More than 50 people have died, hundreds have been injured and thousands displaced in the wave of xenophobic violence that swept across South Africa in recent weeks. While media reports described the brutality of the attacks on foreign nationals –…
This paper presents counsellors' appraisals of the Wits Trauma Counselling Model which is used for the treatment of psychological trauma. The study was conducted with counsellors working at the Trauma Clinic of the Centre for the Study of Violence and…
This paper briefly describes the extent of violence in South Africa, and explores the resulting psychological and social consequences. As an introduction, brief definitions of violence and trauma are provided, as well as a brief description of violence in South Africa in the 1980s and 1990s. The paper then discusses the category of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the implications for a society with a high number of victims of violence – with a particular emphasis on the concept of vicarious traumatisation.
This paper explores how the process of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) could operate as psychologically rehabilitative mechanism. It focuses on the potentially numerous traumatised individuals who will come into contact with the TRC and their likely experience of the process. The core argument is that the TRC is not a sufficient process in itself to promote individual and collective psychological rehabilitation and that a range of psychological structures and strategies will be needed to run parallel to the TRC. Types of structures are suggested and the psychological implications of truth and reconciliation process highlighted throughout.
This paper outlines what different penal options can be used since the death penalty has been scrapped, noting alternatives to imprisonment.
This research was part of a continuing process aimed at developing the psychological profession into one which contributes meaningfully to the context in which it is situated, as well as into one which is taken seriously. The credibility of the psychological profession depends on it being able to offer effective services to a broad spectrum of people in diverse circumstances.