Collective trauma cycle: The healing role of reconciliation, forgiveness and restorative justice in collective traumas

Abstract

Although collective traumas have a serious impact on the mental health of the community, the real challenge is solving the problem of how to live together after all committed persecutions. In countries like Rwanda, South Africa, Yugoslavia, Chile and Uruguay, trauma victims often had to live side by side with torturers, which has led to almost insurmountable problems in the community's reconstruction process and the healing of collective wounds had to deal with issues such as truth, justice, compensation, restoration, forgiveness and reconciliation. Collective trauma can be solved with both individual and societal studies to prevent generational transmission. For peace building through breaking the cycle of victimization and aggression, it is necessary to approach ethnic and transnational conflicts with a peaceful problem-solving approach involving truth, understanding, reconciliation, forgiveness and restorative justice. Above all, to break the chain that transfers the feelings of hatred, shame and guilt to one another, it is necessary the victims, the offenders and their partners to meet each other and their consciences.