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Prof. Yvonne Sliep, PhD School of Psychology
University Kwa-Zulu Natal
South Africa
Collective Healing of
traumatised communities
through Narrative Theatre
Bringing the war home – a case
of secondary trauma
In post-war situations contexts where communities have been
exposed to extreme stress for a long period of time there is a
break down of social fabric. Traumatic events call into question
basic human relationships. They shatter the self that is formed
and sustained in relation to others. Normal crisis management
fails and psycho-social problems escalate.
Examples of these include physical, psychological and sexual
abuse of family members; increased sub-stance abuse
including alcohol and risk taking behaviour; increased anger
and violent outbursts; relationship problems; increased suicide
In addition there is a high level of mistrust and often a deep
experience of betrayal. These are issues that need to be
responded to collectively as it is relational based.
Development of
NARRATIVE THEATRE
Narrative theatre was coined in Uganda in 1995 and is derived from Narrative Therapy and Forum
Theatre also known as Theatre for the Oppressed
(Augusta Boal). Narrative therapy is a respectful,
non-blaming approach to counselling and community
work that centres people as the experts in their own
lives. It views problems as separate from people and
assumes people have many skills, competencies,
beliefs, values, commitments and abilities that will
assist them to reduce the influence of problems in
their lives. The embodied nature of theatre and story
telling fits well with cultures of oral tradition and
helps to reach realistic outcomes.
THE SETTING
Community Members and facilitators Project Psycho-Social workers Community members
Elslam Camp (ABUJA) – North Darfur - El Fasher
From individuals to
communities
Interventions usually focus on either individual or
structural approaches in post-war or post-disaster
contexts.
Grappling with processes that operate recursively
amongst individuals, households, communities and
society are complex. We are slowly developing strategies
to make this possibble.
If there is to be a shift away from external agencies
towards more independence then strategies need to be
strength based focusing on local solutions for local
problems by developing strong partnerships.
FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE
Increasing understanding of the problem and especially
the contextual and inter-personal relational influences
on the problem.
Promoting creative problem solving
Building agency, efficacy and capacity
Ability to transfer understanding and skills to different
contexts
Building self- and collective confidence and esteem
Fostering mutually supportive relationships
Creating more equitable relationships
Working with narratives in
a community context
Narratives helps us make sense of the world not
only for and about ourselves but also about and
for the other
As a facilitator I don’t have to pretend I am the
expert of someone else’s life
We decide collectively what stories we want to
work with in which order of priority.
It is also important to deconstruct silences.
Marginalised voices are put in the center to ensure
that all voices are heard
Not either/or but rather
both/and
Map context
General concerns relational challenges for
individual
Explore and understand the roles, dynamics,
challenges and resources of households
Small group discussions of :
– Young Women
– Older Women
– Young Men
– Older Men
– Children
Mapping context continued
Describe relevant norms, values, dominant beliefs
and ideologies; bodies of knowledge; material and
human resources; customs; lifestyles and
psychosocial risks on society level e.g.
punishment
Track and document socio-historical events and
transitions relevant to this individual; household;
group and community
Raising awareness of issues
– How are the problems described named that effect
the most vulnerable in the community?
– Are signs and symptoms of stress and anxiety
recognised (in particular behaviours) and how can
this be responded to
– What are the local wisdoms and resources that can
be revived to stimulate local solutions to local
problems.
– Stimulating a sense of collective esteem and collective
efficacy
Narrative Theatre –
how does it work?
It makes use of micro scenes from people’s lives
through narratives and drama techniques.
puts a spotlight on what the community find
problematic.
It explores, discovers and affirms local
knowledge, strengths and abilities to increase
self-efficacy
transformation as a process is fostered through
which social action becomes possible.
helps to:
Create distal space
Work collectively
Use local knowledge
Create experiential
space (embodiment)
Create experimental
space
Important concepts
Narrative and Strength Based
Non-judgemental
Person affected is the expert
Externalisation
Management of intentionality
Supported in context over time
Stay with the story: a few
examples
People may not come with solutions that you would support but it could work in that context in that time e.g. woman the leaving kids with aggressive man or woman taking the drunk man with her after being thrown out
Experiencing the role changes the intervention
You can ask questions like is domestic violence a public or a private matter? Are we talking about agrssion or punishment.
Exploring why women felt shame not anger at having been raped and thrown out of their homes.
Not only a question of numan rights but also of human dignity
STAGES IN THE PROCESS
Tell a story
Act out the story
Create a dialogue
with audience
Discuss result
What would they have done
Try out suggestions
Establish a community Create a safe space Create an opportunity Decide on a theme
Each of these steps requires careful
planning and skilled facilitation
Reflexive space
- Deconstruct operations of
power;
- - Explore meaning and effect
of practices like punishment
- Negotiate responsibility and
accountability
- Provide modelling of preferred
behaviour which includes
walking the talk
What is your long term vision? Example
from Burundi
Creating healing rituals
Ntahokaja speaks of uruvyino singing
as "mass singing", practised among
most of the population. The singing
rises spontaneously from among those
present. People become aroused, lively
and cheerful. The imvyino style is that of
verse and refrain. A (male or female)
soloist sings the verses, which are
improvisational and have colourful,
charming words. The audience, singing
in chorus, takes up the refrain - a short,
highly rhythmic phrase which is always
the same within one song. This song is
often accompanied by hand-clapping
and possibly also dancing.
Establish community entry
How do you know what the problems are?
- current psycho-social services
- rapid assessment (community based
assessment and household interviews)
` - discussions with key informants like local
leaders and groups
- negotiating community entry
- negotiating space and support for a community
forum
Allow a complete telling of
the story
Enact the story that was told
with volunteers from the
community
Externalise
problems in
context
appropriate ways
Mapping the effects of the
problem
Light on strength based stories
RECONSTRUCTING THE
PREFERRED STORY
Unique outcomes despite the problem
Explore history of emerging strengths and abilities
Other stories and witnesses of these characteristics
Facilitate many re-tellings
Allow a complete re-telling of the story
Follow-up discussion after
playing out of drama
MOVING FORWARD
COLLECTIVELY
Towards taking united stand against problem
Ensuring everyone’s voice is heard
Collectively deciding on the best way forward.
NARRATIVE THEATRE TO
STRENGHTEN SOCIAL ACTION
Greater community served by all
Unrolling activities over time
Central to the role of the
committee
Follow through collective plans that resulted from
the Narrative Theatre
Working along side formal and informal leadership
Applying first aid mental health care where
necessary like with anxiety attacks
Acting as referral person for more severe problems
Contributing to conflict resolution & peace-building
Advocacy and lobbying for vulnerable and
marginalised groups
committees
local leadership
business sector
active NGOs
active CBOs
local service providers
landlords
small farmers
associations
Challenges
This approach like with any other healing approach can
not be seen as an event but has to be seen as a
process that will develop over time.
The funding community needs to develop capacity
building over time. If this does not happen the narrative
theatre can easily be seen as a welcome distraction with
no fundamental change.
Training needs to be developed over time as the
strategy is unrolled to have the cumulative effect that is
necessary in these contexts.
We all need each other
CONCLUSION
Trauma healing on this level needs inclusion of all existing resources
both formal and informal as well as the continues creation of ways
that revive hope and help people move forward collectively. From
Individual to Collective and back again