Journal of Evidence-Informed Social Work
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Resilience and Healing Among Cambodian Survivors of the Khmer Rouge Regime Roberta R. Greene To cite this article: Roberta R. Greene (2015): Resilience and Healing Among Cambodian Survivors of the Khmer Rouge Regime, Journal of Evidence-Informed Social Work, DOI: 10.1080/10911359.2014.921588 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2014.921588
Published online: 29 Apr 2015.
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Journal of Evidence-Informed Social Work, 00:1–9, 2015 Copyright q Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 2376-1407 print/2376-1415 online DOI: 10.1080/10911359.2014.921588
Resilience and Healing Among Cambodian Survivors of the Khmer Rouge Regime Roberta R. Greene Downloaded by [University of Lethbridge] at 03:47 10 November 2015
School of Social Work, University of Texas –Austin, Davidson, Texas, USA
In this article the author presents a qualitative study about resilience and healing among Cambodian survivors of the communist Khmer Rouge regime. The database of the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) was used to analyze 30 stories of people who survived but lost family members during the Khmer Rouge regime. The participants acted as civil parties in the Cambodian tribunal involving a trial of “Duch,” the head of Tuol Sleng prison or (s21), where survivors’ relatives were interrogated, tortured, and killed. Participation in the DC-Cam investigations and in the trial were seen as healing, resiliency factors. Resilience is a person–environment concept that addresses how people and societies overcome/recover from adverse or traumatic events. Resilience was revealed here through people’s narratives of critical events that occurred at the personal, interpersonal, sociocultural, and societal levels. Thus, the participants’ stories allow us to hear the “truth” of these experiences, how they have made meaning of them, and how they mustered their personal and environmental resources to deal with overwhelming demands (Gutheil & Congress, 2000). Findings suggest that participants attained closure and a sense of justice as a result of their interacting with DC-Cam staff and giving testimony to the tribunal. Keywords: Narratives, trauma, resilience, personal and societal healing
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Democratic Kampuchea (DK) 1975 – 1979 In this section the author briefly outlines the historical events leading up to, during, and after the genocide in Cambodia. The country now known as Cambodia was once one of the more powerful resource-laden Hindu –Buddhist empires in Southeast Asia. After many years of civil warfare, conflict, and foreign occupation, it currently is a poor agrarian society comprised predominantly of the Khmer ethnic group. Khmer Rouge was the name given to followers of the succession of communist parties that began in the 1940s, initially as a protest movement against the French when Cambodia was under colonial rule, which ended in 1953. By 1975, the Communist Party of Kampuchea (formed in 1968), led by Pol Pot, had gained sufficient strength to take over the country and renamed it Democratic Kampuchea (DK). The political aim of the DK was to get Cambodians to abandon all Western capitalist ideas. Educated people as well as the Cambodian Muslim, Christian, and Buddhist populations were targeted for particular discrimination. People were forced to live in collective communal arrangements, many no more than forced labor camps. “I was forcibly evacuated from our house in Address correspondence to Roberta R. Greene, School of Social Work, University of Texas–Austin, 860 Jetton St. Unit 57, Davidson, TX 28036, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
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the provincial town of Kampong Som” (Sinet, 2012). Many were forced into military service (Andrews, 2012). Famine and starvation were rampant (DeFalco, Pechet, & Dalin, 2013). Those who objected were removed from the scene for “re-education,” which was actually a euphemism for execution (Men, 2012). During the Khmer Rouge regime, Dy relays:
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Everyone was deprived of their basic rights. People were not allowed to go outside their cooperative. The regime would not allow anyone to gather and hold discussions. If three people gathered and talked, they could be accused of being enemies and arrested or executed. . . . Family relationships were also heavily criticized. People were forbidden to show even the slightest affection, humor, or pity. (Dy, 2007, p. 15)
Life in the Cambodian region was later placed under further duress due to Cambodia’s participation in the Vietnamese civil war and U.S. bombing in the area. Vietnamese forces invaded and defeated Khmer Rouge soldiers in 1979. During the invasion, Phnom Penh was evacuated due to bombings, and many people lost their lives. “A climate of terror and panic” existed as people saw graphic roadside sights of corpses (Chen, 2012). The Vietnamese army did not exit Cambodia until 1989, paving the way for UN-sponsored elections in 1993. A coalition government was then formed, and work on a new constitution began. With the country in upheaval, the process of healing got under way. Tuol Sleng (s21) During the DK government’s rule, many Cambodians were tortured and/or put to death and then buried at the notorious Killing Fields. The most infamous place of torture, interrogation, and execution was Tuol Svay Pray High School also known as Tuol Sleng (s21) on the outskirts of the capital, Phnom Penh. Today, s21 serves as a museum for those who want to give witness to some of these events in which approximately 1.7 million Cambodians or 21% of the country’s population died. In 2010: About 300 Cambodian villagers filed into Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh on Tuesday, lingering over photographs and searching for relatives lost to the Khmer Rouge. They gave rapt attention as their tour guides led them through the facility and expressed shock at the variety of torture methods on display. “I saw the images of torture and I didn’t think it would be like that,” said Sor Song, 52. “I saw it with my own eyes, and I felt shocked to see it.” (Sokha, 2010, November 17) It is hoped that s21 will soon be turned into a memorial. (Sa, 2013)
Documentation Center of Cambodia The importance of clearly documenting the events of the Khmer Rouge regime has been recognized. In 1995, the Cambodian Genocide Program of Yale University established a field office in Cambodia that initiated the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam). With help from the U.S. State Department and the Netherlands, DC-Cam has become an independently functioning agency under the direction of Youk Chhang. The purpose of DC-Cam grew to encompass not only the gathering of evidence of life under the Khmer Rouge regime, but to achieve accountability in government and to make information available for the Cambodian tribunal (Dy, 2013; see below). In addition, the goal is to educate the public, particularly schoolchildren. “In classrooms throughout the country, teachers are going back to school to learn the facts of the Khmer Rouge years” (Loy, 2012). The goal of DC-Cam is to educate the next generation of Cambodian teachers (Johnston, 2012). DC-Cam has documents related to DK history including diaries, minutes, telegrams, and mapping of 19,440 mass burial pits. Family tracing and forensics to identify the dead are carried
