Victim Mobilisation: An antidote to denialism, a route to new relationships?

Recently presented at the Harvard University. I addressed the question: "Can bottom-up civil society groups influence how political elites engage in peacebuilding initiatives in a way that improves rather than undermines intergroup relations?" I focused on this from the perspective of victim groups. The paper is below.

Hamber, B. (2023). “Victim Mobilisation: An antidote to denialism, a route to new relationships?” at the Conference on Intergroup Relations After Violent Conflict: Insights from Research and Practice. The conference was held at The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University on 5-6 October 2023.

A Truth Commission for Northern Ireland?

This week the BBC has been focusing on dealing with the past in Northern Ireland. The most startling thing about this debate has been how issues have been narrowed before genuine discussion has started. Concepts like truth and justice have been bandied about as if they were mutually exclusive and as if they meant the same to everyone.

The South African model has been used as a benchmark for discussion, with little recognition of what it was about. The other twenty or so truth commissions, in societies as diverse as Ghana, Peru, Argentina, Chile and Sierra Leone, have meanwhile been ignored.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, it seems we all should have an opinion on whether there should be a truth commission for Northern Ireland. Ground work already done on these issues has been neglected, and more measured approaches circumvented.

Debate on this issue is vital, and the more the better. But some key points have been lost in the media circus.

First, dealing with decades of conflict is long-term, complex and time-consuming. It cannot be summed up in a few interviews or emails. It will not entail a single approach or model. International lessons suggest it takes decades. We should not look for any quick fixes.

We should not rush into opinions on different methods before we have agreed that remembering, acknowledgement, truth and justice are important issues for victims and society at large. We must interrogate what we mean by these terms and debate our different perspectives.

The past can only be dealt with if all concerned enter the debate in an inclusive way, aimed at entrenching peace. We should not underestimate the importance of getting this right, ensuring that the discussion is aimed at reconciliation and not point-scoring.

If we do not first agree the underlying principles, all discussion will be contorted and subject to political wrangling. This will ultimately result in mechanisms that will continue the conflict by different means, rather than finding ways constructively to resolve it.

The most extensive consultation on this issue to date has been carried out by the Healing Through Remembering Project. This sought to document possible mechanisms and realisable options for how remembering should occur, so that healing could take place for all those affected. This took two years of discussion.

Importantly, this consultation was run by a board reflecting a range of very diverse backgrounds. The project received over 100 written submissions and recorded thousands of hits on its website.

Many submissions endorsed the value of remembering and spoke of the importance of finding ways to move society forward. But others expressed concerns about the potential pitfalls. The idea of remembering also evoked an emotional response, indicative of much hurt and unresolved pain. The project’s recommendations include a focus on truth recovery, but extend well beyond it.

This is the second point: dealing with the past needs to be seen as wider than a truth-recovery process. Any such mechanism should run alongside other initiatives, such as storytelling, a living museum about the conflict, an annual day of reflection and a network of commemoration projects. Many community projects are also part of the picture.

In the same vein, although victims are central in dealing with the past, thorough engagement demands a focus on the entire society. This is vital when considering the issue of responsibility for the hurts suffered.

It was pointed out in several of the submissions that the need to revisit the past was not confined to those who saw themselves as primarily involved in the conflict: politicians, victims and those who carried out violent acts. For any collective remembering to be helpful it needs to engage the entire society and particularly those who saw themselves as ‘uninvolved'. The whole society has a responsibility to deal with the past.

Thirdly, the Healing Through Remembering Project does recommend that a formal truth-recovery process should be given careful consideration, though only as one part of dealing with the past. But it stipulates that an important first step is a process of acknowledgement, by all, of acts of commission and/or omission.

Political parties, the British and Irish states, republican and loyalist paramilitaries and other institutions would all need fully to acknowledge the extent of their particular culpability. In fact, we should all consider what we have done and have not done to prevent loss of life. Sincere acknowledge

ment is the key foundation for exploring truth recovery in an even-tempered, self-effacing and responsible manner.

