The Conspiracy of Silence
Because the conspiracy of silence most often follows the trauma, it is the most prevalent and effective mechanism for the transmission of trauma on all dimensions. Both intrapsychically and interpersonally protective, silence is profoundly destructive, for it attests to the person’s, family’s, society’s, community’s, nation’s and international community’s inability to integrate (and constructively respond to) the trauma.
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When done optimally, justice processes can lead societies to begin to dissipate the conspiracy of silence and heal the detrimental effects for both victim/survivors and society as a whole.
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“The victims know that individual therapeutic intervention is not enough. They need to know that their society as a whole acknowledges what has happened to them … Truth means the end of denial and silence … Truth will be achieved only when literally everyone knows and acknowledges what happened […]”
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Integration of the trauma must take place in all of life’s relevant dimensions or systems and cannot be accomplished by the individual alone. Systems can change and recover independently of other systems. Rupture repair may be needed in all systems of the survivor, in his or her community and nation, and in their place in the international community.[73] Reparative justice is a necessary but not sufficient part of this process. To fulfil the reparative and preventive goals of trauma recovery, perspective, and integration through awareness and containment must be established so that one’s sense of continuity and belongingness is restored. To be healing and even self-actualising, the integration of traumatic experiences must be examined from the perspective of the totality of the trauma survivor’s family and community members’ lives.