Le Learnin ings of f a Psychosocia ial l Approach when work rkin ing with ith Tort rture Vict ictim ims Heal ealin ing in in Exile ile . QPASTT March 27-28, 2018 argarcia@fordham.edu & Carlos M. Beistáin
Journey´s Proposal/ Road Map: PARTICIPATION PSYCHOSOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF RECOVERY CULTURAL LEARNINGS SPACES FOR THE REBUILDING OF THE SOCIAL FABRIC MEANING MAKING SOURCES & RESILIENCY INCLUSION AND INTEGRATION CO-SHAPING KNOWLEDGE AND MUTUAL SUPPORT FOCUSING ON THE PERSON & THE SITUATION AND NOT ON THE CONDITION REPARATION AND REHABILITATION AGENDA
Wellbeing
• How to work closely with the victims/survivors/rights-holders of conflict? • How to bridge the “ meaning-making ” gap between them and us? • How to do it with dignity and realism?
• Integrity, access & genuine mutual respect: if you ask … then you do • Listening to their own needs: case by case and collectively • “ It is time to talk ” • Avoiding dependencies • Promoting their own resources • Accompanying in time • Coordinating
Stories of trauma and resiliency: Fatima y Joumana
GREECE, Melissa Women
COLOMBIA, , Missing
WORDS, QUOTES AND SITUATIONS - COLOMBIA - GUATE - US - GREECE - ITALY - SRI LANKA - BIH - MEXICO - SPAIN, MIGRANTS & PAST
Universals
INDIVIDUAL and Collective Wellbeing - FACTORS • EMOTIONAL RESILIENCY: contentment, sense of security, hope, flexibility • SPIRITUALITY: meaningfulness of the world, personal beliefs. • RELATIONSHIPS: valued identity, sense of belonging, protection • FREEDOM: sense of choice, agency, ability to control, strategize and resist • CONTROL OVER RESOURCES: routines, prop. • COGNITION: Information and Education
COLLECTIVE Factors of f Wellbeing • NURTURANCE: care for vulnerable persons, opportunities for people to achieve their potential, tolerance for diversity • PROTECTION: responsible use of power, valuing life, safeguarding the integrity of people • PARTICIPATION: consultative decision-making, equity, information and education • SUSTAINABILITY: sense of shared present and future • CONTROL OVER RESOURCES and OPPORTUNITIES- ‘Civil Society”… land ownership, etc.
TESTIMONIES AND MOVING FORWARD
SUPPORTING PROCESSES
WORKSHOPS AND LEARNINGS
COLLECTIVE SPACES AND SERVICES
GENERATIONS
JU JUSTICE
Guatemala, , Colombia and and other context xts
Greece today- GRF y Melissa
“ Decir que la guerra es solo un infierno y nada más es una mentira ” A. Baricco (Homero, La Iliada) … La violencia y el caos que conlleva también tienen su “ belleza ”… y nos atrapa en espirales de agresión. La ‘ OTRA BELLEZA ’ de la paz, ¿es posible?
Thank you! Ευχαριστίες shukram/ ً اركُش Hvala! Gracias
“De Esperas y Esperanzas” Lo Psicosociales en JT … mirando en la misma dirección. La casa de la verdad no sabe de disciplinas. No vamos a aumentar el numero de testimonios recogidos de victimas de violaciones de derechos humanos, mientras no cambiamos algunas de nuestras practicas profesionales. Las víctimas necesitan confiar en nosotros, sentir que entendemos la complejidad de sus situaciones y sentirse acompañadas en el largo camino de la recuperación de su dignidad y/o la resistencia para continuar viviendo lo que les han dejado de vida, de la mejor manera posible … Se trata también de que confíen en nuestra capacidad básica para escucharles, reconocerles su experiencia de dolor y mantener los compromisos que establecemos con ellos. Ojalá nos equivocásemos y la caja de herramientas con que cuenta cada disciplina fuese suficiente, para paliar daños y asegurar la justicia y la convivencia social. Ojalá sólo el carpintero-abogado fuese capaz de arreglar toda la casa de las víctimas, o el fontanero-psicosocial por si solo, o incluso el médico forense, ejerciendo individualmente como electricista. Pero las víctimas muestran necesidades varias y debemos conocer ´ con calma ´ la naturaleza de sus demandas, para así coordinar mejor los servicios, y llamar a otros/nuevos profesionales (como los jardineros- economistas que pueden colaborar para crear proyectos productivos/laborales) y hacer mejor el trabajo, no “ nuestro ” trabajo, sino el que las víctimas piden y el que ellas nos dicen que necesitan. Hablando del trabajo con el dolor, Juan José Millas, un escritor español dice que “ se cuentan mejor los esqueletos que los corazones rotos ” , y si los colombianos con los que tenemos el gusto de trabajar, nos han enseñado a destacar como ideales la dignidad de la vida y también la dignidad de la muerte, trabajemos con ambos: con los esqueletos de los que perdieron la vida, y con las realidades y las palabras de verdad que nos cuentan los corazones rotos que han sufrido el impacto de la violencia y siguen vivos. Sólo escuchando mejor, y asegurándonos que todos escuchamos lo mismo, podemos de verdad crear mejores realidades. Y si no sabemos, tendremos que ir aprendiendo, unos con otros, con humildad y reconociendo que es difícil trabajar directamente con las víctimas, pero es la única manera de escribir informes, y formular regulaciones, con sentido y dignidad. Con el sentido y la utilidad que sólo pueden darle las personas que han vivido y viven violencia.