Published by Brandon Hamber, Democratic Dialogue, 11 June 2003

Brandon Hamber works as an independent consultant to the Healing Through Remembering Project and is a research associate of Democratic Dialogue in Belfast.

Advocacy Services Research Report

 Today the Commission for Victims and Survivors of Northern Ireland (CVSNI) and Ulster University (INCORE & TJI) launched the Advocacy Services Report focusing on advocacy and dealing with the past. The report was authored by Dr Maire Braniff, Professor Brandon Hamber, Dr Catherine O'Rourke, Dr Philip McCready and Dr John Bell. 

The Report found that while the needs of victims and survivors are not homogenous there are core principles that underpin effective service provision. Essentially they should be victim-led, build trust, not create dependency, be compassionate and empathetic and value the lived experience and perspective of the individual. The groups offering advocacy were led by such principles. Further provision for dealing with the past should draw on and learn from the scale, diversity and experience of advocacy practice to date. 

Equally, however, our research found that this was challenging work. There was unanimity amongst all service users and service providers that the biggest challenge was the systemic delay and the slow nature of legacy investigation and information recovery. The biggest scope for improvement in advocacy services was the accessibility of information and more streamlined and quicker responses from statutory agencies. 

• Download the Full Report
• Download the 4 Page Summary

Lessons from Transitional Justice for Historical Institutional Abuse

A new article on "Lessons from Transitional Justice? Toward a New Framing of a Victim-Centered Approach in the Case of Historical Institutional Abuse" has been published by myself and Professor Patricia Lundy. The article was published in the journal Victims and Offenders in April 2020.

The article critically examines transitional justice mechanisms to determine if historical abuse inquiries can learn from this field of practice. The article explores the Northern Ireland Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry which reported its findings in January 2017 as a vehicle for addressing what lessons might be learned or shared between the fields of transitional justice and investigations into historical abuse. Through a detailed analysis of empirical research with those that gave testimony to the Inquiry, including fourthly-three victims and Inquiry transcripts, the article explores to what extent the Inquiry was victim-centered, enabled victim participation (beyond giving testimony) and addressed victim needs. The article shows that many of the flaws of transitional justice mechanisms have been replicated when dealing with historical child abuse.

Drawing on lessons from transitional justice – both positive and negative – the article outlines five broad areas for consideration that could strengthen the victim-centered nature of approaches to dealing with the legacy of historical child abuse. The article concludes that addressing victims' needs should be at the center and drive approaches and processes for both transitional justice and historical institutional abuse.

To request the article contact me.

If you have journal access the article can be downloaded here.

Dealing with the Past Seminar Series

Despite the challenging current context debates about how to address Northern Ireland's past continue. I am delighted to be organising in my capacity as John Hume and Thomas P. O'Neill Chair in Peace - with the Transitional Justice Institute (TJI) and INCORE and in partnership with Healing Through Remembering - and important seminar series on this issue.  This online seminar series will explore the Stormont House Agreement and dealing with the past in Northern Ireland and run for the remainder of the year.

Find out more and review the schedule of seminars.

The legacy of Northern Ireland’s past: Mental Health

Ulster University professors Siobhan O’Neill, left, and Brandon Hamber argue that understanding the effect of the Troubles related trauma, including transgenerational trauma, is vital for fostering peace building in Northern Ireland.

The conflict was a significant and distinctive stressor in the life of the community in Northern Ireland for over 40 years. The world mental health survey found that whilst around 71.5 percent of the population have minimal levels of mental illness, the mental health difficulties of at least half of the remaining 28.5 percent (approx. 213,000 adults) appear to be directly related to the Troubles (Bolton, 2017; McLafferty et al., 2016; O’Neill et al., 2015). The same study showed that 39 percent of the population experienced a traumatic event that was related to the Troubles. Such events included bombings, shootings, and witnessing killings and mutilations. The research demonstrated the depth and scale of the mental health needs of the Northern Ireland population, however progress on meeting those needs and providing the evidence-based treatments for complex trauma-related illnesses has been slow.

