Do Sleeping Dogs Lie? The Psychological Implications of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa

This paper explores how the process of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) could operate as psychologically rehabilitative mechanism. It focuses on the potentially numerous traumatised individuals who will come into contact with the TRC and their likely experience of the process. The core argument is that the TRC is not a sufficient process in itself to promote individual and collective psychological rehabilitation and that a range of psychological structures and strategies will be needed to run parallel to the TRC. Types of structures are suggested and the psychological implications of truth and reconciliation process highlighted throughout.