The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #37835

Phuong Pham, PhD¹, Timothy Longman, PhD², and Harvey Weinstein, MD, MPH². (1) The Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer, Tulane University, 6823 St. Charles Avenue, 300 Hebert Hall, New Orleans, LA 70118, 504-885-5240, ppham1@tulane.edu, (2) Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley, 460 Stephens Hall, #2300, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720

During the last decade, interethnic violence, ethnic cleansing and genocide have emerged as a major public health and social concern in countries around the world. East Timor, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan as well as many other states are attempting to rebuild societies that have been fractured across ethnic or religious lines, where neighbor-to-neighbor violence is the norm. At the same time, there has been increasing debate about the processes required for reconciliation. The purpose of this study is to assess the level of trauma experience and PTSD among those who survived the genocide in Rwanda and examine how it has affected their perception and attitudes toward the contribution of domestic and international judicial processes to the social reconstruction of the country. Further, by examining these factors in conjunction with perceptions of the events of 1994 and ehnic attitudes, we determine how trauma may contribute to belief in reconciliation. The methodology is a two-stage cluster sampling design stratified by commune with a sample size of 1500. The survey is part of a larger project that combines quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the contributions of justice and accountability to social repair in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. This survey is one of the first population-based studies of the factors that may predispose to the rebuilding of a country and the results will have significant implications for policy-makers in the areas of democracy and governance, human rights, civil society and international health.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to

• describe the long-term effects of the genocide on the Rwandan people with specific reference to the impact of trauma. 2.describe the attitudes of different ethnic groups towards justice as a step towards reconciliation.
• describe the factors that may influence belief in reconciliation after genocide.
• discuss how the experience of trauma may influence belief in social repair.
• discuss how ethnic distance influences attitudes to reconciliation.

Keywords: Violence, War

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.