REDEFINING TRAUMA AND IDENTITY
Insights from an African Context
Ray Motsi, Ph.D. was born in Bulawayo,
Zimbabwe. He left Zimbabwe at the age of 19 and attended college in England.
After he graduated, he learned that there had been a massacre in Zimbabwe. This massacre
was part of Robert Mugabe’s Gukurahundi Conflict. He knew it was time to take a
stand and make a change. He has dedicated his life to combatting the
conflict in Zimbabwe through peace-building and non-violence. President of the Theological College of
Zimbabwe (TCZ) since January 1991. Dr. Motsi previously has served as a Baptist
pastor in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe for more than 20 years and, in 2002, he founded
Grace to Heal, a faith-based organization focusing on community peacemaking and
conflict transformation. He graduated from TCZ with a B.A. in Practical
Theology in 1990 and then later from the University of Pretoria in South Africa
where he earned his M.A. in Old Testament and Hebrew in 2001, and his Ph.D. in
Peacebuidling, Conflict Resolution, and Trauma Healing in 2009.
Yago: Ray, you are welcome to this blog called
“Breathing Forgiveness.” In this blog we are aiming at deconstructing the
energies of enslavement that keep perpetuating tremendous suffering in today’s
world. In this interview we want to be enlightened by your insights and
reflections as a peacebuilder practitioner and as a Pastor in the demanding
context of Zimbabwe. You have been for decades at the forefront against the
Mugabe regime. In the first half of the interview we want to reflect in your
understanding of trauma in the African context and also its challenges for
pastoral care. In the second half we shall focus in your experience as a
church leader and a peacebuilder in the Zimbabwean context.
Ray: Trauma in African context is
not just a psychological problem it is far more than that. It must be realised
that trauma must not be removed from its context and it must take into
consideration the world view within which it happens. Africans are
social-centric by nature and not individualistic as the Westerners. My social
and spiritual being is intertwined by the extended family and community. This
is our first line of defense. Evidently, trauma in Africa is by and large a social and political ill
rather than just a medical pathological problem.
Yago: In the context of your reflection on trauma in cultural context you ask yourself if the Western worldview is better than the African
one. How would you answer this question? How would you describe the main
characteristics and differences between a Western and African worldview?
Ray: The main difference
between the Western world view and the African world view is the cultural
emphasis. African culture is based on Ubuntu (I am because we are) We are a
community of people not just an individual. I believe that this is also very
biblical in its practice.
Yago: The psychological and psychiatry approach of the
Western worldview perceive a person as ego-centric self. How does the
ego-centric self understands the individual being and its relationship to
trauma?
Ray: I am not an expert in
Western culture or world view. I am an African, hence I notice and see the
differences in the emphasis in terms of practice and approach to life
existential crises. When an African is in a crisis he/she looks for family/relative
to talk to. After that we will then go to a medical doctor or where ever to
seek for help. When one gets sick the whole family is affected. It is not so
with the Western people, they look for a doctor to fix it.
Yago: You say that from an African point of view the dualism
which is foundational in psychology and psychiatry will lead to mistreatment of
survivors as they become alienated from the community. The western view
disregards the social origins and path of mental illness. You point out that
most of the world’s population holds on to a more socio-centric conception of
the self, where individuals exist within networks of social relationships. How
does this conception of the self shapes the understanding of trauma?
Ray: The conception of the self is the basis of how to
understand the whole picture. If therefore the self stands alone and has no relationship with the
rest in a meaningful way there is no way anybody who seeks to help that
individual should bother about others who may be involved or connected to that
person. Trauma is perceived the same way. Psychology and Psychiatry avoid and ignore
the social and political milieu within which trauma is caused. Hence, there are
no efforts to find ways and means of how to avoid, address the causes of it and
stop it from happening again. All PTSD
practitioners do is to deal with the individual mental health.
 |
| Michael G. Wessells |
Ray: The
African Culture is marginalised as pagan/traditional. What even educated people
forget is that there is no culture that is better than the other. All have
strengths and weaknesses and positives and negatives. We would be taking great
strides if we could consider positives from other cultures as we deal with trauma. The understanding of the person is
based on the cultural value system that the person has been brought up in and
what has been acquired educationally or through exposure.
