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  • Paul Lerner Scholar's Symposium - Rosalind I. J. Hackett, PhD

Paul Lerner Scholar's Symposium - Rosalind I. J. Hackett, PhD

  • 07 May 2016
  • 9:30 AM
  • Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, 5th Floor

Registration

  • Special price for members

Rosalind I. J. Hackett, PhD

Psychosocial Healing in War-affected Northern Uganda: 
Psychiatry, 
Pentecostalism, 
and Purification Rituals

The Paul Lerner Scholar's Symposium will begin with APS' Annual Membership Meeting, then continue with a presentation by Rosalind Hackett. 

Description of Program:
Northern Uganda’s brutal, twenty-year long civil war left a trail of personal and collective trauma, whether physical, psychological, sexual, economic, political, cultural, or social for its people. Young and old, they were caught in the cross-fire between the rebel movement known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda from 1986-2006. Nearly 2 million Acholi (the main ethnic group in the region) were forced into Internally Displaced Persons’ camps where sickness and violence were rife, and cultural practices, social relations, farming skills, and livelihoods were profoundly disrupted. Furthermore, and what finally garnered international media attention, more than 60,000 children and youth were abducted by the LRA, with about half never returning home. 

An uneasy peace now reigns, with the rebels having moved to a neighboring country and people having returned to their villages. But the anticipated development for the marginalized northern region has fallen short. Land grabbing and land wrangles have become commonplace, education is patchy, and work opportunities are limited. Not surprisingly, this has disrupted the long-awaited rebuilding of this agriculturally rich area. Some even claim that the post-war period is more challenging, with the trauma of war manifesting through alcoholism, sports betting, communal and gender-based violence, and the ongoing struggles of many former abductees, particularly women, to be reintegrated into their families and local communities. 

The program will compare and contrast the various psychosocial healing options available to the local population, whether traditional rituals of purification and reconciliation or more modern options such as psychiatric care and Pentecostal exorcisms, and discuss such framing concepts as “trauma,” “social suffering” and “social torture” that have been variously applied to the situation in northern Uganda.

Presenters:
Rosalind I. J. Hackett, PhD is the Head of the Religious Studies Department at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and is an adjunct faculty member in Anthropology. She is the co-founder and co-director of the University’s Gulu Study and Service Abroad Program (GSSAP) in northern Uganda. She is an expert in religion, conflict, and violence in Africa, having co-edited one book, authored many articles, and lectured internationally on these topics.

Wilfred Luke Komakech is a graduate student in the department of Anthropology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and is a research assistant in the Disasters, Displacement, and Human Rights Program. He grew up during the war in northern Uganda and has worked with various non-governmental organizations involved in assisting war victims.

Participants:
This program is open exclusively to APS members. It is not limited to individuals practicing in a predominately psychoanalytic mode. The material will be appropriate to intermediate levels of practice and knowledge.



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