Victim Healing and Truth Commissions [electronic resource] : Transforming Pain Through Voice in Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste /
Guthrey, Holly L.author.
This volume contributes to the growing body of transitional justice literature by providing insight into how truth commissions may be beneficial to victims of mass violence, based on data collected in Timor-Leste and Solomon Islands.  It contains empirical, comparative research that draws on literature in the fields of victim psychology, procedural justice, and transitional justice.  Ultimately, this study is guided by the puzzle of why truth-telling in post-conflict settings has been found to be both helpful and harmful to victims of mass violence. Existing studies have identified a range of positive benefits and negative consequences of truth-telling for victims; however, the reasons why some victims experience a sense of healing while others do not after participating in post-conflict truth commission processes continue  to remain unclear. Hence, to address one piece of this complex puzzle, this book explores the illuminating question: What pathways lead from truth-telling to victim healing in post-conflict settings? One answer, this book argues, may be voice.  Building on the proposition that having voice—a key component of procedural justice—can help individuals to overcome the disempowerment and marginalisation of victimisation, this book investigates voice as a causal mechanism that can create pathways toward healing within truth commission public hearings.   Comparative, empirical studies that investigate how truth-telling contributes to victim healing in post-conflict settings are scarce in the field of transitional justice and this book begins to fill an important gap in the existing body of literature. From a practical standpoint, by enhancing understanding of how truth commissions can promote healing, the findings and arguments in Victim Healing and Truth Commissions: Transforming Pain Through Voice in the Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste provide insight into how the design of transitional justice processes may be improved in the future to better respond to the needs of victims of mass violence.  .
Description based upon print version of record.
""Acknowledgements""; ""Contents""; ""Chapter-1""; ""Introduction""; ""1.1 Mass Violence and Victim Needs During Transitions Toward Sustainable Peace""; ""1.2 Outline of Findings""; ""References""; ""Chapter-2""; ""Healing and Truth Commissions: Competition or Complement?""; ""2.1 Why Focus on Healing""; ""2.2 Healing: A Complex Goal After Mass Violence""; ""2.2.1 Conceptualising Healing: Components and Processes""; ""2.3 Truth Commissions: A Restorative, Victim-Centred Response to Mass Violence""; ""2.3.1 Truth Commission Goals""; ""2.3.2 Truth Commissions as Participatory Processes""
""2.3.3 Truth Commissions as Healing Enterprises""""Conclusion""; ""References""; ""Chapter-3""; ""Theories Explaining the Healing Potential of Public Truth-Telling: Linking Voice, Truth Commissions, and Healing""; ""3.1 Testimony Method and Healing""; ""3.2 Theories of Justice and the Role of Voice""; ""3.3 Giving Testimony in Truth Commissions: Possibilities for Voice and Healing""; ""3.3.1 Empowerment""; ""3.3.1.1 Importance of Silence""; ""3.3.2 Catharsis""; ""3.3.3 Being Acknowledged""; ""Conclusion""; ""References""; ""Chapter-4""; ""Research Design and Methods""
""4.1 Choosing the Investigation Method""""4.2 Operationalising Key Concepts""; ""4.3 Case Selection""; ""4.4 Developing the Research Instrument: Semi-Structured Interview Questionnaire""; ""4.5 Sampling Strategy""; ""4.6 Data Collection""; ""4.7 Ethical Issues""; ""4.8 Data Analysis and Presentation""; ""4.9 Limitations""; ""Conclusion""; ""Reference""; ""Chapter-5""; ""Timor-Leste: Case Study Analysis""; ""5.1 Case Background: Timor-Leste""; ""5.1.1 Indonesian Occupation""; ""5.1.2 Women and the Resistance""; ""5.1.3 Santa Cruz Massacre""
""5.1.4 Path to Independence and Subsequent Violence""""5.2 Post-Conflict Justice Efforts""; ""5.2.1 Judicial Initiatives""; ""5.2.1.1 Ad-hoc Tribunal""; ""5.2.1.2 Special Panels for Serious Crimes""; ""5.2.2 Commission for Reception, Truth, and Reconciliation""; ""5.3 Field Research Findings and Analysis: Giving Testimony to the CAVRâ€?Opportunities for Healing Through Voice""; ""5.3.1 Empowerment""; ""5.3.1.1 Limitations on Victim Storytelling""; ""5.3.2 Catharsis""; ""5.3.2.1 Feeling Distress Related to Giving Testimony""; ""5.3.3 Social Acknowledgment""; ""5.4 Other Findings""
""5.4.1 Clear Communication of CAVR Purpose and Intended Outcomes""""5.4.2 Process Outcomes and Healing: Unmet Expectations and Continuing Needs""; ""5.4.2.1 Justice""; ""5.4.2.2 Truth""; ""5.4.2.3 Apology""; ""Conclusion""; ""References""; ""Chapter-6""; ""Solomon Islands: Case Study Analysis""; ""6.1 Case Background: Solomon Islands""; ""6.2 Post-conflict Justice Efforts""; ""6.2.1 Reconciliation Efforts""; ""6.2.2 Tension Trials""; ""6.2.3 Solomon Islands Truth and Reconciliation Commission""
""6.3 Field Research Findings and Analysis: Giving Testimony to the TRCâ€?Opportunities for Healing Through Voice""
Includes bibliographical references and index.
This volume contributes to the growing body of transitional justice literature by providing insight into how truth commissions may be beneficial to victims of mass violence, based on data collected in Timor-Leste and Solomon Islands.  It contains empirical, comparative research that draws on literature in the fields of victim psychology, procedural justice, and transitional justice.  Ultimately, this study is guided by the puzzle of why truth-telling in post-conflict settings has been found to be both helpful and harmful to victims of mass violence. Existing studies have identified a range of positive benefits and negative consequences of truth-telling for victims; however, the reasons why some victims experience a sense of healing while others do not after participating in post-conflict truth commission processes continue  to remain unclear. Hence, to address one piece of this complex puzzle, this book explores the illuminating question: What pathways lead from truth-telling to victim healing in post-conflict settings? One answer, this book argues, may be voice.  Building on the proposition that having voice—a key component of procedural justice—can help individuals to overcome the disempowerment and marginalisation of victimisation, this book investigates voice as a causal mechanism that can create pathways toward healing within truth commission public hearings.   Comparative, empirical studies that investigate how truth-telling contributes to victim healing in post-conflict settings are scarce in the field of transitional justice and this book begins to fill an important gap in the existing body of literature. From a practical standpoint, by enhancing understanding of how truth commissions can promote healing, the findings and arguments in Victim Healing and Truth Commissions: Transforming Pain Through Voice in the Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste provide insight into how the design of transitional justice processes may be improved in the future to better respond to the needs of victims of mass violence.  .
Social policy.
Criminology.
Political science.
Social Policy.
Criminology and Criminal Justice, general.
Political Science.