Does the Truth Heal? A Psychological Perspective on Political Strategies for Dealing with the Legacy of Political Violence

War and civil strife no longer affect only the combatants. Entire societies are victimized, civil institutions are destroyed, and the social fabric severely undermined. Dealing with the aftermath of such conflict demands strategies of social transformation aimed at rebuilding the shattered political, economic, and social relationship characteristic of prolonged conflict. Recently, processes such as truth commissions have been identified as helping in this task by exposing the full magnitude of the destruction and breaking the silences of oppression. Patricia Hayner argues that such institutions can promote reconciliation, outline necessary reforms; allow victims to air their pain, provide acknowledgment of a long-suppressed past, and keep abuses from being repeated. Despite there having been over twenty truth commissions in the last two decades, it is the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) that has commanded the most international attention. This has been one of the most extensive to date. Enormous resources were put into publicizing its work and popularising its mission, both domestically and internationally. It has been heralded as a unique and significant advance in the field of reconciliation and transitional justice, on account of its exposure of the truth through a combination of victims’ testimonies and the granting of amnesty on condition of full disclosure of the crimes committed. Not only has this opened up new possibilities within the field of transitional justice; it has also provoked debate about whether truth commissions really can contribute to healing and reconciliation in societies struggling with a history of human rights abuse.