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Disasters, whether natural or man-made, have a tremendous psychological impact on individuals, communities, societies, and nations. In the case of natural disasters, the affected people blame their life circumstances (e.g., they live in an earthquake-prone area) even as considerable bitterness remains in their soul and they suffer from lingering trauma. However, in the case of man-made disasters, grievance and bitterness expand beyond the posttraumatic disorder (PTSD) seen in natural disaster victims to become posttraumatic disorder that stems from the violent behavior a victim suffers at the hand of an actual person (Digeser, 2001). In order to discuss this in more depth, let us use the Darfur Genocide as a case study. This chapter will emphasize the psychological impact resulting from the conflict and will focus especially on ways to reach the forgiveness necessary for the healing of a society.
Throughout the world, we continue to see violent outbreaks between individuals and groups. For many years, psychologists committed to peace viewed violence through the narrow lens of the Cold War struggle for world dominance between the United States and the Soviet Union. At that time, the prevention of nuclear war was the preeminent concern for those who called themselves peace psychologists.