Truth and Reconciliation: A Necessity for Trauma Healing in Post Conflict Restructuring
Author(s)
Download Full PDF Pages: 01-07 | Views: 233 | Downloads: 82 | DOI:
Volume 12 - February 2023 (02)
Abstract
This paper contributes to the existing knowledge on the role played by truth, confession, and reconciliation as necessary ingredients for trauma healing in post-conflict restructuring. The article discussion shows to what extent these concepts are interconnected, and share a complex relationship with truth and reconciliation. It argues that the knowledge about past violence is hardly a canonical truth. It is at best a negotiated truth. This knowledge is inevitably a combination of facts and interpretations. This knowledge is sought and used for understanding past violence but also for paving the way toward the reconstruction of post-conflict societies. The article argues that confession offers a twofold opportunity; it provides knowledge of past violence, and acknowledgment of victims’ pain through perpetrators’ expression of remorse, although in a limited manner. Forgiveness is also discussed in relation to its essential meaning, the actors involved, and its purposes. Finally, reconciliation is built on two pillars, firstly, the proclamation of a seemingly achieved reconciliation; and secondly, the experiencing of reconciliation in everyday interaction between perpetrators and victims
Keywords
Truth, Reconciliation, Trauma. Forgiveness, Post-conflict restructuring
References
Bracken, P. & Petty, C. (Eds.). (1998). Rethinking the trauma of war. London: Free Association Books.
De Jong, J. (2002). Public mental health, traumatic stress, and human rights violations in low-income countries. A culturally appropriate model in times of conflict, disaster, and peace. In J. de Jong (Ed.), Trauma, war, and violence: Public mental health in a socio-cultural context. New York: Kluwer/Plenum.
Ferguson, N., Burgess, M., & Hollywood, I. (2010). Who are the Victims? Victimhood Experiences in Post agreement Northern Ireland. Political Psychology, 31(6), 857-886.
Fisher, Simon, Dekha Ibrahim Abdi, Jawed Ludin, Richard Smith, Steve William, and Sue William (2000). Working with conflict, skills and strategies for action. London, Zed Books.
Francis, David J. ed. (2008). Peace and conflict in Africa. London and New York, Zed books.
Friedman, M. J., & Marsella, A. J. (1996). Posttraumatic stress disorder: An overview of the concept. In A. J. Marsella, M. J. Friedman, E. T. Gerrity, and R. M. Scurfield (Eds.), Ethnocultural aspects of posttraumatic stress disorder: Issues, research, and clinical applications (11 - 32). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Green, B., Friedman, M., de Jong, J., Solomon, S., Keane, T., Fairbank, Donelan, B., & Frey-Wouters, E. (Eds.)(2003). Trauma interventions in war and peace: Prevention, practice, and policy. New York: Kluwer/Plenum.
Halpern, J., & Weinstein, H. M. (2004). Rehumanizing the Other: Empathy and Reconciliation. Human Rights Quarterly, 26(3), 561-583.
Herman, J. (1992). Trauma and recovery. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Higginbotham, N., & Marsella, A. (1988). International consulate and the homogenizations of psychiatry in Southeast Asia. Social Science and Medicine, 27, 553-561.
Honwana, A. (1997). Healing for peace: Traditional healers and post-war reconstruction in Southern Mozambique. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 3(3), 275-292.
Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (2003). Reconciliation after violent conflict: Bulls Tryckeri AB Halmstad, Sweden.
Malan, Jannie 2008. Understanding transitional justice in Africa. In: Francis, David J. ed. Peace and conflict in Africa. London and New York, Zed books. pp. 133–147.
Mason, T. David and James D. Meernik 2006. Conflict prevention and peacebuilding in post-war societies: Sustaining the peace. London and New York, Routledge.
McCallin, M. (1998). Community involvement in the social reintegration of former child soldiers. In P. Bracken & C. Petty (Eds.), Rethinking the trauma of war (pp. 60- 75). London: Free Association Books.
Oberschall, Anthony 2007. Conflict and peacebuilding in divided societies: Responses to ethnic violence. London, Routledge.
Sánchez, E and Rognvik, S. (2012). Building Just Societies: Reconciliation in Transitional Settings Enrique Sánchez and Sylvia Rognvik Accra, Ghana, 5-6 June 2012. United Nations Report.
Wessells, M. G. (1998b). The changing nature of armed conflict and its implications for children: The Graca Machel/UN Study. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 4(4), 321-334.
Cite this Article: