Community-Based Psychosocial Work to Change the Cycle of Violence in Post Conflict Areas

Abstract

‘If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together’, says Lilla Watson (The source of this quotation is credited to a speech made by Lilla Watson at the 1985 United Nations Decade for Women Conference in Nairobi). How can we collectively and meaningfully intervene to disrupt the cycle of violence which often takes place in post-conflict areas? Violence, displacement, loss of resources and the breakdown of the social fabric of family and community life often lead to ongoing cycles of violence, including revenge, displaced aggression such as domestic violence and sexual assault, early marriages, crime, corruption and extremism. Learning from community-based interventions in South Africa and Kurdistan, this paper asks provocative questions about: the model of justice that we use in our work to promote reconciliation; participatory community development; holistic support which includes economic strengthening and education; drawing on traditional and religious cleansing rituals; working with survivor support groups to address their needs; and solidarity movements for prevention of conflict, abuse, inequality and division.

This paper draws extensively on work at SINANI (www.survivors.org.za), a non-profit, non-governmental organisation (NGO) from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.