Against tide of evil: Can trauma healing stop the inter-generational transfer of 'evil?'

Abstracts: My life, and somewhat accidental profession and career have made me a reluctant student of genocide and other mass atrocities, through witnessing the worst that man can do to fellow humans in places such as Rwanda, Srebrenica, Iraq, Sierra Leone, and Darfur. Even as we have promised each time, “never again”, genocides continue to happen again, and again, and yet again… This has made me wonder if the propensity to commit this special evil Is intrinsic to the human condition? What are the underlying risk factors and vulnerabilities? And why do we always fail to prevent and protect? Mass atrocities create cycles of violence that may endure for centuries. The scars of wounded memories resulting from such insult and injury appear to transmit from generation to generation. If ignored, they will not be healed; and thus the cycle of violence gets cemented in the minds and hearts of each generation In reflecting on this subject, we will ask if this cycle is inevitable or if it can be broken. This is where the potentially historic contribution of trauma therapy—and EMDR — comes in. How could this be integrated in our assistance frameworks – both in term of humanitarian relief, and longer longer-term development?

Conference

English

K. Mukesh

Mukesh, K. (2013, June). Against tide of evil: Can trauma healing stop the inter-generational transfer of 'evil?' Keynote presented at the 14th EMDR Europe Association Conference, Geneva, Switzerland