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out. Collected biographies of victims and their photographs also allow family members of victims to trace their relatives and know that they have been accounted for. They may also experience a sense of justice (Loy, 2012; Neap, 2012). “[After thirty years of waiting and receiving the news of my father’s death,] my mother decided to visit Tuol Sleng and also the DC-Cam office . . . . After many years of impunity, [she decided] it is time for the leaders to be held accountable for their crimes (Saophea, 2012, p. 45).” DC-Cam is in the process of becoming the Sleuth Rith Institute, a permanent place for people from around the world to study and prevent genocide. According to Chhang, the hope is that: By reconstructing accurate historical narratives, by striving for justice where there is an appropriate remedy, and by working each and every day to achieve reconciliation and peace, the Documentation Center of Cambodia aims to lay a foundation upon which all people can find firm footing in moving toward a better future. (Chhang, 2004, p. 5)
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia The atrocities taken by the Khmer Rouge regime are called the “Cambodian Holocaust” or “Cambodian genocide” (www.USMHM.org). In 1997, the Cambodian government asked the United Nations to establish a Cambodia tribunal to try senior members of the Khmer Rouge for crimes against humanity. In 2003, the tribunal, known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) was established as part of an agreement between the Royal Government of Cambodia and the United Nations. The work of the ECCC has been guided by documents gathered by DC-Cam. Evidence was collected from around the country. “Villagers were very interested in the hearings” (Putheavy, 2012). DC-Cam’s database consists of magazine articles, trial testimony, newspaper reports, and radio broadcasts. It provides much of the testimony needed to hold senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime accountable for their actions. One such testimony was Chum Mey’s gruesome account of the removal of his toenails (Corey-Boulet, 2009; MacDonald, 2009). Listening to such leaders as Kaing Guek Eav, alias “Duch,” make the false claim that they were “only following orders” gave impetus to the work of the tribunal (Saut, 2012). In 2010, the tribunal found Duch guilty of crimes against humanity and breaches to the Geneva Convention of 1949. The interviews examined here are part of that action. The tribunal continues its work today as senior leaders remain on dock.
LITERATURE BACKGROUND In this section the author discusses the literature that influenced the current study, including the concepts of narrative gerontology, resilience, and survivorship. Narrative gerontology, the method used here, is a study of aging through the telling of stories by older adults (Gutheil & Congress, 2000). It is a means of learning about survivorship. According to Kenyon and Randall (2001), stories can be understood on four different levels—personal, interpersonal, sociocultural, and societal as described here: (1) At the personal level, biological, psychological, sociological, and spiritual elements apply across a person’s lifetime. (2) The interpersonal aspects refer to nurturing and mentoring between people across generations. (3) At the sociocultural level, the positive elements of society—its mores, attitudes, and values —are important. (4) The societal elements include historical and social and economic concerns such as poverty, potable water, child and maternal health, and laws.
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These four narrative levels as they relate to resilience are discussed below in the study findings. This shift in perspective from personal intrapsychic accounts to all levels of stories represents a change in paradigm, moving researchers and practitioners from viewing survivors as broken or damaged to relatively resilient. Although it has long been known that adverse events can threaten people’s psychological and social stability, the level of trauma and the course of long-term recovery vary by individual: some may experience posttraumatic stress disorder, others may suffer few lasting effects, and still others may show resilience (Hantman, Solomon, & Horn, 2003). Resilience refers to self-righting behavior, and draws on internal resources including hope and determination as well as on external supports such as mutual aid networks (Greene, 2012). Some studies have examined resilience among Cambodian children in the aftermath of war. For example, Coles (1986), a noted researcher of children who had survived the adversity of racism in the U.S. South, also spoke with Cambodian refugee children and their parents. Researchers had previously found that many survivors of the 30-year Cambodian civil war and concentration camps suffered posttraumatic stress, experiencing symptoms that included avoidance, hyperactive startle reactions, emotional numbness, intrusive thoughts, and nightmares (Carlson & RosserHogan, 1993). However, Coles concluded that despite the horrific political violence under the Khmer Rouge, “I have never seen a group of children, in all the years of my work, who are more resilient and perceptive” (p. 266). He attributed their successful adaptation to caring mothers and fathers. Another study, by Masten and Coatsworth (1998), also commented on these young people’s success, saying, “They are absolute, living testimony to the human capacity for resilience” (p. 206). Survivors are those who faced critical, often traumatic events that disrupted their lives, such as discrimination and possible death. Events may have included the Holocaust as studied by Greene, Armour, Hantman, Graham, and Sharabi (2010) and the Jim Crow era of discrimination in the United States as examined by Greene, Cohen, Gonzalez, and Lee (2009). Both of these qualitative studies, used to guide this study’s approach, are based on interpretations of how the study participants overcame adversity and maintained a sense of resilience. Survivorship refers to: people’s ability to overcome the damaging events of trauma, to rebuild their lives, and to maintain a coherent family life story. Survivorship is a complex phenomenon describing how individuals, families, and communities return to life’s basic functioning. It involves innate and learned abilities (traits/ capacities) to take action (follow adaptive/coping strategies) to survive, to deal with feelings of distress and anxiety, and overcome adversity. (Greene & Graham, 2008, p. S75)
These concepts as defined above are used here to better understand how survivors of the Cambodian genocide view their difficulties and healing process.
