Trauma and PTSD Symptoms in Rwanda (original) (raw)
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Reconciliation potential of Rwandans convicted of genocide
The International Journal of Restorative Justice, 2019
This study examines the reconciliation potential of Rwandans incarcerated for the crime of genocide. Utilising survey data from 302 male and female prisoners incarcerated in the Rwandan Correctional System, this study explores genocide perpetrators' depression, anxiety, anger-hostility and somatic symptoms, levels of posttraumatic stress, degree of social support and attitudes towards unity and reconciliation. The data demonstrate that engaging in killing can have deep psychological impacts for genocide perpetrators. The data indicate that although more than two decades have passed since the genocide, perpetrators are experiencing high levels of genocide-related posttraumatic suffering. Perpetrators are persistently re-experiencing genocide, purposefully avoiding thoughts and memories of the genocide, and experiencing physical and emotional arousal and reactivity. The sample had a strong desire for all Rwandans to live in peace and unity. There is, however, an urgent need for physical and mental health interventions, as well as services that facilitate the rebuilding of family relationships well in advance of release. Improving the physical and mental well-being of both perpetrators of the genocide and victims can only be a positive development as Rwanda continues to build a unified, reconciled and resilient future.
European Journal of …, 2011
Victims (N = 200) of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and prisoners (N = 184) accused of genocidal acts reported their genocide-related emotions and outgroup perceptions before and after their participation to Truth and Reconciliation Gacaca trials. So did control groups of victims (N = 195) and prisoners (N = 176) not yet exposed to Gacaca. The data supported Durkheim's model of social rituals as cultural tools for transforming emotions, reasserting norms, and enhancing cohesion. Specifically, participation entailed the general reactivation of resignation negative emotions, the enhancement of shame among prisoners, and the decrease of shame among victims, whereas the opposite pattern occurred for antagonist emotions. Participation also enhanced social integration by reducing perceived outgroup homogeneity, decreasing ingroup selfcategorization, and increasing positive stereotypes among both victim and prisoner participants. Moreover, the increase in genocide-related emotions resulting from participation was associated to positive changes outcomes, suggesting that the increase of negative emotions is an important mechanism at work in collective events of this type. Enhancement of the perception of a positive emotional climate (solidarity and trust) was limited to perpetrator participants. Together, these findings show that Durkheim's model can be extended to restorative justice trials involving both victims and perpetrators.
The psychological correlates of transitional justice in Rwanda: A long-term assessment
Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 2020
This research was funded by an Insight Development grant awarded to the first and last authors by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (number 430-2014-00818). We thank the Rwandan National Ethics Committee, the Commission Nationale de Lutte Contre le Génocide, and the Rwandan National Unity and Reconciliation Committee for allowing this research to take place. We thank our research assistants for their invaluable help, Emmanuel Habumugisha, André Hakorimama, Marie-Chantal Ingabire, Emmanuel Karamira, Dancille Mukarubibi, and Jean-Baptiste Uwanjye. We thank Sara-Valérie Giroux, Canadian Doctoral student, for her priceless help in data collection. We thank Karen Brounéus and Jobb Arnold for their advice and the questionnaires that they kindly shared with us. Finally, and most importantly, we are immensely grateful to the individual Rwandans who participated in our study and welcomed us and our project with openness, benevolence and generosity. This is the PrePrint version. It may not exactly replicate the final published version of the article. It is not the copy of record. Published version of the article may be found at this link:
How Can It Be Possible ? Psychological Processes of Reconciliation After the Genocide in Rwanda
2018
reconciliation after the genocide in Rwanda” How can it be possible? This is what anyone asks when, hearing of the extreme cruelty and violence that occurred in Rwanda during the genocide of 1994, they learn that aggressors and victims live together once more as neighbors 25 years later. Psychology is of extraordinary value in explaining both the horror and the overcoming of it. We cannot explain the processes of interpersonal or national reconciliation without first understanding the dynamics of the conflict in general, and of the Rwandan conflict in particular. Before, during and afterwards, emotional, cognitive and behavioral processes take place, which affect those involved and make them capable of the best and the worst. This is the purpose of this article: to understand the psychological processes that lead to violent conflict and to develop the conditions for reconstruction and personal and social reconciliation, all illustrated with the case of Rwanda, one of the most releva...
