Victim and Survivor: Narrated Social Identities of Women Who Experienced Rape During the War in Bosnia-Herzegovina

Skjelsbæk, Inger

doi:10.1177/0959353506068746

Cited by 88 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Women’s chastity has traditionally been highly valued in the Somali society [29], and still prevails according to Somali women in diaspora [30]. Similar patterns of stigmatization connected to chastity are found in other settings of war rape [31, 32]. Informants linked a high risk of exposure to IPV among women to the societal patriarchal structure and unequal gender power relations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Violence and reproductive health preceding flight from war: accounts from Somali born women in Sweden

et al. 2014

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BackgroundPolitical violence and war are push factors for migration and social determinants of health among migrants. Somali migration to Sweden has increased threefold since 2004, and now comprises refugees with more than 20 years of war experiences. Health is influenced by earlier life experiences with adverse sexual and reproductive health, violence, and mental distress being linked. Adverse pregnancy outcomes are reported among Somali born refugees in high-income countries. The aim of this study was to explore experiences and perceptions on war, violence, and reproductive health before migration among Somali born women in Sweden.MethodQualitative semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with 17 Somali born refugee women of fertile age living in Sweden. Thematic analysis was applied.ResultsBefore migration, widespread war-related violence in the community had created fear, separation, and interruption in daily life in Somalia, and power based restrictions limited access to reproductive health services. The lack of justice and support for women exposed to non-partner sexual violence or intimate partner violence reinforced the risk of shame, stigmatization, and silence. Social networks, stoicism, and faith constituted survival strategies in the context of war.ConclusionsSeveral factors reinforced non-disclosure of violence exposure among the Somali born women before migration. Therefore, violence-related illness might be overlooked in the health care system. Survival strategies shaped by war contain resources for resilience and enhancement of well-being and sexual and reproductive health and rights in receiving countries after migration.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Violence and reproductive health preceding flight from war: accounts from Somali born women in Sweden

et al. 2014

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“…As a result, political participation of women in Finland was legitimized but circumscribed to matters related to domestic issues. Skjelsbaek (2006) analyzed the personal narratives of rape victims following the Bosnian war, guided by a commitment to providing voice to the trauma of this experience. She argued that the experience of sexual violence revealed a dual-identity assault for these women in its connection to the identity-based conflict that underlied the war.…”

Section: The Transformative Voice Of Narrativementioning

confidence: 99%

Narrative as a Root Metaphor for Political Psychology

Hammack

Pilecki

2011

Political Psychology

146

120

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The idea of narrative has become increasingly appropriated in empirical research in both psychology and politics, yet there is a notable absence of integrative frameworks that specify a conceptual and methodological approach to narrative research in political psychology. An integrative conceptual framework is proposed and anchored in four principles of a narrative approach: (1) the mutual constitution of language and thought, (2) the need for personal coherence through narrative identity development, (3) the need for collective solidarity through shared meaning, and (4) the mediational property of narrative in social activity and practice. Theory and empirical research related to these principles are reviewed. We argue that a narrative framework has the potential to enhance the relevance and amplify the voice of political psychology within and beyond the academy and to offer new knowledge on the complex and dynamic relationship between context and mind.Since its emergence in the 1970s as a scholarly enterprise seeking to link politics, mind, and behavior, political psychology has struggled to find an anchoring paradigm. Horowitz (1979) argued that the sustenance of political psychology, and its ability to unify social science disciplines, would be determined by its ability to offer solutions to real political dilemmas. This sentiment is echoed in Barber's (1990) call for a progressive and relevant political psychology, as well as Winter's (2000) contention that political psychology must address the practical problems of real life. Both Horowitz (1979) and Smith (1979) suggested that the emergence of political psychology was directly connected to historical concerns and processes related to disciplinary structures. And Smith (1979, 1980) cautiously argued that political psychology might provide a multidisciplinary paradigm for the social and behavioral sciences through its commitment to an analysis of the mind in political context.In some ways, the lack of a coherent unifying paradigm within political psychology is related to the demands of continued disciplinary training for emerging scholars. Hence political psychologists trained primarily in political science might privilege rational choice theory over, say, social identity theory, because that paradigm is considered canonical to their disciplinary practice (e.g., Jervis, 1989). Yet the interdisciplinary nature of political psychology commands the development of conceptual frameworks that can cross borders in fields of knowledge production and, in the process, construct novel ways to approach political problems. In this article, we argue that a paradigm has begun to emerge which not only transcends disciplinary boundaries within the social sciences but also provides a bridge to the humanities. That paradigm is narrative.Calling upon social psychologist Ted Sarbin's (1986a) classic statement of narrative as a "root metaphor" for psychology, we argue that narrative represents an ideal root metaphor for political psychology in its ability to resolve the analyti...

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“…Never before had sexual or gender‐based violence received so much international attention as was the case for Bosnia. The politicization of women's bodies and a victimization of women placed gender issues at the center of ethnic politics in Bosnia (Helms, ; Meznaric, ; Nikolic‐Ristanovic, ; Skjelsbæk, ), a dangerous combination of patriarchy and nationalism (Hansen, , p. 65). Indeed, the massive attention and response to the systematic use of sexual violence in Bosnia was part of the backdrop for the adoption of UNSCR 1325 (Hudson & Leidl, , p. 24).…”

Section: The Political Psychology Of Norm Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Narratives of Support and Resistance: A Political Psychological Analysis of the Implementation of UNSCR 1325 in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Doeland

Skjelsbæk

2017

Political Psychology

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This article presents an analysis of norm change, and, more specifically, how gender equality norms are negotiated in Bosnia. The immediate reason for asking these questions is the adoption of the United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 in 2000 on women, peace, and security and the massive global effort to change gender equality norms in order to improve peacebuilding efforts. We argue that implementation of the United Nations' Women Peace and Security (WPS) agenda rests on localization of gender equality norms. Our contention is that this process takes place on different levels. Based on a series focus-group interviews in Bosnia we offer depth to what a localization process can look like. We discuss what this means for the WPS agenda in Bosnia, for norm change, and for political psychological scholarship.

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Victim and Survivor: Narrated Social Identities of Women Who Experienced Rape During the War in Bosnia-Herzegovina

Cited by 88 publications

References 11 publications

Violence and reproductive health preceding flight from war: accounts from Somali born women in Sweden

Violence and reproductive health preceding flight from war: accounts from Somali born women in Sweden

Narrative as a Root Metaphor for Political Psychology

Narratives of Support and Resistance: A Political Psychological Analysis of the Implementation of UNSCR 1325 in Bosnia and Herzegovina

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