University of Stellenbosch, the Centre for the study of the afterlife of violence, and the reparative Quest (AVReQ), Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Prison Fellowship Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
BMC Psychol. 2023 Apr 7;11(1):104. doi: 10.1186/s40359-023-01129-y.
More than one million Rwandans were killed over a span of one hundred days during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis. Many adult survivors were severely traumatized by the events, and young people, including those who were born after the genocide, have experienced similar genocide-related trauma. Building on a growing body of research on the generational transmission of trauma, our study addressed the following questions: (1) what are the possible mechanisms of trauma transmission from older generation to post-genocide Rwandan youth, and (2) what are the effects of intergenerational trauma on reconciliation processes in Rwanda.
A qualitative study was conducted in Rwanda among youth born after the genocide, with parents who survived the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis and among mental health and peace-building professionals. Individual interviews (IDIs) included 19 post-genocide descendants of survivors and six focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with 36 genocide survivor parents residing in Rwanda's Eastern Province. Ten IDIs were also conducted with mental health and peace-building professionals in the capital city of Kigali. Respondents were recruited through five local organisations that work closely with survivors and their descendants. An inductive thematic analysis approach was used to analyse the data.
Findings from this study suggest that the trauma experienced by genocide survivor parents is perceived by Rwandan youth, mental health and peace-building professionals, and survivor parents themselves to be transmitted from parent to child through human biology mechanisms, social patterns of silence and disclosure of genocide experiences, and children's and youth's everyday contact with a traumatized parent. Genocide-related trauma among survivor parents is seen as often being triggered by both life at home and the annual genocide commemoration events. Additionally, when transmitted to genocide survivor descendants, such trauma is understood to negatively affect their psychological and social well-being. Intergenerational trauma among youth with genocide survivor parents limits their involvement in post-genocide reconciliation processes. Findings specifically show that some youth avoid reconciliation with a perpetrator's family due to mistrust as well as fear of re-traumatizing their own parents.
在 1994 年针对图西族的种族灭绝事件中，超过 100 天内有超过 100 万卢旺达人丧生。许多成年幸存者都受到了严重的创伤，而年轻人，包括那些在种族灭绝后出生的人，也经历了类似的与种族灭绝有关的创伤。基于越来越多的关于创伤代际传递的研究，我们的研究提出了以下问题：（1）从老一辈向卢旺达战后青年传递创伤的可能机制是什么，以及（2）代际创伤对卢旺达和解进程的影响是什么。
在卢旺达，我们对出生于种族灭绝后的青年进行了一项定性研究，这些青年的父母在 1994 年的图西族种族灭绝中幸存下来，以及心理健康和建设和平专业人员。个人访谈（IDIs）包括 19 名战后幸存者的后代和在卢旺达东部省居住的 36 名种族灭绝幸存者父母的 6 次焦点小组讨论（FGDs）。还在首都基加利与 10 名心理健康和建设和平专业人员进行了 10 次 IDIs。受访者是通过与幸存者及其后代密切合作的五个当地组织招募的。采用归纳主题分析方法对数据进行分析。
这项研究的结果表明，卢旺达青年、心理健康和建设和平专业人员以及幸存者父母自己认为，通过人类生物学机制、沉默和披露种族灭绝经历的社会模式，以及儿童和青年与创伤父母的日常接触，父母经历的创伤会从父母传递给孩子。幸存者父母的种族灭绝相关创伤被认为经常由家庭生活和每年的种族灭绝纪念活动引发。此外，当传递给种族灭绝幸存者的后代时，这种创伤被理解为会对他们的心理和社会福祉产生负面影响。有种族灭绝幸存者父母的青年的代际创伤限制了他们参与战后和解进程。研究结果特别表明，一些青年由于不信任以及担心再次使自己的父母受到创伤，避免与犯罪者的家庭和解。
