The relationship between trauma and forgiveness in post-conflict Sierra Leone.

Abstract

The decade-long civil war in Sierra Leone was declared over in 2002, but the psychological impact of the conflict remains. The purpose of this study was to determine if forgiveness is related to improved adjustment to trauma and for what demographic groups it is most useful in postwar Sierra Leone. Data were collected as part of the Association for Trauma Outreach and Prevention of Meaningfulworld's humanitarian outreach mission to Sierra Leone in March of 2009. Participants were administered a sociodemographic questionnaire that included gender, age, religion, education, and employment variables. Trauma exposure and posttraumatic symptomatology were assessed using Parts 1 and 3 of the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire. Forgiveness was assessed using the Enright Forgiveness Inventory, which provides scores for total forgiveness and subscores for forgiving affect, behavior, and cognition. The role of gender and age were examined, and several significant relationships between forgiveness and trauma emerged. Trauma exposure and traumatic stress were significantly correlated, although traumatic stress showed a stronger relationship to forgiveness variables. Salient differences emerged between men and women and among older and younger participants. The strongest relationship between traumatic stress and forgiveness emerged in older women.

Forgiveness in PTSD after man-made traumatic events: A systematic review.

“…In this review, one study reported a statistically significant inverse relationship between overall forgiveness and trauma symptom severity in this group, with older women showing the strongest association across groups (Doran et al, 2012). This finding needs to be explored in further research, especially as the older age group is underrepresented in this systematic review.…”

“…PTSD disorders were significantly higher among participants with low forgiveness scores. A study conducted in Sierra Leone exploring the psychological impact of the civil war showed a different result: No significant correlation was found between overall forgiveness and traumatic stress (Doran et al, 2012).…”

“…Six studies had an about equal ratio of male to female participants (Bae, Hyun, & Ra, 2014;Doran, Kalayjian, Toussaint, & DeMucci, 2012;Kaminer et al, 2001;Kira et al, 2009;Snyder & Heinze, 2005;Weinberg, Gil, & Gilbar, 2014). Four studies had significantly more female than male participants (Friedberg, Adonis, Von Bergen, & Suchday, 2005;Hamama-Raz et al, 2008;Orcutt, Pickett, & Pope, 2005.…”

“…Five studies measured offense-specific forgiveness by using the EFI (Bae et al, 2014;Doran et al, 2012;Kaminer et al, 2001;Orcutt et al, 2005Orcutt et al, , 2008. All other studies assessed forgiveness at the dispositional level, out of which three studies administered the HFS (Karaırmak & Güloğlu, 2014;Snyder & Heinze, 2005;Weinberg et al, 2014).…”

Self-Reported Experiences of Discrimination and Health: Scientific Advances, Ongoing Controversies, and Emerging Issues

“…Research reveals that interventions that promote forgiveness can be effective in promoting mental and physical health (Baskin & Enright 2004, Hui & Chau 2009, Reed & Enright 2006, Waltman et al 2009) in adults and children dealing with interpersonal wrong, conflict or emotional abuse. There has also been interest in the role of forgiveness in the context of ethnic and civil conflicts in places such as Rwanda and Sierra Leone (Doran et al 2012). In Rwanda, for example, a forgiveness intervention was associated with reduced trauma symptoms and a more positive orientation toward members of the other group (Staub et al 2005).…”