Mental health 15 years after the killings in Rwanda: Imprisoned perpetrators of the genocide against the Tutsi versus a community sample of survivors

Susanne Schaal · Roland Weierstall · Jean‐Pierre Dusingizemungu · Thomas R. Elbert

65 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Traumatic Stress

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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research Migration, Health and Trauma Memory, violence, and history

Abstract

Objectives of this study were to compare rates of mental health disorders in Rwandan genocide perpetrators with those of genocide survivors and to investigate potential predictors of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression for both groups. We expected high rates of mental disorders in both study groups and hypothesized that symptom severity would be predicted by female gender, older age, lower level of education, higher level of trauma exposure, lower level of agreement to reconciliation, and the participation in killing. Structured clinical interviews were carried out with 269 imprisoned perpetrators (66% men) and 114 survivors (64% women). Significantly more survivors than perpetrators met symptom criteria for PTSD (46% vs. 14%) and suffered from anxiety symptoms (59% vs. 36%). A substantial proportion of both groups suffered from clinically significant depression (46% vs. 41%). PTSD severity in perpetrators was associated with trauma exposure, high levels of agreement to reconciliation, and no participation in killing; the severity of depression was associated with trauma exposure and no participation in killing. In the survivor sample, the severity of PTSD and depression were both correlated with female gender, trauma exposure, and low levels of agreement to reconciliation. Results suggest that both groups exhibit considerable psychiatric morbidity.

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2015Traumatic episodes and mental health effects in young men and women in Rwanda, 17 years after the genocide 2014The protective function of personal growth initiative among a genocide-affected population in Rwanda.2015“A constant struggle to receive mental health care”: health care professionals’ acquired experience of barriers to mental health care services in Rwanda

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