METHOD: QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS The purpose of the author in this study was to explore survivorship among Cambodian survivors of genocide. A qualitative approach was used to understand how people made meaning of adverse experiences. The intent was to provide an understanding of how people achieved resiliency (Rossiter, 1999). Narratives of older Cambodian survivors were analyzed to determine what critical events occurred and how they involved various levels of systems. Data analysis involved “moving back and forth between concrete bits of data and abstract concepts, between inductive and deductive reasoning, between description and interpretation” (Merriam, 1993, p. 175) in an effort to make meaning of the data. This process, known as constant comparison data analysis, involves taking information from data collection and assigning it to
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emerging categories (Creswell, 1998; Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Themes emerged as patterns of relationship were revealed (Miles & Huberman, 1994).
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Participants The 30 participants were obtained from the records of DC-Cam. There were 17 women and 13 men, ranging in age from 52– 63 years of age (for those who indicated their age). Participants included peasant farmers, teachers, and mechanics. They were originally contacted by DC-CAM staff to see if they wanted to become civil parties to the suite against senior Khmer Rouge officials—in this case Duch. The ECCC is the first court trying international mass crimes that provides an opportunity for victims to participate directly in the trial proceedings as civil parties. Civil parties are defined as: . parties in the proceedings against accused persons being prosecuted before the ECCC, and
they enjoy rights broadly similar to the prosecution and the defense;
. seeking collective and moral reparations, but no individual monetary compensation can be
awarded;
. any person who can demonstrate that he or she has suffered physical, material, or
psychological injury as a direct consequence of at least one of the crimes prosecuted before the ECCC, and may apply to become a civil party.
FINDINGS Findings revealed themes similar to those among Holocaust survivors and survivors of Hurricane Katrina in the United States. These included resolving to live, obtaining food and shelter, choosing survival strategies, and keeping family ties (trying to save the family: Greene, 2008; 2010). Because the interview transcripts reviewed here focused on the ECCC trial of Duch, specific themes related to that event emerged: identifying lost loved ones, honoring the dead, achieving justice, learning from the past, making meaning of events, and coming to terms with traumatic events. Findings also revealed themes at the four levels of narrative defined above. These have been tied to expressions of resiliency. Personal-Level Narrative Themes Personal-level narrative themes speak about internal feelings. The most prevailing theme was the difficulty of losing a loved one (90%). The feelings that one’s loved one disappeared seem to last forever (Saophea, 2012). One participant remembers, “I never missed a chance to participate [in the ECCC] . . . . My previous feelings before participating in the court was not good. I was sad most of the times, and could not control my tears falling down. However, it is different now. I was not easy to shed tears.” Being able to fill out an application as a civil party gave people a sense that they could do something about their relative’s death (Sreynop, 2012). Another survivor preferred denial as a route to overcoming adversity: I no longer hold grudge against any or anything because saying it out would never help me to bring back my lost. I don’t want to hear anything about those people and I don’t want to recall the past either. Let him [Duch] die. I nowadays don’t think about it anymore and this makes me feel relief. I would dedicate my remaining life time to doing good merits and to religion. I am too old to think about it anymore.
Still, some survivors experience emotional pain (Loy, 2012) and asked the existential question, “Why?” “Wanting to know why they killed my son was the main reason that motivated me to file the complaint form with the ECCC.”
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Interpersonal-Level Narrative Themes Interpersonal-level narrative themes address relationships between people. Most participants wanted to find out what happened to a relative in order to honor the deceased person and come to closure (92%). They spoke about wanting death to have honor and meaning to put their mind to rest. One participant said, “Duch was sentenced to life imprisonment which could make me feel a sense of closure.” Another participant reflected on reparations: “All our love ones were already dead, and therefore no reparation would ever repair and equal our sufferings. However, sentencing Duch was already part of the reparation we wanted to have since it helped to alleviate our hard feeling which tormented our psychology for decades.” One generation learning from another was also a concern: “The sentence or the indictment would serve a good lesson for the next generation to learn from the past, not to make the same mistake they [the Khmer Rouge] did.”
Sociocultural-Level Narrative Themes Sociocultural-level themes express the beliefs and mores of the time. Participants were looking for ways to follow their belief system. One participant said about her personal feelings regarding the death of his brother, “At first, I hated Duch, the one responsible for the death of my brother. However, I tried to console myself by following Buddha’s words ‘vindictiveness does not end by being vindictive.’ So I let the court do their work. I have no objection.” Another study participant said, “I would celebrate Buddhist ceremonies for my son.”
Societal-Level Narrative Themes Societal-level narrative themes are indicative of the work of societal institutions. Most study participants thanked DC-Cam as a societal agency for helping them become civil parties (89%). As one participant related: Before, I did not know about the Khmer Rouge tribunal: I learned about its existence only after DC-Cam staff went to my village, informing us about our rights to participate in the Court. After having listened to DC-Cam staff, I decided to file a complaint form to the ECCC to seek justice for my family members who died without knowing if they were guilty. What I expected from my participation was to receive justice for my lost loved ones and to seek reparation for the suffering I had endured.
