Reconciliation Between Trauma And Healing And Reconciliation

Judith Herman, a psychiatric researcher, states in her book, Trauma and Recovery, “the conflict between the will to deny horrible events and the will to proclaim them aloud is the central dialectic of psychological trauma.” (Herman 1) She captures the two main schools of thought existing regarding the treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Some advocate the act of recounting the traumatic events, while others do not consider this to have therapeutic benefits. This divide was seen in World War 1 and the treatment of shell shock patients and is still seen today. In this paper, the presence of storytelling and lack thereof in traumatic shock treatment from WWI onward will be observed.

Reconciliation has been a somewhat popular issue in Canadian academia and in Canadian society in general. Reconciliation in the Canadian context is defined as a restoration of the relationship between the Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous people due to the historical injustices, that continue to affect Indigenous peoples even to this day, committed by the Government of Canada against the Indigenous peoples. This is a massive undertaking that will require the participation of both Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous peoples alike. A project of this magnitude will not be an easy task to accomplish, as undoing over 100 years of trauma to the Indigenous peoples is not something that can be undone over night, but rather it will take decades to accomplish. There will be many obstacles in the path of reconciliation that will have to be overcome. However, reconciliation is the best opportunity to repair the relationships between the Indigenous peoples and the non-Indigenous peoples because it makes sense for all Canadians to be involved, the Government of Canada is backing the reconciliation process and some work to repair the relationship has already been done and has beneficial results for everyone.

Jane is a nine year old girl who has been brought in to therapy by her mother for stealing, being destructive, lying, behaving aggressively toward her younger siblings, and acting cruelly to animals. Jane has also been acting clingy and affectionate toward strangers.

Violence is not always the answer to the world’s problems, but it is a great way bring attention to the cause of the problem. Peaceful negotiations is the only way to ensure that the aggressors and opposition both come to an agreement about the best outcome of their situation. Violence creates hate and hate in turn leads to more violence in the long-run thus continuing humanities cycle of self

There have been findings that have concluded that victims who partook in the restorative justice practices experienced a huge decrease in post-trauma symptoms (Dancig-Rosenberg, and Galt, 2013). Victims finally get the chance to talk about what happened to them, how they

In order for conflict to be resolved both sides must understand one another’s concerns and be willing to compromise, thus understanding is the first step to resolution. According to Varshney (2001), “promoting communication between members of different religious communities, civic networks often make neighborhood-level peace possible. Routine engagement allows people to come together and form organizations in times of tension” (p. 375). Additionally, the Varshney (2001) article states that if institutions are created that cater to the cultural, economic, and social needs of both sides then the support for peace in the community become strong. Getting people to try to see eye to eye and co-exist without conflict is a great solution to ethnic conflict. According to constructivists ethnicity and in turn ethnic conflict is what people make of it and that race can be made and erased. According to this idea, resolution can come from getting people to see ethnicity and ethnic conflict differently by promoting communication.

If the parties reach a solution, it may be necessary to repair the relationships that may have been damaged during the escalated conflict

They discuss the crime and what impact it has had on both the victim and the offender. Restorative process consists of individuals who give support to the offender and the victim during their conversation. There are mediators which help the victim and the offender in the discussion of the impact of the crime and try to help resolve any issues. This process is generally separated into three different portions; these are the preparation for the pre-conference, the conference, and the follow up conference.

Conflict Resolution is an essential element of life but a task filled with so many diverse issues that not many can engage it without feeling a bit unprepared.  Through the grace of God we have been given a wonderful ministry of reconciliation and direct commands to live at peace with others. The core outcome of this project is to allow you to practice the principles of conflict resolution laid forth in the Peacemaker text.

Theoretically significant to conflict is social identity theory. It allows “predictions to incorporate who is likely to perceive and act in group terms, to remain committed to the group in times of crisis” Turner (1999), Doosje & Ellemers, (1999). Bar-Tal stresses conflict exists when an incompatible goal exists between two groups. The question of when incompatibility sets become important in understanding the cause of inter-ethnic or communal conflicts for instance, even more importantly; conflict within ingroup. Inter-ethnic or communal conflict because within the scope of peacebuilding, that is the point where building peace thrives the most. There is an assumption that for peacebuilding to be

building peace is a process which begins from within, and that it is our responsibility to

This process can position the communication process for exoneration and forgiveness which give a high probability in re-establishing a balance relationship. Establishing relational truth and constructive entitlement which is guided by the therapist, the wrongdoer within the family system can give insight to show evident of the hurt he/she has caused. This can lead the wrongdoer to the process of relational trust moving to a level of restoration and mending the broken relationship (Mauldin, & Anderson, 1998).

My personal reconciliation vision/goal was to help the young indigenous children out with tutoring and in view them and get an insight on their view, as well as educate people about the Indigenous history as I believe it is not recognised enough. For the tutoring I got an insight on Indigenous Australians view on reconciliation and saw what their goals were after school. I wanted to personally know if they wanted to make a change and to see what kind of help they get from the wider community such as tutoring. To educate people about the history I spent a day with an exchange student from Italy and gave him an insight and information on the history and what happens in todays society with that subject. I have a very strong passion for this subject

During this type of healing circle, the offence will be discussed as well as how it affected the victim and the community and the relationship between them and the offender (Justice Education Society, 2016). Not only does the circle attempt to heal community ties, the circle also focuses on the offender and the fundamental causes of their offence (Justice Education Society, 2016). Following a healing circle that is directed towards offenders and victims, a consensus is taken to decide the subsequent steps that should be taken by the offender to correct the harms caused by their actions (Justice Education Society, 2016). These steps could include specialized counseling or treatment programs, community work service, potlatch or other traditional remedies, direct restitution to the victim or community and in some cases, unique and creative solutions emerge (Justice Education Society, 2016).

Negotiated forgiveness consists of the perpetrator and the victim to confront one another and discuss the motives and understand the perpetrator’s intentions. With the dialogue between the two opposing parties, reconciliation can finally emerge. Kraft states the need for negotiated forgiveness, “In the context of truth commissions, unilateral forgiveness is forgiveness, and negotiated forgiveness is reconciliation. During truth commissions, forgiveness appears as an internal disengagement from the perpetrator, independent of the actions of the perpetrator. In contrast, reconciliation is a dialectical process of acceptance, involving direct interactions between perpetrators and victims,” (Kraft 115). This is why reconciliation is extremely important, to resolve reconciliation is essential in promoting peace. With a strong understanding of the contrast between forgiveness and reconciliation, one can intensely evaluate the process of reconciliation during the events of the TRC.