AbstractTruth telling has come to play a pivotal role in postconflict reconciliation processes around the world. A common claim is that truth telling is healing and will lead to reconciliation. The present study applies recent psychological research to this issue by examining whether witnessing in the gacaca, the Rwandan village tribunals for truth and reconciliation after the 1994 genocide, was beneficial for psychological health.

Oorlogsslachtoffers worden in veel (maar zeker niet alle) Europese landen direct gezien en opgevangen als mogelijke traumapatiënten. In 1945 was het woord trauma nog onbekend en de posttraumatische stressstoornis nog niet uitgevonden. Hoe dacht men in die tijd over de mogelijke gezondheidsschade van bijvoorbeeld kampoverlevenden, ex-gevangenen en militairen? Welke groepen slachtoffers konden in de diverse landen aanspraak maken op medische en financiële zorg?

The aim of the present research was to examine the experience of extended periods of immigration detention from the perspective of previously detained asylum seekers and to identify the consequences of these experiences for life after release. The study sample comprised seventeen adult refugees (sixteen male and one female, average age 42 years), who had been held in immigration detention funded by the Australian government for on average three years and two months.

There is now ample evidence from the preclinical and clinical fields that early life trauma has both dramatic and long-lasting effects on neurobiological systems and functions that are involved in different forms of psychopathology as well as on health in general. To date, a comprehensive review of the recent research on the effects of early and later life trauma is lacking. This book fills an obvious gap in academic and clinical literature by providing reviews which summarize and synthesize these findings.