Personal and Political Reconciliation in Post-Genocide Rwanda
Social Justice Research, 2011
The majority of scholarly research on Rwanda currently focuses on determining the causes of and participation in the genocide. In this paper, we explore a variety of questions that have come to the forefront in post-genocide Rwanda. In particular, we are concerned with the prospects for peace and justice in the aftermath of the gross abuses of human rights that occurred and, to that end, we consider the potential uses and limits of restorative justice initiatives in the process of healing and reconciliation in Rwanda. We argue that restorative justice initiatives have moved the country closer toward reconciliation than retributive measures, such as the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. That said, we also suggest that the Rwandan government, despite claims that it seeks to achieve reconciliation, has not shown a serious commitment to healing the wounds that persist between either individual Rwandans or the groups that they comprise. In the end, then, we make a case for the importance of pairing a comprehensive search for justice in Rwanda with a commitment to truth-telling and accountability by the victims and perpetrators of the genocide, as well as by current government officials.
Posttraumatic stress disorder, trauma, and reconciliation in South Sudan
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 2017
PurposeSouth Sudan is embroiled in a conflict that erupted in December 2013. This study examines what people in South Sudan think is necessary to achieve reconciliation and how trauma exposure and PTSD are associated with those beliefs.Methods1525 participants (51.0% female) were selected using random and purposive sampling in six states and Abyei. Participants reported on traumatic events, PTSD symptoms, and attitudes towards reconciliation mechanisms.ResultsResults indicated that 40.7% met symptom criteria for probable PTSD. Most participants thought reconciliation was not possible without prosecuting perpetrators or compensating victims and did not support amnesty. Participants with probable PTSD were more likely to endorse confessions (OR 2.42 [1.75, 3.35]), apologies (OR 2.04 [1.46, 2.83]), and amnesty (OR 1.58 [1.21, 2.08]), and to report that compensation (OR 2.32 [1.80, 3.00]) and prosecution (OR 1.47 [1.15, 1.89]) were not necessary for reconciliation. The more traumatic ev...
Reconciliation in the aftermath of violent conflict in Rwanda
PLOS Biology, 2005
Reconciliation in the aftermath of the history of violent conflict in Rwanda is approached as part of a set of deeply interrelated issues, such as individual and social suffering, justice, remembering and forg getting, truth-telling, accountability, forgiveness, trauma therapy, socio-therapy, human rights, and development. The article is based on literature study, conversations with people of all walks of life in Rwanda, and six years of research experience in this country of one of the authors. A major challenge addressed is if, and to what extent, internationally oriented concepts and programs and cultural specific approaches in the field of reconciliation are in conf flict with each other or whether they have the potential to reinforce each other.
2014
This article briefly discusses some efforts that Rwanda has made to recover from the genocide, ranging from trying perpetrators to creating just social arrangements. It also discusses problematic policies and practices that may interfere with reconciliation. It then describes work the author and his associates have engaged in to promote healing and reconciliation in Rwanda. First, they conducted training/workshops to help people understand the influences that lead to genocide and other great violence, and avenues to prevention, healing and reconciliation. Following this they created educational radio programs for the same ends. The article describes a highly popular radio drama in Rwanda, which has been broadcast since 2004. Evaluation studies of both the effects of the trainings and of the radio drama have found positive effects that are highly relevant for reconciliation. These include more positive attitudes toward the other group, more empathy, more willingness to say what one b...
Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 2014
This Special Thematic Section brings together eight papers that showcase different aspects of the contribution of psychology to the processes of recovery in Rwanda following the 1994 genocide. The Section is noteworthy in part because a majority of the papers have Rwandan authors. In summarizing the contributions I make six observations about the remarkable context of the genocide and its aftermath: a) it was distinctive from previous mass violence in its intensity and character; b) it has been characterized by bystander inaction and the problems of positioning outsiders to help; c) hundreds of thousands of accused or convicted perpetrators have lived alongside survivors; d) electronic media played a profound role not only in promoting violence but also in building peace; e) Rwanda has been the site of unprecedented societal interventions with political goals that have the character and content of social psychological experiments; and f) the role of memorialization in repairing or sustaining harm needs further examination. I conclude by noting that the study of recovery is clear proof that the genocide in Rwanda, as is the case with genocides of the past, failed to achieve its aims.