Objective: Few community studies have addressed the longitudinal course of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in traumatized refugees in early resettlement. This longitudinal study investigated changes from the first (T1) to the second interview (T2), 3 years later. The relationship between traumatic exposures and psychosocial factors/psychological symptom load were examined.



Method: Local health professionals performed the interviews, using rating scales and a structured questionnaire. A total of 240 (52%) refugees attended.



Results: Unchanged Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 and increase in Harvard Trauma Questionnaire and post-traumatic stress symptoms-16 between T1 and T2 were found, indicating the severity and chronicity of problems. Mean post-traumatic stress score was 15% above cut-off. Severe life-threatening trauma and present life in exile with unemployment and unresolved family reunion were risk factors.



Conclusion: Early diagnostic interview should be followed by targeted approach. Pinpointing those in need of specialist services is essential. An interdisciplinary approach is necessary in this work.

A 3-year follow-up study of psychosocial functioning and general symptoms in settled refugees

Although the literature in peace psychology has been growing rapidly, many American psychologists are unaware of how conflict is resolved and peace is conceptualized and achieved. This article reviews the long history and broadening scope of peace psychology and introduces a model of peace that is useful for organizing the literature. The model suggests that peace can be facilitated at four different points of intervention. The authors discuss relationships between positive and negative peace, structural and direct violence, and peacekeeping, peacemaking, and peacebuilding. They advance some challenges for peace psychologists and conclude that peace psychology is a crucial field for grappling with humanity's most pressing problems in the coming decades.

Peace psychology for a peaceful world.

The study explores the struggle to maintain and transform a ‘masculine’ identity acquired primarily as a consequence of serving as part of a township-based paramilitary force in the pre-democratic South Africa. Based on accounts of former Self-Defence Unit (SDU) members from the Kathorus region (a group of townships on the perimeter of Johannesburg), the article explores some of the forces that influenced young men to become involved in political violence, the status this bestowed upon them, and how aspects of their ‘militarised identity have come into conflict with new constructs of masculinity in a post-apartheid South Africa’. Although the experiences of South African ex-combatants have been documented in a number of reports and articles (Gear, 2002; Marks, 2001; Mashike & Mokalobe, 2003; Xaba, 2001), this article seeks to highlight the intractability of a particular form of masculine identity attained during the pivotal stage of early and late adolescent development. The negative consequences of this ...

The intractability of militarised masculinity : a case study of former Self-Defence Unit members in the Kathorus area, South Africa

The possible protective effect of family and activity (including work and employment training) on posttraumatic reactions in traumatized refugees living in a host society was explored. A total of 966 refugees participated in the study, the majority of whom had been exposed to war and/or torture trauma prior to arrival in Norway. The study sample consisted of two groups: one had been referred to a psychiatric outpatient clinic for evaluation or treatment, the other consisted of refugees interviewed in connection with a health examination upon arrival in the municipalities to which they were allocated. The study showed that presence of family and employment/training had positive effects on posttraumatic symptoms regardless of level of traumatic exposure. But the results also showed that the higher the level of exposure to traumatic events, the stronger the effect of family (spouse and/or children) seemed to be. The study illustrates the importance of implementing psychosocial measures with special emphasis ...