Another participant expressed similar sentiments about DC-Cam, acknowledging the connection between personal feelings of resilience and public support: If without the court and the Documentation Center of Cambodia researching [my background], I would not have known the whereabouts of my deceased relatives. More importantly, I would like to express my deep thank to the Documentation Center of Cambodia. I am so lucky. I didn’t know how to deal with my lost; I wanted to talk but had no chance.
Some study participants were able to shed personal anger, replacing it with court proceedings against Duch: To me, I consider Duch as a person who had the power to kill people during the DK regime. As he is now imprisoned for lifetime, I am no longer angry with him. I am satisfied with my participation with the court proceedings so far. I think the court brings us justice and helps us find what is right and wrong.
Finally, one participant may have spoken for many when he said:
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Even though I was not able to attend the pronouncement of Duch’s final judgment at the court, I did follow it closely and I was very satisfied with the sentence. It helps me a lot in reducing my sufferings, especially helps me have some degree of relief. The judgment means a lot to me as well as Cambodian people. It benefits the whole nation. The tribunal prosecuted the serious crimes in human history and this contributes to building a more concrete rule of law in Cambodia.
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CONCLUSION The study findings illustrate that resilience is nested within multiple layers of individual and collective adaptive factors (Greene, 2014). For example, Cambodian people are highly family oriented. There are strong family bonds and the sense of loyalty to the family is a top priority (Luna et al., 1997, p. 267). Cambodians often live in the extended family or in three-generation households (Chan & Kim, 2003). The cultural tradition of filial piety or the belief that children should respect and take care of their parents is often followed (Lee & Sung, 1998), but was made more difficult during the forced family separations that took place during the Khmer Rouge regime. Being able to pay respects was again achieved through storytelling. As many Cambodians are Buddhists, they find that this gives them a spiritual dimension that fosters peace and tranquility. However, the practice of ancestor worship, or the custom of venerating deceased ancestors who are considered still a part of the family, was also disrupted when parents died during the Khmer Rouge regime. The attention given by DC-Cam to obtaining biographies of those killed and identifying many of their remains was a major aspect of the healing process. Participants spoke about their struggle with anger (on the personal level) and about wanting a sense of justice (on the societal level), thus expressing their resiliency. Because the idea of resilience addresses how people and societies can overcome traumatic events such as genocide, it is highly appropriate to thinking about how Cambodia can move toward its future while not ignoring historical events. Strategies to promote resilience at all of the systems levels discussed above can be used to design interventions to fit the specific culture and needs of the people. Because of the financial ruin and damage to the country’s infrastructure, the recovery will be a difficult road to travel. The resiliency of people and communities is key.
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DeFalco, R. C., Pechet, M., & Dalin, L. (2013, April). Famine and excess mortality in democratic Kampuchea. (DC-Cam Community Radio Program Pilot, Episode 2). In Voices of Genocide: Justice and the Khmer Rouge Famine. Phnom Penh: Documentation Center of Cambodia. Dy, K. (2007). A history of Democratic Kampuchea (1975– 1979). Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Documentation Center of Cambodia. Dy, K. (2013). Challenges of teaching genocide in Cambodian secondary schools. Policy and Practice: Pedagogy about the Holocaust and Genocide Papers, paper 4. Retrieved from http://commons.clarku.edu/pedagogy2013/4 Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, B. G. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter. Greene, R. R. (2008). Reflections on Hurricane Katrina by older adults: Three case studies in resiliency and survivorship. Journal of Human Behavior and the Social Environment, 16, 57–74. Greene, R. R. (2010). Holocaust survivors: Resilience revisited. Journal of Human Behavior and the Social Environment, 20, 411 –422. Greene, R. R. (Ed.). (2012). Resilience: An integrated approach to practice, policy, and research. Washington, DC: NASW Press. Greene, R. R. (2014). Resilience as effective functional capacity: An ecological-stress model. Journal of Human Behavior and Social Environment, 24, 937 –950. Greene, R. R., Armour, M., Hantman, S., Graham, S., & Sharabi, A. (2010). Conceptualizing a Holocaust survivorship model. Journal of Human Behavior and the Social Environment, 20, 423–439. Greene, R. R., Cohen, H., Gonzalez, J., & Lee, Y. (2009). Narratives of resilience and social and economic justice. Washington, DC: NASW Press. Greene, R. R., & Graham, S. (2008). Role of resilience among Nazi Holocaust survivors: A strength-based paradigm for understanding survivorship. Family and Community Health, 32, S75–S82. Gutheil, I. A., & Congress, E. (2000). Resiliency in older people: A paradigm for practice. In E. Norman (Ed.), Resiliency enhancement: Putting the strengths perspective into social work practice (pp. 40–52). New York, NY: Columbia University Press. Hantman, S., Solomon, Z., & Horn, Y. (2003). Long-term coping of Holocaust survivors: A typology. Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences, 40, 126–134. Johnston, A. (2012, July). The teaching of “A History of Democratic Kampuchea.” An insight into educational dissemination of the genocide curriculum. Searching for the Truth. Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Documentation Center of Cambodia. Kenyon, G. M., & Randall, W. (2001). Narrative gerontology: An overview. In G. Kenyon, P. Clark, & B. de Vries (Eds.), Narrative Gerontology (pp. 3–18). New York, NY: Springer. Lee, Y., & Sung, K. (1998). Cultural influences on caregiving burden: Cases of Koreans and Americans. International Journal of Aging & Human Development, 46, 125–141. Loy, I. (2012, March 28). Learning lessons from the Khmer Rouge. Inter Press Service News Agency. Retrieved from http:// www.ipsnews.net/2012/03/learning-lessons-from-the-khmer-rouge/ Luna, I., Ardon, E., Lim, Y., Cromwell, S., Phillips, L., & Russell, C. (1997). The relevance of familism in cross-cultural studies of family caregiving. