District Manager of the Sociotherapy Programme, Prison Fellowship Rwanda (PFR), Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (EKN) project, Southern Province, P.O Box: 2098, Kigali, Rwanda.
Rwanda Resilience and Grounding Organization (RRGO), Kigali, Rwanda.
BMC Psychol. 2020 Sep 29;8(1):102. doi: 10.1186/s40359-020-00471-9.
Psychological well-being (PWB) refers to inter- and intra-individual levels of positive functioning that include one's relatedness with others and self-referent attitudes that include one's sense of mastery and personal growth. PWB consists of hedonism and eudaimonia building on thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Sociotherapy is a community-based health intervention that contributes to the promotion of PWB worldwide. Starting from an analysis of trauma transmitted from the perpetrators and survivors of the Rwandan genocide to their descendants, this article is aimed at exploring the contribution of therapeutic sessions to PWB among youth.
A qualitative study design based on shared testimonies was carried out. Field reports from the sociotherapists, written texts, and testimonies of changes presented in the conviviality meetings were analyzed using transactional analysis. We included 24 reflexive texts upon completion of 8 months of the therapeutic program.
Results indicated that before sociotherapy sessions, youth born to genocide survivors and perpetrators had psychosocial distress, including low self-esteem, hopelessness, anxiety, stigma, thoughts of revenge, shame, depression, and antisocial behaviors. Sociotherapy significantly contributed to the reduction of these psychosocial problems. Participating youth reported feeling safe, trusted, respected, and healthier than before the sociotherapy. This intervention created inner healing, social cohesion, alleviated their sufferings of trauma, restored their families and contributed to community resilience. Results revealed that youth developed PWB, helping them to what appeared to be psychosocial problems as being potentially healthy, enhancing self-acceptance, and respecting humanity. Youth also became the vector for the reconciliation and reconstruction of their humanity.
Sociotherapy is a community health intervention that has an effective outcome on the personal well-being of of youth. This therapy impacted the individual, social, and familial resilience of youth who developed their capacity to regain and maintain health. The intervention restored their PWB, characterized by increased positive functioning specifically in the areas of autonomy, ecological mastery, individual growth, purpose in life, good relationships with others, and improved self-esteem.
心理幸福感（PWB）是指个体内部和个体之间的积极功能水平，包括与他人的关系以及自我参照的态度，包括掌握感和个人成长感。PWB 建立在思想、情感和行为之上，包括快乐论和幸福论。社会治疗是一种基于社区的健康干预措施，有助于在全球范围内促进 PWB。本文从分析卢旺达种族灭绝的加害者和幸存者及其后代之间传递的创伤出发，旨在探讨治疗课程对青年 PWB 的贡献。
采用基于共同见证的定性研究设计。使用交易分析方法，对社会治疗师的现场报告、书面文本以及在欢乐聚会上呈现的变化见证进行分析。我们在完成 8 个月的治疗方案后，纳入了 24 篇反思性文本。
结果表明，在社会治疗之前，出生于种族灭绝幸存者和加害者家庭的青年存在心理社会困扰，包括自尊心低、绝望、焦虑、耻辱感、复仇思想、羞耻、抑郁和反社会行为。社会治疗显著有助于减少这些心理社会问题。参与治疗的青年报告说，他们比社会治疗前感到更安全、更受信任、更受尊重、更健康。这种干预措施创造了内在的疗愈、社会凝聚力，减轻了他们的创伤痛苦，恢复了他们的家庭，并有助于社区的恢复力。研究结果表明，青年发展了 PWB，帮助他们将看似是心理社会问题视为潜在的健康问题，增强了自我接纳和对人性的尊重。青年也成为了他们人性和解和重建的载体。
社会治疗是一种社区健康干预措施，对青年的个人幸福感有积极的影响。这种治疗对青年的个体、社会和家庭的恢复力产生了影响，使他们能够恢复和维持健康。这种干预措施恢复了他们的 PWB，表现为自主性、生态掌握、个人成长、生活目标、与他人的良好关系以及自尊心提高等方面的积极功能的增强。