In the meantime, the consequences are manifest in the form of social unrest and high rates of suicide (O’Neill et al., 2014) and prescribed medication (Benson et al., 2018). Mental illness stifles healing and empathy. Psychological therapies can help individuals make meaning from their experiences, which not only reduces their suffering, but also allows them to place the experience in context, to foster recovery. Such processes at both a personal, and community level can promote peace-building, and potentially create the environment for peace.

For victims and survivors of trauma, the issues of truth, justice, accepting responsibility, compensation and official acknowledgement are also part of this “meaning making” and are interwoven with healing (Hamber, 2009). In fact, healing, often promoted by addressing wider victim issues such as truth and justice, in such circumstances may provide the conditions for post-traumatic growth (Joseph, 2015).The opposite is also true, that failing to address the wider needs of survivors (such as a desire for justice or truth) can have negative psychological consequences into the long term (Hamber, 2009).

We made these points in response to the consultation on the proposed legacy institutions (O’Neill and Hamber, 2018, see our full response), and also noted that the institutions will have a profound impact on the mental health of the individuals who engage with them, those who for whatever reason choose not to, and those with existing trauma-related conditions who either participate, or hear about them from the media and other sources. It is vital that the mental health of those affected is protected through this process.

The consultation – ‘Addressing the legacy of Northern Ireland’s past’ – includes proposals to implement the four new legacy institutions set out in the 2014 Stormont House Agreement (SHA) and the Government’s manifesto for Northern Ireland 2017. A key element of the Stormont House Agreement is that all of these bodies will be under statutory obligations to act in ways that are balanced, proportionate, transparent, fair and equitable.

Our six key recommendations in relation to the legacy institutions:

1. The institutions should adopt a victim and survivor-centred perspective. The process should be scrutinised from the perspective of the victim, and their journey through engagement with one or more of the structures.
2. Support for victims through the process should be standardised and offered on an equal basis to all survivors across the legacy institutions.
3. A process of demand profiling and impact assessment should be undertaken prior to the commencement of the work of the institutions.
4. The institutions should adopt a trauma-informed approach that: Realises the impact of trauma and understands potential paths for recovery; Recognises the signs and symptoms of trauma, responds by integrating knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices; and seeks to actively resist re-traumatisation. (SAMSHA, 2018). This particularly means that the legacy structures and processes should screen people for trauma-related conditions and facilitate them in receiving treatment.
5. We recommend that a Mental Health Advisory Group with an expert chair, is convened to oversee and monitor the implementation of all four institutions.
6. We need to protect the mental wellbeing of those who work within the institutions particularly those who witness the testimonies of the victims and survivors and those tasked with delivering justice and establishing a level of need.

Citing this Article

O’Neill, Siobhan and Hamber, Brandon (2019). Addressing the legacy of Northern Ireland’s past. The View Digital, Issue 51, pp.30-31.

Source

This article was published by The View Digital (Issue 51, 2019), to download a Pdf of the article as it appeared, click here. To download the full edition of The View Digital which features "An in-depth look at victims, survivors and legacy issues from the Troubles", click here.

Learn more about The View Digital, click here.

References

Benson, T., Corry, C., O’Neill, S., Murphy, S., Bunting, B. (2018). Use of prescription medication by individuals who died by suicide in Northern Ireland. Arch Suicide Res, 22, 1, 139-152. Download. 

Bolton, D. (2017). Conflict, peace and mental health: Addressing the consequences of conflict and trauma in Northern Ireland. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Hamber, B. (2009). Transforming Societies After Political Violence: Truth, Reconciliation and Mental Health. New York: Springer.

