Introduction
The dilemma that many countries, societies, and communities inflicted by the history of mass violence cripple with revolve around how to work through trauma. Healing and reconciliation are crucial to world peace and ending the cycles of conflicts. The idea is to ensure people who have suffered collective trauma are able to heal as a way of preventing it from playing in their children. Additional sources will be incorporated into the paper to provide an in-depth overview of children’s experiences with trauma. Most importantly, this introduction essay will rely extensively on chapter 15 of the book, written by Lambourne and Niyonzima (2016), and two additional studies. They include Berckmoes et al. (2017), a qualitative study of why some children thrive despite duress, and Ndimurwimo & Mbao (2015) titled Rethinking Violence. The overriding point in this text is that many people who have experienced collective trauma due to severe human rights violations and genocide transfer their pain to their children. It therefore follows that by breaking the trauma cycles brought on by these patterns of violence, countries, societies, and communities will be able to promote peace and avert further atrocities.
Conceptual Spine
The guiding concepts vital to healing and reconciliation include capacity-building and self-help. Capacity building is the process of enhancing the knowledge, talents, procedures, and assets that enable organizations and communities to endure, adapt, and prosper in a rapidly changing world. On the other hand, self-help is using one’s efforts and resources to complete tasks independently of others. Integrating locally established techniques for recovery and reunification following trauma with self-help and peacebuilding ideas might help foster community resilience and social trust (Lambourne & Niyonzima, 2016). Berckmoes et al. (2017), identified family cohesion and specific practices such as monitoring, supervision, and involvement as the most critical techniques for ensuring the pain experienced does not spill over to the next generations. In essence, self-help and capacity-building are key approaches to healing and breaking the “intergenerational continuity of violence” (Berckmoes et al., 2017). The same views were echoed by Ndimurwimo and Mbao (2015) who maintained that the International Bill of Human Rights was proclaimed to help save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. Generally, these principles serve as the foundation for the definition of healing after violence as a cultural, spiritual, social, and psychological process.
Background on the Topic and Themes
Many failed peace attempts prompted the need to break the generational cycle of conflict in Burundi. In Burundi, using violence as a political tactic resulted in coups frequently happening whenever there was even the appearance of political stability. Various rebel organizations fighting the Tutsi-dominated security forces and militia emerged due to the Hutu rebel movement’s factional divides (Lambourne & Niyonzima, 2016). Conflicts within the Tutsi elite contributed to the violent ascent to political power. The resounding theme is that there is a need for transitional justice to this problem. Another important and yet dominant theme revolves around the need to break the cycle of violence through healing and reconciliation.
Theoretically, this approach fits within three frameworks: institutional reforms, prosecuting perpetrators, and Reparations. Firstly, institutional reforms work as a transitional justice process that seeks “to affirm victims as citizens and rights holders and to build trust between all citizens and their public institutions” (Matei, and de Castro García, 2019, p. 717). When such reforms are structured and implemented in an inclusive and transparent manner, they tend to achieve the desired outcomes. For instance, the peace talks in Burundi aimed at integrating various armed political groups into Burundian institutions. Secondly, to prosecute perpetrators, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was developed, one year after the 1994 genocide, by the Security Council. ICTR was established with the intention of trying individuals suspected of committing war crimes.
The last framework the volume fits within is reparations derived from reparative justice. This is a type of justice that aims at repairing harms resulting from gross human rights violations or even structural violence. In reference to the topic of healing and reconciliation, reparations are not just about righting the wrongs of the past – it is about acknowledging that injustices were done that affected the entire community. It is important to note that acknowledgment is a critical step in the healing process. Additionally, despite the atrocities and delayed justice, resilience is a central element for peace during the healing process.
Introduction and Description of Each Article
The prevailing point in this Duet chapter revolves around understanding how approaches to transitional justice and peacebuilding can be more localized through addressing priorities with regard to healing and reconciliation. Therefore, the first article that fits this chapter was written by Berckmoes et al. (2017). The aim of this study was to determine how caregiving impacts “processes of reproducing violence and resilience among children in conflict-affected Burundi” (Berckmoes et al., 2017, p. 5). Children are the main victims of violence and, often, the primary vessel for the vicious cycle of hate. Continued exposure to violence results in vicarious traumatization (Molnar et al., 2020). While all the pillars of transitional justice cannot be applied here, institutional reforms, especially in the caregiving sector, are emphasized through concepts like capacity building. Berckmoes et al. (2017) argue that a strong positive relationship exists between effective caregiving and resilience among children. The Salvation Army International (2020) recently released a song targeting children, encouraging them to “let’s all sing for peace” (00:21) since they are the pillars of the nation. Generally, caregivers, educators, and influencers must teach children always to choose peaceful resolutions.
Another article from the University database that is essential to addressing the approaches to healing and reconciliation after conflicts is “Rethinking violence, reconciliation, and reconstruction in Burundi.” In this paper, the authors argue that the resources for conflict resolution are still limited since the national reconciliation programs in Burundi are uncertain (Ndimurwimo & Mbao, 2015, p. 849). Essentially, it must be emphasized that Burundi lacks an effective transitional justice paradigm, which has encouraged a climate of impunity and fostered egregious human rights abuses. As a result, this article stresses that post-conflict governments have failed due to a lack of accountability and truth-telling.
In general; the two writings connect because they address at least one of the four transitional justice frameworks, institutional reforms which is a form of building capacity. In their article, Ndimurwimo and Mbao (2015) identified UN Security Council Resolutions and peace agreements as one such reform that aimed at bringing national reconciliation and reconstruction to the country. Despite efforts by this institution to bring healing, several issues such as mass killings and other crimes remain unaddressed. This explains why the article recommended the adoption of a comprehensive translational justice model to help bring healing and reconstruction. A similar pattern is replicated in Berckmoes et al. (2017) with a focus on building capacity through resilience. Resilience in this article was described as the capacity to bounce back to normal after experiencing trauma. According to Berckmoes et al. (2017), resilience “results from interactions between the child’s characteristics, motivations, and actions, and the ecological environment in which they are embedded” (p. 7). It is clear from the article that there is a strong correlation between affectionate caregiving and children’s resilience.
Conclusion
In brief, the overarching idea is that transitional justice can help break the intergenerational cycle of violence. Essentially, this resonates with the book’s theme that emphasizes psychosocial approaches to reconciliation. The first article stresses the need to end hate through effective caregiving, while the second affirms government institutions’ role in achieving peace. Overall, the general approach should focus on understanding how people may reproduce violence and how to avoid such a cycle of conflict from happening.
References
Berckmoes, L. H., De Jong, J. T., & Reis, R. (2017). Intergenerational transmission of violence and resilience in conflict-affected Burundi: A qualitative study of why some children thrive despite duress. Global Mental Health, 4 (2) 1-12. Web.
Lambourne, W., &Niyonzima, D. (2016). Breaking cycles of trauma and violence: Psychosocial approaches to healing and reconciliation in Burundi. In P. Gobodo-Madikizela (Ed.), Breaking intergenerational cycles of repetition: A global dialogue on historical trauma and memory (pp. 291-305). Verlag Barbara Budrich.
Matei, F. C., & de Castro García, A. (2019). Transitional justice and intelligence democratization. International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, 32(4), 717-736. Web.
Ndimurwimo, L., &Mbao, M. (2015).Rethinking violence, reconciliation and reconstruction in Burundi. Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal, 18(4), 847-900.
The Salvation Army International. (2020). ‘Let’s all sing for peace’ – The Salvation Army in Burundi launches song ahead of elections [Video]. Web.