The good, the bad and the ugly: social cure and social curse in the context of political violence and repression

Political violence and repression (PVR) are widespread and can have long-term psychological consequences for those directly involved as well as their wider social worlds, including families, communities and nations. The long-term effects of PVR can be felt and transmitted across generations in part because of the fundamental role that social groups play in the experience, impact and responses to such events. Growing evidence has demonstrated how group processes can lead to collective responses of resilience which can facilitate coping with and overcome the impact of PVR on health and well-being (defined as social cure). On the other hand, there is also growing evidence of the potential harms deriving from intergroup and intragroup processes in the context of political violence and its aftermath (defined as social curse). This chapter will review the existing social cure and curse literature on political violence and repression and illustrate the importance of justice processes in these curative or harmful group processes. These interactions between social cure and curse as well as justice processes will be illustrated using research from the contexts of war/intergroup conflict (Kosovo and Northern Ireland), dictatorship (Albania and Romania), witch-hunting (The Gambia) and immigration detention (UK).