiences is shared, the sooner we can find more
definite solutions to eliminate some of the negative outcomes these pesky ACEs cause.
Herzog, Julia I, and Christian Schmahl. “Adverse Childhood Experiences and the Consequences
on Neurobiological, Psychosocial, and Somatic Conditions Across the Lifespan.”
Frontiers in Psychiatry, Frontiers Media S.A., 4 Sept. 2018,
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6131660/.
Starecheski, Laura. “Take The ACE Quiz - And Learn What It Does And Doesn't Mean.”
NPR, NPR, 2 Mar. 2015, www.npr.org/sections/health-
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shots/2015/03/02/387007941/take-the-ace-quiz-and-learn-what-it-does-and-doesnt-
mean.
“UK's First Child Trauma School Planned in Norwich by Experts.” b**p, 2 Oct. 2018,
www.nebeep.com/uks-first-child-trauma-school-planned/.