Healing is What Makes Peace Work: A Healing-Centered Peacebuilding Approach

134 Pages·2022·2.53 MB·English

by  Angi Yoder-Maina

SpringerBriefs in
Environment, Security, Development and Peace 39
Angi Yoder-Maina
Healing is What Makes
Peace Work
A Healing-Centered
Peacebuilding Approach
SpringerBriefs in Environment, Security,
Development and Peace
Volume 39
Series Editor
Hans Günter Brauch, Peace Research & European Security Studies, Mosbach,
Baden-Württemberg, Germany
More information about this series at https://link.springer.com/bookseries/10357
http://www.afes-press-books.de/html/SpringerBriefs_ESDP.htm
http://www.afes-press-books.de/html/SpringerBriefs_ESDP_39.htm
Angi Yoder-Maina
Healing is What Makes
Peace Work
A Healing-Centered Peacebuilding Approach
Angi Yoder-Maina
Green String Network
Nairobi, Kenya
ISSN 2193-3162 ISSN 2193-3170 (electronic)
SpringerBriefs in Environment, Security, Development and Peace
ISBN 978-3-031-05250-7 ISBN 978-3-031-05251-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05251-4
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022
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Trauma and pain afflict not only individuals.
When they become widespread and ongoing,
they affect entire communities and even the
country as a whole.…
[T]he implications are serious for people’s
health, the resilience of the country’s social
fabric, the success of development schemes,
and the hope of future generations.
Martha Cabrera, Nicaragua
Acknowledgements
The Way It Is
There’s a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.
William Stafford
This book emerged from a shortened and revised version of my Ph.D. thesis. I would
like to offer my appreciation to my dissertation advisor, Dr. Gabriel Grant, for her
support, feedback, and guidance during my academic journey. It was important to
have a consistent voice reminding me as a practitioner I was a researcher. I would
also like to thank Dr. Trond Gilberg for his encouragement early in the journey to
undertake a theory-building process. Moreover, I would like to thank the Centre for
Peace and Conflict Studies (CPCS) and especially Dr. Emma Leslie for her vision to
support peacebuilding practitioners to undertake this level of academic work. CPCS
offered a space for reflection, innovation, and creativity at a critical time in my
professional career. I would also like to thank my cohort of classmates, Susan Risal,
Manoj Kumar, Ahmad Rashid Watanpahlzazai, and Yatz Ambanga. It was an honor
to share this experience with each of you.
I extend my deepest gratitude to the individuals who agreed to be interviewed.
Each of the peacebuilding and trauma-informed practitioners are engaged in making
the world a better place. I would also like to thank the Board of Directors and the team
at the Green String Network, without whose creativity, passion, and engagement, this
work would not be practice-based. Lastly, I would like to thank my family, Maina, Isa,
and Wanja, for their love and support as I undertook this extra work. My daughters
vii
viii Acknowledgements
are the reason I do this work. A world where healing is possible is the world, I hope
to leave to them.
Nairobi, Kenya Angi Yoder-Maina
March 2022
Contents
1 Collective Trauma is a Threat to Stability ......................... 1
1.1 In a Village on the Kenyan-Somali Border, 1991 ............... 1
1.1.1 The Broken Cup – A Trauma-Organized Society ....... 2
1.2 Covid-19 and Global Collective Distress ...................... 4
1.2.1 Impact of Violence on Peace, Justice, Development,
and Governance ................................... 5
1.3 Mainstream Responses ..................................... 6
1.3.1 Mental Health Approach ............................ 6
1.3.2 Psychosocial Support Approach ...................... 7
1.3.3 “Ignore It” Approach ............................... 7
1.4 Trauma as a Buzz Word .................................... 7
1.5 My Own Story as a Peacebuilder ............................ 8
1.6 Dissertation Research ...................................... 10
1.7 Methodology ............................................. 10
1.7.1 Interviews ........................................ 11
1.7.2 Challenges ........................................ 11
References ..................................................... 13
2 Literature Review .............................................. 15
2.1 Complicated History of How Trauma Has Been Understood ..... 16
2.2 History of the Term Trauma ................................. 16
2.3 Combat Trauma During the United States (US) Civil War ....... 17
2.4 Combat Trauma During World War I ......................... 18
2.5 Combat Trauma During World War II ........................ 20
2.6 Standardization of a Trauma Diagnosis in the U.S. (DSM-1
and DSM-2) .............................................. 21
2.7 Holocaust-Related Trauma and the Development of Trauma
Theory ................................................... 22
2.8 Algeria and the Civil War to Overthrow the Colonial Powers ..... 23
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x Contents
2.9 Vietnam War, the Women’s Movement and Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD) .................................... 24
2.10 Trauma and the DSM and Adverse Childhood Experiences
(ACEs) .................................................. 25
2.11 Moving Away from the DSM to a New Model of Mental
Health: Psychological Injury (PI) ............................ 26
2.12 Trauma-Responsiveness and Trauma-Informed ................ 27
2.13 Changing Landscape of Neuroscience Research on Trauma
and the Brain ............................................. 29
2.14 Historical Trauma Theory .................................. 30
2.15 Cycle of Violence and Post-colonial Theory ................... 31
2.16 Trauma-Informed Approaches: Challenging Unjust
Structures and Institutions .................................. 32
2.17 Social Justice is Wellbeing – A Healing-Center Approach ....... 33
References ..................................................... 35
3 Healing Is What Makes Peace Work ............................. 39
3.1 Blue Bench’s Transformation: Systems Thinking ............... 39
3.2 Healing-Centered Peacebuilding Practice ..................... 40
3.2.1 Research Findings ................................. 40
3.2.2 Chronic Violence and Its Link to Trauma .............. 41
3.2.3 Healing-Centered Peacebuilding Theory .............. 46
3.3 Mama Anisa’s Story: Inclusion .............................. 47
3.4 Inclusion ................................................. 47
3.4.1 Multidisciplinary and Multisectoral ................... 49
3.4.2 A Role for Lived Experience ........................ 50
3.4.3 Local and Traditional Healers Are Included ............ 53
3.5 Using Art and Storytelling: Customization
and Contextualization ...................................... 54
3.5.1 Customization and Contextualization ................. 55
3.5.2 Community-Informed and Culturally Adapted ......... 56
3.5.3 Storytelling and Rituals Create Meaning .............. 58
3.5.4 Uses a Decolonizing Approach ...................... 60
3.5.5 Utilizes Community Resources Sustainably ............ 61
3.6 Famau’s Story: Breaking Cycles of Violence .................. 62
3.6.1 Breaking Cycles of Violence ........................ 62
3.6.2 Overview of the Cycle of Violence ................... 63
3.6.3 Engaging Both Victims and Perpetrators .............. 65
3.6.4 Supporting the Development of Agency ............... 68
3.7 Ubah’s Story: Systems Thinking ............................. 69
3.7.1 Systems Thinking .................................. 70
3.7.2 Resilience-Informed ................................ 72
3.7.3 A Foundation for Development, Justice,
and Governance Interventions ....................... 74
3.7.4 Including Collective Healing Approaches ............. 76