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 18, 267 –274. Macdonald, L. (2009, June 30). Thirty years ago, Duch took his toenails: Today, he took it to Duch. Cambodia Tribunal Monitor. Retrieved from http://www.cambodiatribunal.org/_archived-site/sites/default/files/ctm_blog_6-30-2009.pdf Masten, A. S., & Coatsworth, J. D. (1998). The development of competence in favorable and unfavorable environments. American Psychologist, 53, 205–220. Men, L. (2012, March 19). I wonder how Duch would feel if one of his sons or daughters were brought into Tual Sleng? Searching for the Truth. Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Documentation Center of Cambodia. Retrieved from https://khmernews. wordpress.com/2012/03/19/i-wonder-how-duch-would-feel-if-one-of-his-sons-or-daughters-were-brought-into-tuolsleng/ Merriam, S. (1993). Butler’s life review: How universal is it? International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 37, 163 –175. Miles, M., & Huberman, M. (1994). Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Neap, T. (2012, March). Civil parties’ reaction on Duch’s appeal verdict on 3. Searching for the Truth. Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Documentation Center of Cambodia. Putheavy, P. (2012). Experience of Saleh Musa under the Khmer rouge. Searching for the Truth. Phnom Penh. Cambodia: Documentation Center of Cambodia. Rossiter, M. (1999). A narrative approach to development: Implications for adult education. Adult Education Quarterly, 50, 56 –71. Sa, F. (2013, November 19). Tual Sleng memorial a good idea [Analysis and op-ed]. Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved from http://www.phnompenhpost.com/analysis-and-op-ed/tuol-sleng-memorial-good-idea
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Saophea, H. (2012). Civil parties’ reaction on Duch’s appeal verdict on 3. Searching for the Truth. Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Documentation Center of Cambodia. Saut, M. (2012, March). Civil parties’ reaction on Duch’s appeal verdict on 3. Searching for the Truth. Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Documentation Center of Cambodia. Sokha, C. (2010, November 16). Khmer Rouge cadres confront their past. Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved from https:// khmernews.wordpress.com/2010/11/17/khmer-rouge-cadres-confront-their-past/ Sreynop, R. (2012, February). My lost brother. Searching for the Truth. Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Documentation Center of Cambodia.
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Resilience and Healing Among Cambodian Survivors of the Khmer Rouge Regime Roberta R. Greene To cite this article: Roberta R. Greene (2015): Resilience and Healing Among Cambodian Survivors of the Khmer Rouge Regime, Journal of Evidence-Informed Social Work, DOI: 10.1080/10911359.2014.921588 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2014.921588
Published online: 29 Apr 2015.
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Journal of Evidence-Informed Social Work, 00:1–9, 2015 Copyright q Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 2376-1407 print/2376-1415 online DOI: 10.1080/10911359.2014.921588
Resilience and Healing Among Cambodian Survivors of the Khmer Rouge Regime Roberta R. Greene Downloaded by [University of Lethbridge] at 03:47 10 November 2015
School of Social Work, University of Texas –Austin, Davidson, Texas, USA
In this article the author presents a qualitative study about resilience and healing among Cambodian survivors of the communist Khmer Rouge regime. The database of the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) was used to analyze 30 stories of people who survived but lost family members during the Khmer Rouge regime. The participants acted as civil parties in the Cambodian tribunal involving a trial of “Duch,” the head of Tuol Sleng prison or (s21), where survivors’ relatives were interrogated, tortured, and killed. Participation in the DC-Cam investigations and in the trial were seen as healing, resiliency factors. Resilience is a person–environment concept that addresses how people and societies overcome/recover from adverse or traumatic events. Resilience was revealed here through people’s narratives of critical events that occurred at the personal, interpersonal, sociocultural, and societal levels. Thus, the participants’ stories allow us to hear the “truth” of these experiences, how they have made meaning of them, and how they mustered their personal and environmental resources to deal with overwhelming demands (Gutheil & Congress, 2000). Findings suggest that participants attained closure and a sense of justice as a result of their interacting with DC-Cam staff and giving testimony to the tribunal. Keywords: Narratives, trauma, resilience, personal and societal healing
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Democratic Kampuchea (DK) 1975 – 1979 In this section the author briefly outlines the historical events leading up to, during, and after the genocide in Cambodia. The country now known as Cambodia was once one of the more powerful resource-laden Hindu –Buddhist empires in Southeast Asia. After many years of civil warfare, conflict, and foreign occupation, it currently is a poor agrarian society comprised predominantly of the Khmer ethnic group. Khmer Rouge was the name given to followers of the succession of communist parties that began in the 1940s, initially as a protest movement against the French when Cambodia was under colonial rule, which ended in 1953. By 1975, the Communist Party of Kampuchea (formed in 1968), led by Pol Pot, had gained sufficient strength to take over the country and renamed it Democratic Kampuchea (DK). The political aim of the DK was to get Cambodians to abandon all Western capitalist ideas. Educated people as well as the Cambodian Muslim, Christian, and Buddhist populations were targeted for particular discrimination. People were forced to live in collective communal arrangements, many no more than forced labor camps. “I was forcibly evacuated from our house in Address correspondence to Roberta R. Greene, School of Social Work, University of Texas–Austin, 860 Jetton St. Unit 57, Davidson, TX 28036, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