Trauma in Africa is caused by
politically motivated violence and not
necessarily war or combat. This violence is community based and it affects the
fabric of society and disables the cohesiveness of the society. In order to cover the full gamut of trauma we
need to learn from others who have a different context. Trauma has does not
have one face it is multifaced and layered.
Yago: You talk about the risk of using pre-packed universal
interpretations, definitions, and approaches to psychological suffering and
trauma. Can the victim be re-traumatized? Why are we so dependant in the
science and in the power of the international scientific community?
Yago: In the African worldview individualism is intertwined
with the whole tribe and community and cannot be understood in isolation. So,
could we say that a collective identity makes a person be traumatized because
of the group being affected? And also that whatever happens to the individual
happens to the whole group?
Ray: That is
precisely the case for us here in Africa. That is the rational for Ubuntu.
Yago: Wessells says that the dominant focus of the
trauma idiom, which in many African countries is PTSD, fails to take into
account the on-going, cumulative nature of the distress. The protracted armed
conflicts, the tendency of conflicts to spread across national boundaries, the intermingling
of conflict and natural disasters such as the current drought, and the
prevalence of ongoing sources of distress make it legitimate to ask “where’s
the ‘post’ in ‘post-traumatic stress disorder.” What is your view on this
regard?
Ray: According
to Basoglu M. 1989, this is because of secondary, associated and recurrent
trauma.
Yago: Wessells also says that war-affected Africans often
report that their greatest sources of distress are not the emotional residues
of past violence as suggested by the trauma approach but the large array of
interacting stresses of daily living and the destruction of their systems of
social support. Would you agree with him?
Ray: The
destruction of property/homes, granaries and watching as your neighbours are
being killed or beaten up is part of this problem. Sometimes one is forced to
rape or kill his or her relative or neighbour in front of the whole community.
Yago: Culture provides the community with a system of values,
lifestyles, and knowledge, the disruption of it will have deleterious effect on
its members. How would you evaluate the legacy and aftermath of colonization,
slavery and the current imposition of neo-liberal economies in the African
continent? Can we say that we are in a traumatized continent?
Ray: To say that we were traumatized is overstating
the case but we were taken a couple of decades back in more ways than one due
to disenfranchisement. The results of colonialism have more disadvantages than
advantages. Africa cannot speak with a clear voice due to the divide and rule
plan of the West. The attitude of many Africans towards white people emanates
from colonial legacy, vestiges and hangovers. Neo-liberalism maintains the
western shackles not only on our ankles but in our brains; hence, slavery has
taken a different form but it is slavery nevertheless. This slavery is now based on the supply matrix. As long as
they can control the supply of money and
other resources then Africa is a playing field for the big teams.
Yago: You also say that the symptoms are not the only way to
ascertain trauma. Why?
Ray: Symptoms
are signs / indicators that there might be something there and not the final
results. The symptoms for trauma are not only unique to traumatised people.
This is true because we now know that there are other methods of how to
ascertain trauma not necessarily based on symptoms but on hard evidence. People do not respond to the same incident equally because their reaction and response depend on their disposition.
Yago: Let us move to the issue of torture as a traumatic
event. Wessells says that “although torture survivors may experience PTSD
and other maladies and may benefit from counselling, no amount of counselling
will correct the structural violence, human rights violations, and systems of
state oppression that produce many forms of trauma.” Do you agree with him?
Ray: Victim of
Torture (VOT) is what I am more familiar with because it was the context of my
PhD research. Yes I agree with Wessells. If one loses a hand and/ or an eye
there is no amount of counseling that can replace that ha limb. The trauma may
not be as painful as it was before but it remains traumatic experience. Volf
Miroslav confirms that in his Book “The End of Memory.”
Yago: You say that by definition torture is a complex
phenomenon with interacting social, culture, political, medical, psychological
and biological dimension. It can not be adequately be dealt with by a single
method. How would you approach people being traumatized by torture?
Ray: A
psychosocial approach is what I suggest as a comprehensive way of handling the
community and not just individuals. Mobilisation of different groups of
expertise and organisations to try and restore and improve the community will
hasten the healing.
Yago: Wessels proposes that in place of ‘trauma’, a better term
is ‘psychosocial well-being’. He says that this phrase reaches across different
levels more easily than does ‘trauma’ yet avoids imparting clinical meanings to
distress that have political, economic and historic origins. Would you agree
with Mike’s term and approach?
