Psychosocial Approaches to Peace-Building in Colombia

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxi

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2. Background

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Introduction

      • Stella Sacipa-Rodriguez

      Pages 3-15

   3. Historical Data About the Colombian Violence Strife

      • Stella Sacipa-Rodriguez

      Pages 17-19

3. Peace-Building in Colombia

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 21-21

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   2. Peace Cultures and Cultural Practices in Colombia

      • Blanca Patricia Ballesteros de Valderrama

      Pages 23-40

   3. Reflections on the Psychological Damage of People Exposed to War Situations in Colombia

      • Mónica María Novoa-Gomez

      Pages 41-57

   4. To Feel and to Re-signify Forced Displacement in Colombia

      • Stella Sacipa-Rodriguez

      Pages 59-74

   5. Personal Resources and Empowerment in a Psychosocial Accompaniment Process

      • Claudia Tovar Guerra

      Pages 75-87

   6. Memory, Narrative, and the Social Transformation of Reality

      • Raúl Vidales

      Pages 89-110

   7. Discourse as a Strategy for the Construction of Peace Cultures

      • Wilson López-López, José Manuel Sabucedo-Cameselle, Idaly Barreto, Henry Borja, Yeny Serrano

      Pages 111-120

   8. Genderization and Links with Illegal Armed Groups in Colombia

      • Darío Reynaldo Muñoz Onofre

      Pages 121-136

   9. Eight Cultures of Peace Indicators Applied to Colombian Conflict During 2002–2006

      • Mónica Alzate, José Manuel Sabucedo-Cameselle, Mar Durán

      Pages 137-151

4. Back Matter

   Pages 153-155

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This edited volume summarizes the work of a research group, called Social Bonds and Cultures of Peace that accompanies and supports victims of socio-political violence in Columbia. The individual chapters focus on the ongoing violence in the Colombian context, a complex and dynamic area in which various groups (drug traffickers, national armed forces, guerrilla fighters, self-defence groups) have been engaged in organized violence for more than 60 years. Emphasis is placed on the psychological consequences of violence and various forms of psychosocial support that psychologists have been providing to the victims of violence. Central to their work is the notion of "accompanying" those who have been victims of violence, listening to them, engaging them in dialogue and working together to strengthen the resources of victims. The recovery of individual and collective memories of atrocities is discussed as an important avenue for healing and for the empowerment of individuals and groups. The solidarity among victims creates opportunities at the grassroots level to pursue truth, reveal perpetrators of violence, seek public acknowledgment and attain social justice. For perpetrators of violence and members of armed groups, the book addresses a host of psychosocial issues related to disarming, demobilizing and reintegrating former combatants, including children, into society.   Throughout the book, in the spirit of peace psychology, the researchers are engaged in a form of praxis that is cognizant of the wider geohistorical context within which victims and perpetrators are embedded and the dialectical relationship between micro and macro-level events and change. Researchers in Latin American studies, peace psychology, social justice and transitional justice, will find this volume to be an excellent resource.

• Clinical psychosocial support in Colombia
• Colombia and drug trafficking
• Effects of guerrilla warfare
• Peace psychology coping strategies
• Psychological effects of armed conflict
• Social Bonds and Cultures of Peace

• Psychology, Pontifical Javeriana University, Bogota, Colombia

  Stella Sacipa-Rodriguez

• Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela

  Maritza Montero

Stella Sacipa-Rodríguez is a Psychologist (Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 1971) with a Masters degree in Communication (Pontifical Javeriana University, 1995). Her master thesis was on 'Meanings constructed by a political organization' (M-19) received the Award of Merit. For 14 years she has researched in the fields of Peace Psychology and psychosocial accompaniment to people and communities affected by socio-political violence in Colombia. She is the co-founder of the research group Social Bonds and Peace Cultures, and its leader for 10 years. She has trained professional psychologists and psychology students support to victims of war. She has studied, written and lectured about political psychology, psychosocial accompaniment to victims of armed conflict, meanings of peace and cultures of peace, in Colombia. Currently, she is a professor of Peace Psychology at the Pontifical Javeriana University.

Maritza Montero is a social psychologist and holds a Ph.D. in sociology. She currently teaches at Universidad Central de Venezuela Doctorate Program and has lectured extensively in the Americas, Europe and Australia. She is on the editorial boards of several national and international community and social psychology journals, and is an associate senior editor of the American Journal of Community Psychology. She has won several national and international scientific awards among which the Interamerican Society of Psychology (1995) and the Venezuelan National Science Award (2000). Maritza has served as the president of the International Society of Political Psychology (2006) and as the vice president for South America of the Interamerican Psychology Society (1997–1999). She has contributed several books and numerous papers and book chapters published in Spanish, English, Portuguese and French. She has been a member of the International Committee for the Liberation Psychology Conferences and her 2007 production includes books published inArgentina, Chile, Costa Rica, and USA.

is a social psychologist and holds a Ph.D. in sociology. She currently teaches at Universidad Central de Venezuela Doctorate Program and has lectured extensively in the Americas, Europe and Australia. She is on the editorial boards of several national and international community and social psychology journals and is an associate senior editor of the American Journal of Community Psychology. She has won several national and international scientific awards among which the Interamerican Society of Psychology (1995), and the Venezuelan National Science Award (2000). Maritza has served as the president of the International Society of Political Psychology (2006), and as the vice president for South America of the Interamerican Psychology Society (1997–1999). She has contributed several books and numerous papers and book chapters published in Spanish, English, Portuguese, and French. She has been a member of the International Committee for the Liberation Psychology Conferences and her 2007 production includes books published in Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, and USA.

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