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the provincial town of Kampong Som” (Sinet, 2012). Many were forced into military service (Andrews, 2012). Famine and starvation were rampant (DeFalco, Pechet, & Dalin, 2013). Those who objected were removed from the scene for “re-education,” which was actually a euphemism for execution (Men, 2012). During the Khmer Rouge regime, Dy relays:
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Everyone was deprived of their basic rights. People were not allowed to go outside their cooperative. The regime would not allow anyone to gather and hold discussions. If three people gathered and talked, they could be accused of being enemies and arrested or executed. . . . Family relationships were also heavily criticized. People were forbidden to show even the slightest affection, humor, or pity. (Dy, 2007, p. 15)
Life in the Cambodian region was later placed under further duress due to Cambodia’s participation in the Vietnamese civil war and U.S. bombing in the area. Vietnamese forces invaded and defeated Khmer Rouge soldiers in 1979. During the invasion, Phnom Penh was evacuated due to bombings, and many people lost their lives. “A climate of terror and panic” existed as people saw graphic roadside sights of corpses (Chen, 2012). The Vietnamese army did not exit Cambodia until 1989, paving the way for UN-sponsored elections in 1993. A coalition government was then formed, and work on a new constitution began. With the country in upheaval, the process of healing got under way. Tuol Sleng (s21) During the DK government’s rule, many Cambodians were tortured and/or put to death and then buried at the notorious Killing Fields. The most infamous place of torture, interrogation, and execution was Tuol Svay Pray High School also known as Tuol Sleng (s21) on the outskirts of the capital, Phnom Penh. Today, s21 serves as a museum for those who want to give witness to some of these events in which approximately 1.7 million Cambodians or 21% of the country’s population died. In 2010: About 300 Cambodian villagers filed into Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh on Tuesday, lingering over photographs and searching for relatives lost to the Khmer Rouge. They gave rapt attention as their tour guides led them through the facility and expressed shock at the variety of torture methods on display. “I saw the images of torture and I didn’t think it would be like that,” said Sor Song, 52. “I saw it with my own eyes, and I felt shocked to see it.” (Sokha, 2010, November 17) It is hoped that s21 will soon be turned into a memorial. (Sa, 2013)
Documentation Center of Cambodia The importance of clearly documenting the events of the Khmer Rouge regime has been recognized. In 1995, the Cambodian Genocide Program of Yale University established a field office in Cambodia that initiated the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam). With help from the U.S. State Department and the Netherlands, DC-Cam has become an independently functioning agency under the direction of Youk Chhang. The purpose of DC-Cam grew to encompass not only the gathering of evidence of life under the Khmer Rouge regime, but to achieve accountability in government and to make information available for the Cambodian tribunal (Dy, 2013; see below). In addition, the goal is to educate the public, particularly schoolchildren. “In classrooms throughout the country, teachers are going back to school to learn the facts of the Khmer Rouge years” (Loy, 2012). The goal of DC-Cam is to educate the next generation of Cambodian teachers (Johnston, 2012). DC-Cam has documents related to DK history including diaries, minutes, telegrams, and mapping of 19,440 mass burial pits. Family tracing and forensics to identify the dead are carried
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out. Collected biographies of victims and their photographs also allow family members of victims to trace their relatives and know that they have been accounted for. They may also experience a sense of justice (Loy, 2012; Neap, 2012). “[After thirty years of waiting and receiving the news of my father’s death,] my mother decided to visit Tuol Sleng and also the DC-Cam office . . . . After many years of impunity, [she decided] it is time for the leaders to be held accountable for their crimes (Saophea, 2012, p. 45).” DC-Cam is in the process of becoming the Sleuth Rith Institute, a permanent place for people from around the world to study and prevent genocide. According to Chhang, the hope is that: By reconstructing accurate historical narratives, by striving for justice where there is an appropriate remedy, and by working each and every day to achieve reconciliation and peace, the Documentation Center of Cambodia aims to lay a foundation upon which all people can find firm footing in moving toward a better future. (Chhang, 2004, p. 5)
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia The atrocities taken by the Khmer Rouge regime are called the “Cambodian Holocaust” or “Cambodian genocide” (www.USMHM.org). In 1997, the Cambodian government asked the United Nations to establish a Cambodia tribunal to try senior members of the Khmer Rouge for crimes against humanity. In 2003, the tribunal, known as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) was established as part of an agreement between the Royal Government of Cambodia and the United Nations. The work of the ECCC has been guided by documents gathered by DC-Cam. Evidence was collected from around the country. “Villagers were very interested in the hearings” (Putheavy, 2012). DC-Cam’s database consists of magazine articles, trial testimony, newspaper reports, and radio broadcasts. It provides much of the testimony needed to hold senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime accountable for their actions. One such testimony was Chum Mey’s gruesome account of the removal of his toenails (Corey-Boulet, 2009; MacDonald, 2009). Listening to such leaders as Kaing Guek Eav, alias “Duch,” make the false claim that they were “only following orders” gave impetus to the work of the tribunal (Saut, 2012). In 2010, the tribunal found Duch guilty of crimes against humanity and breaches to the Geneva Convention of 1949. The interviews examined here are part of that action. The tribunal continues its work today as senior leaders remain on dock.