Joseph, S. (2015). A person-centred perspective on working with people who have experienced psychological trauma and helping them move forward toward post-traumatic growth. Person-Centered and Experiential Psychotherapies, 14(3), 178-190.

McLafferty, M., Armour, C., O'Neill, S., Murphy, S., Ferry, F., Bunting B. (2016). Suicidality and profiles of childhood adversities, conflict related trauma and psychopathology in the Northern Ireland population. J Affect Disord, 200, 97-102. Download.

O'Neill, S., Ferry, F., Murphy, S.D., et al. (2014). Patterns of suicidal ideation and behaviour in Northern Ireland and associations with conflict-related trauma. PLOSOne, download.

O’Neill, S., Armour, C., Bolton, B. et al., (2015). Towards a Better Future: The Transgenerational Impact of the Troubles on Mental Health. Belfast, CVSNI. Retrieved from here.

O’Neill, S. and Hamber, B. (2018). Consultation Response: Addressing the Legacy of Northern Ireland's Past. The need for a victim and survivor centred, trauma-informed approach. Retrieved from here, 25th Feb 2019.

SAMHSA (2018). Trauma-Informed Approach and Trauma-Specific Interventions. Download.

Survivor centred, trauma-informed approach

The government launched a consultation on "Addressing the Legacy of Northern Ireland's Past" earlier in 2018 with a closing date of October 2018.

As part of the responses to the consultation Professor Siobhan O'Neill and myself made a submission on "The need for a victim and survivor centred, trauma-informed approach". To read the submission, download here.

Image from CVSNI public information graphics

Building the Future: Victim and Survivor Issues in Context

The Commission for Victims and Survivors in Northern Ireland hosted 2 Day Conference on Review of the Victims and Survivors Strategy 2009-19. The event took place at Titanic Belfast. 

The Commission invited victims groups, individuals, statutory bodies, organisations and other key stakeholders to time to reflect on how far we have come and to identify priorities for the victims and survivors in the coming years. 

At the conference I presented a short paper entitled "Building the Future: Victim and Survivor Issues in Context". To download my paper click the link below.

Hamber, B. (2015). Building the Future: Victim and Survivor Issues in Context. Paper presented at the Review of the Victims and Survivors Strategy 2009-2019 Conference, Annual Conference, Commission for Victims and Survivors Titanic Belfast, 9-10 March 2016.

Further information, including pictures, videos and supporting information can be found here.

Dealing with Painful Memories and Violent Pasts

My article "Dealing with Painful Memories and Violent Pasts. Towards a Framework for Contextual Understanding" has now been published in the Berghof Handbook Dialogue Series No.11.

The article reflects on the role of different approaches for dealing with painful memories and violent pasts. In it I explore how different dimensions – interpersonal and intergroup relations, memories and identities at the individual and collective level – relate to one another. I also address how one can constructively address victim identities and cultures of victimhood that may stem from painful or traumatic experiences in light of my work in South Africa and Northern Ireland, among other locales.

You can download the paper by clicking here.

Hierarchies of Victimhood: Public Talk New York

Please join the Transitional Justice Network for a conversation with Prof. Brandon Hamber, Director of the International Conflict Research Institute, about policy regarding victims of political violence.

The goal of the Transitional Justice Network is to promote global discourse among students, scholars, and professionals on issues of transitional justice. A place for discussion, where students can learn about issue in the field, scholars can link with other scholars working in similar areas, and professionals can keep up to date with trending thoughts and philosophies. See http://www.transitional-justice.org

Brandon Hamber is Director of the International Conflict Research Institute (INCORE), an associate site of the United Nations University based at the University of Ulster. He has written extensively on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the psychological implications of political violence, and the process of transition and reconciliation in South Africa, Northern Ireland, and abroad.

Ruti Teitel is the Ernst C. Stiefel Professor of Comparative Law, New York Law School.

