Generational Trauma: How Deportation Impacts Ethnic Identity Across Ages

This study investigates whether political violence shapes identities that persist across generations. We posit that victims develop strong ethnic identities, which they transmit to their descendants.

We analyze the aftermath of the 1944 deportation of Crimean Tatars from Soviet Ukraine. Deportees suffered immensely through forced starvation and disease during transit. Our multigenerational survey finds that descendants of those with more intense experiences show stronger ethnic identification, greater support for Crimean Tatar political leadership, increased hostility toward Russia, and higher political participation.

However, unlike other effects, the violence does not appear to fuel religious radicalization in younger generations despite strong intergenerational transmission of identity.