Paper long abstract:

During the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, over one million people - out of a population of seven million - were killed in the span of a mere 100 days. The impact of the genocide is felt until today and damaged the social fabric. Issues of neighborly trust and a willingness to live together are all but evident. Now, 25 years after the genocide, genocide perpetrators are being released from prison in large numbers - whether they have shown remorse or not - putting additional pressure on society and highlighting the societal importance of reconciliation and a successful reintegration of genocide perpetrators.

Sociotherapy, an approach first developed in the Netherlands, was introduced in Rwanda in 2005. In Rwanda, the approach is aimed at reconciliation and peacebuilding and it was transformed from an institution-based to a community-based approach. Some members from the community are trained to lead groups of fifteen community members through fifteen three-hour sessions to discuss and share on issues of trust, safety, care and redefining a future for themselves. The group leaders themselves, called sociotherapists, identify and invite the community members that will take part in the group meetings. Groups can be quite diverse and can consist of both genocide survivors and perpetrators.

In the ongoing research project, we are measuring the impact of Sociotherapy on the reintegration of ex-prisoner genocide perpetrators in their communities. In addition to using standardized and validated measures on mental health, mental health wellbeing and some reintegration and reconciliation measures, we also try to capture how sociotherapy is functioning today, as it evolved over the past fifteen years. Through a collaborative co-creation approach between University of Rwanda researchers and Sociotherapy experts, we are creating African science by: 1. Redefining the phases and principles that guide the sociotherapy approach to make sure that they capture the present-day local dynamics. Based on this work, we are developing and psychometrically validating a 'Restoring Human Dignity' scale that captures our local understanding of the sociotherapy phases and principles; 2. Developing and psychometrically validating a 'Human Dignity' scale, as we jointly came to understand human dignity as the primary outcome goal of Sociotherapy. By testing and validating these scales in a pre-post design, alongside known and validated questionnaires, we introduce two Rwandan concepts in the global scientific language and we produce theory to explain the meaning and relevance of these novel concepts.

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