Ray: That was
precisely my conclusion in my PhD dissertation. No two people have the same
disposition hence there is need for a psychosocial
approach.
Yago: Let us move now to issues of identity. How does our
sense of identity affect our resiliency and capacity to navigate in violent and
stressful contexts?
Ray: Our sense
of identity is based on our world view and who we are. In an African context we
have our motivation from a sense of belonging, our history, people and give me
the identity that spurs me to live up to the name and family identity. This
position is not always true in the western culture.
Yago: You say that the individuals understanding and the
perception of the event will determine how a person is affected and how he/she
responds; culture plays a key role in how individuals cope with potential
traumatizing experiences. Could you elaborate more in depth these important
insights?
Ray: In our
case the way in which traumatising events take place is often mixed with
tribal, political and religious undertones. These are aspects that connect us
to others. The attack is not always aimed at an individual but to the group.
These events are sudden, unexpected and beyond one’s control. As a result we
look to others to explain or make sense of what happened. If those others are
victims like you then there is a crisis
which leads to trauma.
Yago: Shame is the response to helplessness, the violation of
bodily, family and tribal integrity. How much shame distorts our real human
identity?
Ray: It depends
on what you call real. The fact that my wife/mother is raped in my presence
takes away my identity as an African man who should protect his family from
intruders and harm. My real identity is with my people and not as an
individual. Tribal integrity is passed on and demonstrated by men within the
clan. If therefore men become helplessness it means that tribe be ashamed
amongst others and becomes a laughing object. The tribe is vulnerable,
voiceless and weak.
Yago: You say that the more control people can exercise on a
situation, the less they suffer from diverging symptoms and cope better in
general. Could you expand on this?
Ray: Control
over one‘s life gives a sense of responsibility and assurance that I am
myself. But if I cannot have responsibility of myself and my circumstances then
it is easier to be attacked from outside. Being able to cope with personal
problems is a sign of personal inner resolve and functionality.
Yago: In developing effective psychosocial programs, it is
vital to start from an analysis of how the affected people understand their
situation and regard as their greatest problems. You say that it is about the
importance of working with a critical eye. This is a quite challenging approach
inviting the practitioner to develop active listening and profound respect for
the experience of the other. Isn’t it?
Ray: It is not
the practitioner who has a problem and
therefore we must start with those that are not well by asking them to explain
their pain/trauma or problem. There is a
methodology called Empathy and Distanciation. Social scientist have now
realised that there is no way one can engage a traumatised person and remain
totally objective. Using empathy and distanciation will enable the practitioner
to be empathetic but to also distance one’s self from the victim. To do this,
one needs certain skills and experiences without a doubt. This is called “narrative social reconstruction” by Pollard.
Yago: You say that “quiet often trauma has to involve a
betrayal of trust.” The shattering of one’s sense of connectedness between
individual and community creates a crisis of faith. Could you explain how
influential this is in the African sense of self?
Ray: First and
foremost the betrayal is a personal one where one thinks he/she lost control of
one’s self. Secondly, it is on the part of the family or community that did not
protect me during my ordeal. Trauma’s major effect is inward even though the
causes are by and large outward. Because of the shattering of the sense of self
one cannot be able to build meaningful relationships. Hence, lack of
connectedness.
Yago: You define trauma from a psychosocial perspective.
Could we say that the image/concept of a broken social fabric is fundamental in
the understanding of trauma in the African context?
Ray: Absolutely,
the social fabric plays the role of the second line of defense. When one fails
to protect oneself then the community jumps in and where there is no community/family particularly extended the
crisis is worse.
Yago: You are asking for an integrated and inter-disciplinary
approach. In which way psychosocial programmes are likely to increase the
survivors’ own coping resources?
Ray: The
possibility of individuals coping with multiple approaches is far better than a
single phased approach. People do not respond the same to an incident.
Yago: Finally, you say that the ongoing discussion about how useful or
limited this diagnosis of PTSD and how widely it should be used, especially in
large-scale ongoing traumatic events in both western and non western societies
should not distract us from the task ahead. Which is the task ahead of us?
Ray: The task
ahead is to care for the survivors of torture, victims of injustices, survivors
of and prisoners of war and abused people. We can not wait until we have come
up with a methodology that is acceptable to all.
