title: Remembering Collective Violence: Broadening the Notion of Traumatic Memory in Post-Conflict Rehabilitation.
abstract: In the aftermath of war and armed conflict, individuals and communities face the challenge of dealing with recollections of violence and atrocity. This article aims to contribute to a better understanding of processes of remembering and forgetting histories of violence in post-conflict communities and to reflect on related implications for trauma rehabilitation in post-conflict settings. Starting from the observation that memory operates at the core of PTSD symptomatology, we more closely explore how this notion of traumatic memory is conceptualized within PTSD-centered research and interventions. Subsequently, we aim to broaden this understanding of traumatic memory and post-trauma care by connecting to findings from social memory studies and transcultural trauma research. Drawing on an analysis of scholarly literature, this analysis develops into a perspective on memory that moves beyond a symptomatic framing toward an understanding of memory that emphasizes its relational, political, moral, and cultural nature. Post-conflict memory is presented as inextricably embedded in communal relations, involving ongoing trade-offs between individual and collective responses to trauma and a complex negotiation of speech and silence. In a concluding discussion, we develop implications of this broadened understanding for post-conflict trauma-focused rehabilitation.
authors.affiliation: Research Unit Education, Culture and Society, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Andreas Vesaliusstraat 2, Box 3761, 3000, Leuven, Belgium. ruth.kevers@kuleuven.be.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0061-5470
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kevers
authors.affiliation: Institute of Family and Sexuality Studies, KU Leuven, UPC KU Leuven, Leuvensesteenweg 517, 3070, Kortenberg, Belgium.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rober
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Work and Social Pedagogy, Centre for the Social Study of Migration and Refugees, UGent, Henri Dunantlaan 2, 9000, Gent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Ilse
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Derluyn
authors.affiliation: Research Unit Education, Culture and Society, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Andreas Vesaliusstraat 2, Box 3761, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Haene
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology*; D014857:Warfare
keywords: Collective violence; Memory; PTSD; Rehabilitation; Trauma