Seminar: Hierarchies of Victimhood

Hierarchies of Victimhood:
The challenge of policy interventions aimed at alleviating the suffering of
victims of political violence

September 6, 2013 - 13:00 - 14:30

Location: Emthonjeni Centre, Seminar Room 19, East Campus, Wits University

Speaker(s): Professor Brandon Hamber

Abstract

Using experience and knowledge gained from engagement and peacebuilding work with victims and survivors of political violence in Northern Ireland, as well as work in other contexts such as South Africa and the Basque Country, the paper will delve into the complex interplay between individual psychological processes and macro policy interventions aimed at assisting victims. The paper will highlight how suffering is politically framed and its relationship to national identity politics, and specifically how this can play itself out in terms of the politics surrounding victimhood and the resultant “competition” over suffering. The paper will highlight the limits of narrow mental health and medical orientated approaches to dealing with the needs of victims of political violence, and particularly how suffering can be “bureaucratised” in an attempt to deal with underlying politics of violence. As a case example specific attention will be given to the development of services to victims of the conflict in Northern Ireland.

Biography

Professor Brandon Hamber is Director of INCORE, an associate site of the United Nations University based at the University of Ulster. He is also a Mellon Distinguished Visiting Scholar in the School of Human and Community Development at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Prior to moving to Northern Ireland, he co-ordinated the Transition and Reconciliation Unit at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation in Johannesburg. He trained in South Africa as a Clinical Psychologist at the University of the Witwatersrand. He has participated in peace initiatives, research projects and consultancies in Liberia, Mozambique, Bosnia, Northern Ireland, the Basque Country and Sierra Leone, among others. He has also been a Board member of the Khulumani Victim Support Group in South Africa. He has written extensively on transitional justice and the psychological implications of political violence. He has published some 40 book chapters and scientific journal articles, and is the author of Transforming Societies after Political Violence: Truth, Reconciliation, and Mental Health published by Springer in 2009, and later in 2011 in Spanish by Edicions Bellaterra.

Hosted by the African Centre for Migration and Society

Northern Ireland Memorials iPhone App

Very excited today about the launch of the INCORE and CAIN Memorials App.

The App acts as a guide to the hundreds of Troubles memorials found in public spaces in Northern Ireland.

As is noted on CAIN: "The new Memorials App provides an interactive guide to the physical memorials allowing users to view information and photographs about each plaque, memorial stone, memorial enclosure or garden, and/or figurative statue, that has been erected in a public space during the conflict. Users can search on-line databases for memorials of interest. Alternatively they can use the geo-locating facility of the iPhone to find memorials that are close to their location. Users can also find basic information on those people commemorated by the memorial".

To find out more and download the App, click here.

The Northern Ireland Troubles in Britain

Today I gave a  keynote address at the "The Northern Ireland Troubles in Britain: Impacts, Engagements, Legacies and Memories" Conference, 11–13 July 2012. The conference was an inter-disciplinary conference hosted by the Centre for Research in Memory Narrative and Histories at the University of Brighton. The conference sought to explore the impacts and lasting effects of the Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’ in Britain and responses to the conflict from Britain. More details on the conference are here.

My paper will be entitled 'Symptomatic treatment: The challenge of policy and practice interventions aimed at assisting victims of the confict in and about Northern Ireland'.

I am still finalising my paper but here are some tweets from the day to give you a little flavour.

@JoDoverWork 9:14am Preparing to chair a session at the Brighton conference with @BrandonHamber about policy & practice for assisting victims of the 'Troubles'

@BrandonHamber 11:39am My paper at Brighton conference entitled "Symptomatic Treatment" argues we are medicalising how we look at victims of the conflict

@BrandonHamber 11:41am We also need link in truth, justice and reparation, and describe the context now and then, to deal with the full range of needs

@BrandonHamber 11:42am What victim voices are we silencing or rewarding in peace process Northern Ireland, is there social space for people to still be angry?

