These 5 books explore the efficacy of trigger warnings and ask if they actually work or do more harm than good.

5 Books That Explore The Efficacy Of Trigger Warnings

1. Trigger Warning: Is the Fear of Being Offensive Killing Free Speech? by Mick Hume

Available at Amazon

Available at Bookshop

Do we really have the right to say the “wrong” thing?

2. The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt

Available at Amazon

Available at Bookshop

While not solely focused on trigger warnings, this book discusses how certain well-intended measures, like trigger warnings, might affect the mental resilience of individuals.

3. Trigger Warning: A Novel by Robert Klose

Available at Amazon

Available at Bookshop

Happily ensconced as a tenured Professor of Biology at the small Skowhegan College in the wilds of Maine, Tymoteusz Tarnaszewski—who goes by the moniker “T”—suddenly finds himself in unknown territory when an incident in a colleague’s classroom motivates the college administration to issue a blanket policy requiring the installation of “trigger warnings” in all syllabi.

4. The Case Against Free Speech: The First Amendment, Fascism, and the Future of Dissent by P. E. Moskowitz

Available at Amazon

Available at Bookshop

This book examines the complexities of free speech, including the debate surrounding trigger warnings and their impact on discourse and dissent.

5. Unsafe Space: The Crisis of Free Speech on Campus by Tom Slater

Available at Amazon

Available at Bookshop

Focused on the state of free speech at universities, this book delves into the controversies surrounding trigger warnings, safe spaces, and the challenges they pose to open discourse.

Related: 10 Must-Read Campus Novels and 5 Must-Read Novels Set In Colleges And Universities

Receive top book recommendations directly in your inbox.