LITERATURE BACKGROUND In this section the author discusses the literature that influenced the current study, including the concepts of narrative gerontology, resilience, and survivorship. Narrative gerontology, the method used here, is a study of aging through the telling of stories by older adults (Gutheil & Congress, 2000). It is a means of learning about survivorship. According to Kenyon and Randall (2001), stories can be understood on four different levels—personal, interpersonal, sociocultural, and societal as described here: (1) At the personal level, biological, psychological, sociological, and spiritual elements apply across a person’s lifetime. (2) The interpersonal aspects refer to nurturing and mentoring between people across generations. (3) At the sociocultural level, the positive elements of society—its mores, attitudes, and values —are important. (4) The societal elements include historical and social and economic concerns such as poverty, potable water, child and maternal health, and laws.
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These four narrative levels as they relate to resilience are discussed below in the study findings. This shift in perspective from personal intrapsychic accounts to all levels of stories represents a change in paradigm, moving researchers and practitioners from viewing survivors as broken or damaged to relatively resilient. Although it has long been known that adverse events can threaten people’s psychological and social stability, the level of trauma and the course of long-term recovery vary by individual: some may experience posttraumatic stress disorder, others may suffer few lasting effects, and still others may show resilience (Hantman, Solomon, & Horn, 2003). Resilience refers to self-righting behavior, and draws on internal resources including hope and determination as well as on external supports such as mutual aid networks (Greene, 2012). Some studies have examined resilience among Cambodian children in the aftermath of war. For example, Coles (1986), a noted researcher of children who had survived the adversity of racism in the U.S. South, also spoke with Cambodian refugee children and their parents. Researchers had previously found that many survivors of the 30-year Cambodian civil war and concentration camps suffered posttraumatic stress, experiencing symptoms that included avoidance, hyperactive startle reactions, emotional numbness, intrusive thoughts, and nightmares (Carlson & RosserHogan, 1993). However, Coles concluded that despite the horrific political violence under the Khmer Rouge, “I have never seen a group of children, in all the years of my work, who are more resilient and perceptive” (p. 266). He attributed their successful adaptation to caring mothers and fathers. Another study, by Masten and Coatsworth (1998), also commented on these young people’s success, saying, “They are absolute, living testimony to the human capacity for resilience” (p. 206). Survivors are those who faced critical, often traumatic events that disrupted their lives, such as discrimination and possible death. Events may have included the Holocaust as studied by Greene, Armour, Hantman, Graham, and Sharabi (2010) and the Jim Crow era of discrimination in the United States as examined by Greene, Cohen, Gonzalez, and Lee (2009). Both of these qualitative studies, used to guide this study’s approach, are based on interpretations of how the study participants overcame adversity and maintained a sense of resilience. Survivorship refers to: people’s ability to overcome the damaging events of trauma, to rebuild their lives, and to maintain a coherent family life story. Survivorship is a complex phenomenon describing how individuals, families, and communities return to life’s basic functioning. It involves innate and learned abilities (traits/ capacities) to take action (follow adaptive/coping strategies) to survive, to deal with feelings of distress and anxiety, and overcome adversity. (Greene & Graham, 2008, p. S75)
These concepts as defined above are used here to better understand how survivors of the Cambodian genocide view their difficulties and healing process.
METHOD: QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS The purpose of the author in this study was to explore survivorship among Cambodian survivors of genocide. A qualitative approach was used to understand how people made meaning of adverse experiences. The intent was to provide an understanding of how people achieved resiliency (Rossiter, 1999). Narratives of older Cambodian survivors were analyzed to determine what critical events occurred and how they involved various levels of systems. Data analysis involved “moving back and forth between concrete bits of data and abstract concepts, between inductive and deductive reasoning, between description and interpretation” (Merriam, 1993, p. 175) in an effort to make meaning of the data. This process, known as constant comparison data analysis, involves taking information from data collection and assigning it to
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emerging categories (Creswell, 1998; Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Themes emerged as patterns of relationship were revealed (Miles & Huberman, 1994).
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Participants The 30 participants were obtained from the records of DC-Cam. There were 17 women and 13 men, ranging in age from 52– 63 years of age (for those who indicated their age). Participants included peasant farmers, teachers, and mechanics. They were originally contacted by DC-CAM staff to see if they wanted to become civil parties to the suite against senior Khmer Rouge officials—in this case Duch. The ECCC is the first court trying international mass crimes that provides an opportunity for victims to participate directly in the trial proceedings as civil parties. Civil parties are defined as: . parties in the proceedings against accused persons being prosecuted before the ECCC, and
they enjoy rights broadly similar to the prosecution and the defense;
. seeking collective and moral reparations, but no individual monetary compensation can be
awarded;
. any person who can demonstrate that he or she has suffered physical, material, or
psychological injury as a direct consequence of at least one of the crimes prosecuted before the ECCC, and may apply to become a civil party.
