Regine King

Interprofessional Clinical Supervision in Mental Health and Addiction: Toward Identifying Common Elements

This study explores the experiences and perceptions of clinicians from a range of professions to articulate general principles for clinical supervision in mental health. Seventy-seven volunteer clinicians participated in 14 focus groups in 2008–2009. They discussed their perceptions about clinical supervision, facilitators, and barriers. Discussions were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim, and qualitative analytic methods were used to identify themes and exceptions. The study found frontline clinicians identified interacting factors they associated with quality clinical supervision. Themes related to the structure, content, and process of supervision and contained common elements across professions and those that were specific to nursing. Considerable agreement exists regarding principles for interprofessional supervision in mental health; that it is available on a regular and crisis-responsive basis, and that supervisors are expert in clinical interventions for specific populations and have the skills for teaching and supporting staff. Some nurse participants expressed unique perceptions about clinical supervision based on their professional traditions and approaches, which requires further study before advancing a common model of supervision across professions.

Healing Psychosocial Trauma in the Midst of Truth Commissions: The Case of Gacaca in Post-Genocide Rwanda

Post-conflict governments and multilateral organizations have advocated truth commissions since the end of the Cold War. The mandate of truth commissions has been to combine the rule of law with psychosocial goals in the hope that they will break systemic cycles of violence and facilitate reconciliation. While these commissions emphasize the dimensions of truth telling, apology, forgiveness, and reconciliation, in practice, they are often challenged to fulfill the mandate of healing psychosocial traumas through these dimensions in countries that suffer not only from the traumatic experience of wars and genocide, but also from the multiple psychosocial issues that result from these forms of mass violence. The present article examines the psychosocial role of gacaca, a form of truth commission that was introduced in post-genocide Rwanda in 2002, and argues that relying on gacaca alone to heal psychosocial trauma in Rwanda underestimates the depth of suffering that genocide created both at the individual and collective levels in Rwandan communities. Writing as a Rwandan community-based mental health researcher and practitioner concerned with the mental well-being of individuals and communities that survive mass violence and genocide, I suggest that well-assessed models adapted to the issues at hand should be considered to promote the healing of psychosocial wounds and supplement the work of gacaca in the rebuilding of peace and reconciliation in the country and in similar contexts elsewhere. Mental well-being is central to the sustainable rebuilding and development of countries recovering from wars and genocide.

Social services and transnationality

Many of the current challenges in social service provision result from the increasing impact of transnational social, political, economic, and cultural processes and structures. Social service organizations and workers are increasingly working transnationally as part of the humanitarian responses by states, nongovernmental organizations and/or faith communities with people in other countries who have been displaced or made vulnerable by violence, development, and disasters. Agencies are also serving increasingly diverse populations who live and work in transnational relationships, which may be complicated by multiple identities and life experiences including race, age, gender, sexuality, class, and ability. The articles in this special issue point to the urgent need to reformulate our understanding of social services to include further conceptualizations and elaborations on the changing landscape of social work practice, which can challenge and push the national boundaries of social policy. Transnationalism is understood as pressing on the traditional national knowledge structures and practices of social services. This issue challenges the “methodological nationalism” wherein national borders are naturalized as boundaries to social policy (Wimmer & Glick Schiller, 2002). The task is to extend and transform the legitimation, concepts, research, and methods of social service provision which to date are primarily nationally focused and dominated by North American and European perspectives. The relationship between transnationality and social services has been analyzed in past years from various perspectives. Our special focus in this issue is on the local engagement of social and political actors in response to the needs and issues generated by transnational experiences and processes. The provocative studies in this issue discuss the urgent need for local actors and indigenous knowledge to be supported, recognized, and celebrated by transnational organizations and state structures which need to reflect the reality and complexity of the transnational lives of the people whom they seek to serve. Awareness is increasingly being drawn to the agency of local actors who are negotiating the production, mobilization, and circulation of transnational knowledge on social services throughout the countries of the global South and North. In translating transnational knowledge to policy, then to practice, Adyanga (2012) argues that scholars and practitioners in various professions have not been able to reconcile Western theories with the local indigenous ways of knowing; while Haug (2005) urges practitioners to critically evaluate models

North–South social work partnership: strengthening the development of social work in Rwanda

Social work education in many parts of Africa is underdeveloped. Western theories dominate curricula and practices at the expense of indigenous knowledge. Canadian and Rwandan social work researchers created a partnership to strengthen social work education and practice at the University of Rwanda (UR). This paper reports the findings of a needs assessment that sought to identify the key issues facing Rwandans in the communities surrounding UR and professional needs in training competent undergraduate (Bachelor of Social Work) students. After reviewing the data, we identified collective trauma following the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, extreme poverty and substance abuse to be major issues. Professional needs included trained faculty and field supervisors and adequate means to support students’ field placement. A group of academic and community stakeholders confirmed these findings and supported the creation of a center to facilitate training, practice, and research. The study results inform social work knowledge, education and practice in Rwanda and internationally.

The true healing is healing together: Healing and rebuilding social relations in postgenocide Rwanda.

This longitudinal study examined the impact of a group-based intervention on the well-being of 23 Rwandans who shared personal stories for mutual healing in postgenocide Rwanda. The 2010 original study included pre- and postintervention individual interviews and onsite and offsite notes. The 2014 follow-up study included 22 individual interviews with former participants, 21 individual interviews with community witnesses, and notes from a 1-day workshop with former participants. The intervention integrated Western and Rwandan practices of healing and brought together members of opposing groups for mutual healing. The healing process started during the intervention and continued outside the sessions as participants approached and acted positively by helping others in their community. These altruistic behaviors restored trust, established new social identities, and gave participants a strong sense of belonging. These findings are useful for mental health and reconciliation programs and policies for Rwanda and other similar postconflict settings.

The Psychosocial Well-Being of African Refugees in Winnipeg: Critical Stressors and Coping Strategies

ABSTRACT Using a photovoice approach, this study explores stressing factors for African refugees after resettlement in Canada and the strategies they adopt to cope. The study used a purposive sampling procedure to recruit 15 participants (8 women and 7 men). Participants took part in a three-phase process of picture taking, one-on-one interviews, and focus group discussions on the selected pictures. Thematic analysis was applied to analyze the data. Identified stressors included social relationship ruptures, lack of understanding of the new culture, unemployment, and navigating unfamiliar laws and regulations. Coping strategies and recommendations for policies and best practices are discussed.

Navigating the Borderlands of Transnational Research

Abstract This article describes a journey to the borderland, a place in which I engaged and bridged opposite worldviews of my educational background in Rwanda and experience of my PhD studies in Canada to generate knowledge. The paper draws from my dissertation research grounded in a community healing program developed in post-genocide Rwanda and the factors that influenced its research methods and knowledge produced. This article highlights the power of dialogue, deep reflection and openness in transnational research. The paper recommends learning environments that invite different ways of knowing, interdisciplinary and transnational approaches to knowledge and giving voice to those silenced by written documents. The paper will be useful for educators, researchers and learners in cross-cultural and marginal settings.1