A Winding Road to Peace Building: Longitudinal Outcomes of a Peace Intervention for Survivors and Génocidaires of the1994 Genocide Against the Tutsiin Rwanda

Abstract

This longitudinal study examined outcomes of a local peace‐building intervention that applied principles of intergroup contact to promote reconciliation between génocidaires and survivors whom they have directly harmed during the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Individual interviews were conducted with 46 génocidaires and 45 survivors whom they have directly harmed during the genocide at 7‐time points over the course of their 22‐month participation in three programmatic activities (workshops, cell groups, and cooperative cow raising). One thousand bootstrapped samples generated to measure changes in outcomes indicated that survivors and génocidaires regarded themselves and those who directly impacted them during the genocide more positively after 22 months. Although both survivors and génocidaires experienced significant decline in trauma symptomatology after 22 months, they responded to programmatic activities differently. Cell group interactions sustained some positive outcomes (génocidaires perceived forgiveness by others) after the workshops and further improved others (génocidaires self‐forgiveness). Survivors who participated in cell groups and raised cows with génocidaires demonstrated further willingness to reconcile compared to survivors who participated in cell groups alone. Our findings empirically support the benefits of promoting different forms of intergroup interactions long after a period of intense violence and highlight the importance of considering how the trajectories of outcomes can inform program and theory development. Highlights Survivors and génocidaires in Rwanda benefited from a local intergroup contact intervention (CI). However, génocidaires and survivors they directly harmed benefited differently over 22‐months. Preparing survivors and génocidaires with skills to participate in communal life is critical for CI. Highlighting both CI outcomes and trajectories are essential for program and theory development.

Is outgroup prejudice passed down generationally in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi?

“…Most notably, génocidaire family relationships fractured by guardian imprisonment and conflicted by guardians’ harbored shame and anger about their past potentially sustained a “spiral of silence” and avoidance in open family conversations about survivors and the genocide. However, it is plausible that their participation in CFP and the subsequent process of self-forgiveness and sense of being forgiven by those they harmed during the genocide tacitly shaped their children’s views of survivors (Kang et al, 2020). Children may have intimated less intergroup conflict from observing and experiencing how their guardians cultivated relationships with survivors whom they have directly harmed during the genocide.…”

“…The first program from which we drew our sample, CFP, was a local intervention developed in 2012 that applied principles of contact hypothesis (Allport, 1954) to promote sustained reconciliation between adult génocidaires and the survivors whom they had directly harmed during the 1994 genocide (Kang et al, 2020). The sampling technique was described in Kang et al (2020). Briefly, our research team met with sector leaders (elected officials) to assess the need and introduce the rationale and logistics of implementing our local intervention.…”

“…Based on previous findings (Kang et al, 2020; Schaal et al, 2012; Scull et al, 2016) and the extensive fieldwork of our community partner we selected the following measures of how survivors and génocidaires were impacted by the genocide, and their attitudes, beliefs, and attitudes toward members of one’s outgroup (i.e., génocidaires were the referenced outgroup for survivors and survivors were the referenced outgroup for génocidaires).…”

“…These districts were selected based on our local collaborators’ continued work with survivors and génocidaires in these regions for the past 15 years. The first program from which we drew our sample, CFP, was a local intervention developed in 2012 that applied principles of contact hypothesis (Allport, 1954) to promote sustained reconciliation between adult génocidaires and the survivors whom they had directly harmed during the 1994 genocide (Kang et al, 2020). The sampling technique was described in Kang et al (2020).…”

“…Moreover, we know much less about how children are socialized when their exposure to outgroup narratives diverges from their parental experiences. This is of timely relevance given state and local initiatives aimed to construct a new narrative of shared national identity and to promote positive intergroup relations (Kang et al, 2020). It remains unclear how these postconflict recovery and peacebuilding programs potentially reify or call into question ideas that are propagated between parents and their children within households (Taka, 2020).…”