Family, activity, and stress reactions in exile

This thesis aims to interrogate the current practice of transitional justice from the viewpoint of the victims of the violations that it seeks to address. The study challenges approaches to legacies of violence that are rooted solely in the human rights discourse and that emerge from national and international elites, remote from those most impacted by conflict. The needs of victims of one of the most serious and intractable violations, disappearance, are investigated in two contexts emerging from conflict, Nepal and Timor-Leste, and the impact of ongoing transitional justice process on those needs evaluated. The aim is to understand how a victim-centred transitional justice process can be constructed.
Victims of conflict in both Nepal and Timor-Leste have little understanding of rights, articulating the needs, often the most basic, with which they are confronted on a daily basis. Whilst rights are the product of a discourse that claims to be global and universal, needs are necessarily local and particular, the product of culture and context. This drives the methodology of the study which is ethnographic, using qualitative research methods with families of the Missing. The research was conducted in a participatory way with Associations of Families of the Missing, with the aim of empowering victims’ organisations, and the results published in relevant languages in both contexts with the aim of impacting policy. The result of this engagement with more than 300 families of the Missing in the two states was a comprehensive understanding of the impact of disappearance. In contrast to the legalist orientation of the global transitional justice project victims do not see judicial process as a priority. Rather, they urgently seek an answer concerning the fate of the Missing and to retrieve human remains. The latter is motivated partly by traditional spiritual beliefs, particularly in Timor where the impact of malign spirits of the Missing is severe. As important are livelihood issues where families are struggling to cope with the loss of breadwinners and seek support to ensure economic security. In Nepal the social impact on wives of the Missing was extreme, with women stigmatised in family and community as a result of traditional patriarchy. In both contexts families sought recognition for both the Missing and themselves as victims, demanding a place in collective memory through memorials and other reparative process. 
The gap seen between the needs of victims and what transitional justice process has delivered is a result of the institutionalised and prescriptive approach the international community advances in all contexts, dominated by trials and truth commissions, that fail to resonate with the needs of victims remote from such institutions. Victims of violations require process that is rooted in the social and symbolic worlds in which they live and that accounts for the complex dynamics of post-conflict societies. They seek a transformative transitional justice that challenges the narrow agenda of political and ethnic elites and that resonates with the everyday experience of those most impacted by conflict. The study draws a map for the empowerment and mobilisation of victims of conflict to become actors in an emancipatory approach to legacies of violence.

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Addressing the needs of families of the Missing: A test of contemporary approaches to transitional justice

An interview study among mental-health professionals working with victims of war and violence in postwar Nicaragua suggests that the professionals frame their understanding of problems, methods of interventions, definitions of aims and goals, as well as their professional role, in a sociopolitical context rather than in a clinical or an academic one. They tell about war heroes becoming marginalized and excluded as the sociopolitical context changed, and about the onset of posttraumatic stress reactions in relation to poverty and social isolation. In response to these conditions, community-oriented psychosocial work, with emphasis on social reconstruction and reconciliation, is emphasized. The experiences of the professionals and their ways of framing and confronting postwar issues are discussed as important contributions to a contextual understanding of trauma and reactions to traumatic events. The role of cultural understandings and meaning systems in which events and reactions are embedded is highlighted.

From war hero to cripple: An interview study on psychosocial intervention and social reconstruction in Nicaragua.

Dissemination and Implementation of School-Based Health Promotion Programs: A Descriptive Comparison of Case Studies in Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic

There is a dearth of effective, evidence-based programming to support youth experiencing homelessness, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where the majority of these young people live. Programs focused on youth engagement and leadership appear to be promising means to effectively engage and promote positive outcomes in this population. By Youth for Youth (BYFY) is a peer-led youth leadership framework developed to promote youth engagement, empowerment, and skill development. To date, BYFY has been successfully implemented with promising process and outcome indicators for youth experiencing homelessness, both in Toronto and with Indigenous youth in Thunder Bay. In this article, we present the application of BYFY with 30 street-involved youth in Managua, Nicaragua. We highlight the key implementation factors leading to BYFY's success in Nicaragua as perceived by facilitators from the implementing organization, Covenant House International, and youth leaders. Using a General Inductive analysis of interview data, field notes, and artistic output generated by the project (rap video, graffiti art, street theater), we identify the processes that appeared to underlie positive outcomes observed in participants, including creating a sense of safety and providing opportunities to challenge negative self-perceptions. This article provides evidence for a scaleable model for youth engagement and empowerment that (a) is practical to implement in low-resource settings and (b) is effective at engaging street-involved youth across diverse cultures and contexts. We summarize practical implications and actionable measures that can be taken by stakeholders to capitalize on these findings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Marcia Castillo

Papers

From war hero to cripple: An interview study on psychosocial intervention and social reconstruction in Nicaragua.

Dissemination and Implementation of School-Based Health Promotion Programs: A Descriptive Comparison of Case Studies in Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic

By youth for youth: Empowering youth experiencing homelessness in Managua, Nicaragua.