INTRODUCTION Norris et al. (2008, pp. 131) define community resilience as “a process linking a set of adaptive capacities to a positive trajectory of functioning and adaptation after a disturbance”. In the same article the authors divided these adaptive capacities into four categories: economic development, communication and information, community competence, social capital. Community resilience is typically applied in cases of climate disasters or in post-conflict contexts. While in the first case the impact on social capital is secondary, in the second one, as Somasundaram and Sivayokan (2014) stated, social capital is a specific war target in order to isolate members of the communities. For this reason, we propose that the restoration of social capital is the first step to address community resilience in such situations, especially in socio-centric societies (Somasundaram, 2014). Consistent with literature, the following proposal is about an underway project aimed at developing community resilience in Central African Republic (CAR) where a political and military crisis is occurring since 1996. Because of conditions of extreme violence lots of civilians show PTSD symptoms and other mental disorders with only a few mental health specialists able to intervene. PROJECT AIM In July 2017 the Departments of Developmental and Social Psychology and Dynamic and Clinical Psychology of Sapienza University of Rome, in partnership with University of Rwanda and University of Bangui, started a training program aimed at creating a Community of Practice (Wenger, 1998) of professionals with psychosocial competences in order to foster resilience within the communities of CAR. PARTICIPANTS To easily spread the competences acquired through the training project within the whole target communities, the group of participants includes the following reliable members: psychology students belonging to University of Bangui; members of local ONGs; proponents of civil and religious communities. TRAINING CONTENT AND METHODOLOGY The training program is provided according to a blended learning methodology. The on-site training is focused on: • Trauma-based theories and screening instruments; • Community resilience approaches; • Application of Word-Groups, a psychosocial intervention technique consisting of groups where participants can share experiences, feelings and meanings related to past events. The e-learning training is instead meant to supervise the participants’ job in the field. WORK IN PROGRESS To date an on-site training session about some of the contents aforementioned has been carried out. Supervised by Professors of Sapienza University and University of Rwanda, participants are currently engaged in the translation and administration of some PTSD screening instruments.

Résilience communautaire dans les sociétés sortant d’un conflit : programme de formation en République Centrafricaine / Talamo, Alessandra; Modesti, Camilla; Nicolais, Giampaolo; Rutembesa, Eugene. - (2020), pp. 179-187.

Résilience communautaire dans les sociétés sortant d’un conflit : programme de formation en République Centrafricaine

Alessandra Talamo;Camilla Modesti;Giampaolo Nicolais;Eugene Rutembesa
2020

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Norris et al. (2008, pp. 131) define community resilience as “a process linking a set of adaptive capacities to a positive trajectory of functioning and adaptation after a disturbance”. In the same article the authors divided these adaptive capacities into four categories: economic development, communication and information, community competence, social capital. Community resilience is typically applied in cases of climate disasters or in post-conflict contexts. While in the first case the impact on social capital is secondary, in the second one, as Somasundaram and Sivayokan (2014) stated, social capital is a specific war target in order to isolate members of the communities. For this reason, we propose that the restoration of social capital is the first step to address community resilience in such situations, especially in socio-centric societies (Somasundaram, 2014). Consistent with literature, the following proposal is about an underway project aimed at developing community resilience in Central African Republic (CAR) where a political and military crisis is occurring since 1996. Because of conditions of extreme violence lots of civilians show PTSD symptoms and other mental disorders with only a few mental health specialists able to intervene. PROJECT AIM In July 2017 the Departments of Developmental and Social Psychology and Dynamic and Clinical Psychology of Sapienza University of Rome, in partnership with University of Rwanda and University of Bangui, started a training program aimed at creating a Community of Practice (Wenger, 1998) of professionals with psychosocial competences in order to foster resilience within the communities of CAR. PARTICIPANTS To easily spread the competences acquired through the training project within the whole target communities, the group of participants includes the following reliable members: psychology students belonging to University of Bangui; members of local ONGs; proponents of civil and religious communities. TRAINING CONTENT AND METHODOLOGY The training program is provided according to a blended learning methodology. The on-site training is focused on: • Trauma-based theories and screening instruments; • Community resilience approaches; • Application of Word-Groups, a psychosocial intervention technique consisting of groups where participants can share experiences, feelings and meanings related to past events. The e-learning training is instead meant to supervise the participants’ job in the field. WORK IN PROGRESS To date an on-site training session about some of the contents aforementioned has been carried out. Supervised by Professors of Sapienza University and University of Rwanda, participants are currently engaged in the translation and administration of some PTSD screening instruments.
2020
Bâtir la résilience. Manuel de pratiques professionnelles
979-10-90590-82-3
Resilience, war, social capital, training for trainers
02 Pubblicazione su volume::02a Capitolo o Articolo
Résilience communautaire dans les sociétés sortant d’un conflit : programme de formation en République Centrafricaine / Talamo, Alessandra; Modesti, Camilla; Nicolais, Giampaolo; Rutembesa, Eugene. - (2020), pp. 179-187.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/1360304
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