FINDINGS Findings revealed themes similar to those among Holocaust survivors and survivors of Hurricane Katrina in the United States. These included resolving to live, obtaining food and shelter, choosing survival strategies, and keeping family ties (trying to save the family: Greene, 2008; 2010). Because the interview transcripts reviewed here focused on the ECCC trial of Duch, specific themes related to that event emerged: identifying lost loved ones, honoring the dead, achieving justice, learning from the past, making meaning of events, and coming to terms with traumatic events. Findings also revealed themes at the four levels of narrative defined above. These have been tied to expressions of resiliency. Personal-Level Narrative Themes Personal-level narrative themes speak about internal feelings. The most prevailing theme was the difficulty of losing a loved one (90%). The feelings that one’s loved one disappeared seem to last forever (Saophea, 2012). One participant remembers, “I never missed a chance to participate [in the ECCC] . . . . My previous feelings before participating in the court was not good. I was sad most of the times, and could not control my tears falling down. However, it is different now. I was not easy to shed tears.” Being able to fill out an application as a civil party gave people a sense that they could do something about their relative’s death (Sreynop, 2012). Another survivor preferred denial as a route to overcoming adversity: I no longer hold grudge against any or anything because saying it out would never help me to bring back my lost. I don’t want to hear anything about those people and I don’t want to recall the past either. Let him [Duch] die. I nowadays don’t think about it anymore and this makes me feel relief. I would dedicate my remaining life time to doing good merits and to religion. I am too old to think about it anymore.
Still, some survivors experience emotional pain (Loy, 2012) and asked the existential question, “Why?” “Wanting to know why they killed my son was the main reason that motivated me to file the complaint form with the ECCC.”
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Interpersonal-Level Narrative Themes Interpersonal-level narrative themes address relationships between people. Most participants wanted to find out what happened to a relative in order to honor the deceased person and come to closure (92%). They spoke about wanting death to have honor and meaning to put their mind to rest. One participant said, “Duch was sentenced to life imprisonment which could make me feel a sense of closure.” Another participant reflected on reparations: “All our love ones were already dead, and therefore no reparation would ever repair and equal our sufferings. However, sentencing Duch was already part of the reparation we wanted to have since it helped to alleviate our hard feeling which tormented our psychology for decades.” One generation learning from another was also a concern: “The sentence or the indictment would serve a good lesson for the next generation to learn from the past, not to make the same mistake they [the Khmer Rouge] did.”
Sociocultural-Level Narrative Themes Sociocultural-level themes express the beliefs and mores of the time. Participants were looking for ways to follow their belief system. One participant said about her personal feelings regarding the death of his brother, “At first, I hated Duch, the one responsible for the death of my brother. However, I tried to console myself by following Buddha’s words ‘vindictiveness does not end by being vindictive.’ So I let the court do their work. I have no objection.” Another study participant said, “I would celebrate Buddhist ceremonies for my son.”
Societal-Level Narrative Themes Societal-level narrative themes are indicative of the work of societal institutions. Most study participants thanked DC-Cam as a societal agency for helping them become civil parties (89%). As one participant related: Before, I did not know about the Khmer Rouge tribunal: I learned about its existence only after DC-Cam staff went to my village, informing us about our rights to participate in the Court. After having listened to DC-Cam staff, I decided to file a complaint form to the ECCC to seek justice for my family members who died without knowing if they were guilty. What I expected from my participation was to receive justice for my lost loved ones and to seek reparation for the suffering I had endured.
Another participant expressed similar sentiments about DC-Cam, acknowledging the connection between personal feelings of resilience and public support: If without the court and the Documentation Center of Cambodia researching [my background], I would not have known the whereabouts of my deceased relatives. More importantly, I would like to express my deep thank to the Documentation Center of Cambodia. I am so lucky. I didn’t know how to deal with my lost; I wanted to talk but had no chance.
Some study participants were able to shed personal anger, replacing it with court proceedings against Duch: To me, I consider Duch as a person who had the power to kill people during the DK regime. As he is now imprisoned for lifetime, I am no longer angry with him. I am satisfied with my participation with the court proceedings so far. I think the court brings us justice and helps us find what is right and wrong.
Finally, one participant may have spoken for many when he said:
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Even though I was not able to attend the pronouncement of Duch’s final judgment at the court, I did follow it closely and I was very satisfied with the sentence. It helps me a lot in reducing my sufferings, especially helps me have some degree of relief. The judgment means a lot to me as well as Cambodian people. It benefits the whole nation. The tribunal prosecuted the serious crimes in human history and this contributes to building a more concrete rule of law in Cambodia.
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CONCLUSION The study findings illustrate that resilience is nested within multiple layers of individual and collective adaptive factors (Greene, 2014). For example, Cambodian people are highly family oriented. There are strong family bonds and the sense of loyalty to the family is a top priority (Luna et al., 1997, p. 267). Cambodians often live in the extended family or in three-generation households (Chan & Kim, 2003). The cultural tradition of filial piety or the belief that children should respect and take care of their parents is often followed (Lee & Sung, 1998), but was made more difficult during the forced family separations that took place during the Khmer Rouge regime. Being able to pay respects was again achieved through storytelling. As many Cambodians are Buddhists, they find that this gives them a spiritual dimension that fosters peace and tranquility. However, the practice of ancestor worship, or the custom of venerating deceased ancestors who are considered still a part of the family, was also disrupted when parents died during the Khmer Rouge regime. The attention given by DC-Cam to obtaining biographies of those killed and identifying many of their remains was a major aspect of the healing process. Participants spoke about their struggle with anger (on the personal level) and about wanting a sense of justice (on the societal level), thus expressing their resiliency. Because the idea of resilience addresses how people and societies can overcome traumatic events such as genocide, it is highly appropriate to thinking about how Cambodia can move toward its future while not ignoring historical events. Strategies to promote resilience at all of the systems levels discussed above can be used to design interventions to fit the specific culture and needs of the people. Because of the financial ruin and damage to the country’s infrastructure, the recovery will be a difficult road to travel. The resiliency of people and communities is key.
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