“ Some times, I don ´ t give a damn about the stories of the people, … just like when you watch a documentary after lunch … and then a voice inside tells me “ this should impress you ” … and have learnt that each pain is unique and singular, for reasons that we don ´ t get to understand.” Miguel Gil ´ s Diary. May 23, 2000.
“ … The central theme about our society is that it has got elements of a defeated society, people often look like they have given up the struggle… this sense of defeat is basically what we are fighting against; people must not just give in to the hardship of life, people must develop a hope, people must develop some kind of security to be together to look at their problems, and people must in this way build up their humanity. This is the point about conscientization … ” S. Biko
Responses • Referral mechanisms (Is it always possible?) • Victim/survivor support • Medical • Legal • Psycho-social ---------------------------------------------------- • Physical security • Community Advocacy work • Material (Lively hoods)
Different interests/lenses: 1. Survivors: “ improve/recover our lives ” … . Justice. research by ERF, UNHCR, Kakuma). “ The immediate needs: SAFETY, food, shelter, Justice, How to deal with the new roles of women in post-conflict situations. 2. ‘ Helpers ’ (locals & foreign): to improve our understanding of the dynamics of conflicts and to formulate “ justice strategies ” , to ultimately prevent and alleviate conflict situations and the realities of the survivors. Tensions: academy and ´ good- doers ´ with its tribes/egos, Integration of diff. disciplines? Theory and applied? what do “ people/beneficiaries ” have to say? 3. Elites designing transitions (to peace/democracy): “ to look forward ” 4. Perpetrators??
An attempt to define PSYCHOSOCIAL programs: 1. Inger Agger (1996) extensive: a list inclusive of more than 100 programs. A continuum from Individual Therapy to Community Education Programs . Balkans. 2. Martin Baro (1987) interactive. “ If the foundation for a people ’ s mental health lies in the existence of humanizing relationships, of collective ties within which and through which the personal humanity of each individual is acknowledged and in which no one ’ s reality is denied. Then, the building of a better and a more just society, is not only an economic and political problem; it is also essentially a mental health problem ” . Central America. 3. Renos Papadopoulos, Jack Saul: Dynamic ( “ pathology and hope go together… ” ). Trauma and its double meaning 4. Other ways of implementation: Lykes, B., Wessells, M. Staub, E. Hubbard, J. Bolton, P. Beristain, C.
Pragmatic Definition: WHEN did ‘ PSYCHOSOCIAL ’ became relevant? BiH and the EU- 1992. WHY? • EU guilt: political interests • A war shown on the MEDIA ( the + and – of Journalism in conflict) • EC recent funding • ISSUES: • RAPE • Concentration Camps • Srebrenica : mass killings/ exhumations
f “ Psychosocial ” Genesis of within HA work HIS ISTORY: 1. Intervention Pyramid (Maslow) 2. Sphere guidelines (2004/2006) 3. PSWG lenses (2005) 4. IASC guidelines (2007) 5. “ Wellbeing ” and “ Protection ”
Psychosocial approaches (variations in scopes and methods) Focus &Tools APPROACHES 1. Individual- PTSD. Distress - Therapy and Counseling (different modes). e.g. Survivors Guilt, Complex Grieff, PTSD, Depression, Rage, etc. 2. Community- Soc. fabric, t&f - Focus/Focal groups. PAR . - Education, Training e.g. local realities, gender roles, lively hoods, etc. 3. Human rights- Public regulations - Testimonies collection and advocacy. Network/Lobbying . e.g. justice processes Media + Legal Courts
Recommend
More recommend