@BrandonHamber 11:44am Victim healing comes not only in the therapy room but how they negotiate victims place in society and acknowledge what has happened

@BrandonHamber 11:45am There is an onus on political leadership to create a framework to talk about the past in Britain and Northern Ireland

@BrandonHamber 12:00pm Good response to my talk. I'm working on the final paper. But many of the ideas in my book "Transforming Societies" ow.ly/1OgxPr

Dealing with the Past in Northern Ireland

Today I attended a Transitional Justice Institute workshop looking at dealing with the past in Northern Ireland. Main question asked: where to now. In short, the key point emerging was that the dealing with the past question has not gone away, and there is a need to have some organised way of addressing it. However, a lack of leadership and commitment locally and by the two governments stymies things moving forward. While this goes on victims continue to be frustrated by the plethora of mechanisms out there, none of which are meeting their needs in entirety, in fact making many feel they have to repeat themselves in multiple forums. There is also a growing resentment by some victims of their cases being called "historical" or "legacy issue" implying the concerns about truth and justice are not contemporary. Denis Bradley spoke at the event, and although does not see much progress, said he felt that the Consultative Group on the Past report has not been entirely binned and may return, as it is the only viable option on the table.

Also see my collection of resources and website on dealing with the past in Northern Ireland.

Reparations in context

Today I am attending a meeting entitled "Reparations in context" as part of the 14th World Society of Victimology Symposium in The Hague. The event is organized by Redress, International Victimology Institute Tilburg, Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, Leiden University and The Hague Institute for Global Justice. At this meeting, experts in the field of victimology are invited to share ideas and identify new topics that thus far have received less focused attention and need further consideration. The event is intended to find new avenues for the implementation of reparations for victims in international criminal proceedings that may result in new projects to be further developed after this meeting. A background document on reparations will serve as a starting point, though an open, small scale debate is envisaged in order to stimulate creative and innovative thinking.

TRC, reparations and clashes with the SA government

For those of you following the debates concerning the international lawsuit by the Khulumani Victim Support Group against companies that aided the apartheid state and business a recent article in the Sunday Independent gives a good update. In sum, the ANC government continues to oppose the cases because they say it is against the countries interest and foreign investment. How strange for an ANC government to have such an opinion...is that not what those who did not believe in sanctions against apartheid SA would have said? To read the article click here.

The Impact of Trauma: A psychosocial approach

I have been meaning to put this up for a while, it is a copy of the keynote address I gave to the “A Shared Practice - Victims Work in Action Conference”, 7-8 April 2004, Radisson Roe Park Hotel, in Limavady, Northern Ireland. To read the paper online, click here.

Khulumani Victim Support Group

I added the Khulumani Victim Support Group Website to my Links Page. I am glad their site is now up, informative and helpful.

Recognition and Reckoning: The way ahead on victims issues

Democratic Dialogue Report 15
Brandon Hamber and Robin Wilson (Eds)

Now on online (pdf), a report from Democratic Dialogue, "Recognition and Reckoning: The Way Ahead on Victims Issues", based on a round table hosted by the think tank in Belfast last December. The report evaluates the "victims strategy", Reshape, Rebuild, Achieve, published in April 2002 by the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister in Northern Ireland.

Victims, Perpetrators and Healers at the TRC

by Trevor Lubbe (Cape Town)

The focal point of this paper will be to describe a piece of work I undertook for the Truth & Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in South Africa during April 1996. This involved facilitating a group of TRC staff during the very first week of the public hearings. I would like to use this group experience to highlight some of the difficulties that arise in a specialised truth-seeking process of this kind, and in order to understand some of these difficulties I have drawn upon some ideas from psychoanalytic practice – which is also a truth-seeking enterprise of sorts, and which also brings in the past as part of its healing objective. Of course while analytic concepts can be used to illuminate other areas of inquiry it also the case that terms like truth-seeking, forgiveness, reconciliation are not commonplace in psychoanalytic discourse, though the term reparation has some currency when discussing the aims of psychoanalysis.

Read more,click here.