Abstract
Reviewed by: Suman Fernando, London Metropolitan University
This book covers background, theory, and methodology of understanding and working with collective trauma. The focus is on the Tamil-speaking communities of Northern Sri Lanka during three decades of tremendous upheaval, caused by civil strife and natural disaster. The book examines the interplay between political facts, ethnic tensions, human suffering related to mental trauma, and the horrors of terrorism and war—which are bound up with the mental health and psychosocial work carried out by professionals in communities striving to keep going against all odds.
Daya Somasundaram is well known and highly respected for his commitment to organising and delivering humanitarian mental health services over a long period of time to Tamil-speaking people in his native Jaffna in Sri Lanka, during a time of great tragedy and upheaval in that country caused by man-made war and natural tsunami. It is therefore tremendously gratifying to see in print an array of articles by him, supplemented by contributions by other professionals who have been engaged in mental health work among Tamil Sri Lankans, both in Sri Lanka and abroad—for example, among Tamil refugees in England—including one on the effect of trauma on soldiers.
Somasundaram’s contributions in this book on the political background, mental health, and suffering of Tamil people of Jaffna are quite outstanding—whether they are about the background to the extended ethic conflict in Sri Lanka, the effects on individual minds and social structures of prolonged civil strife and terrorism sponsored by the state and militant groups, the causes and consequences of collective trauma suffered by Tamil communities, or the nature of psychosocial interventions that helped them during their suffering. Not only does his commitment to his people and real understanding of human beings shine through, but his wise and considered opinions on how and why such suffering occurs form a valuable resource for anyone wanting to get inside knowledge of what “trauma” is about when experienced by ordinary people in an Asian country such as Sri Lanka, and how professionals—wherever they are from—can help in alleviating its effects. His deep understanding of the cultures of the people he writes about renders his work uniquely valuable. The section in which Somasundaram describes the theoretical background that informed his work and the qualitative methods he used in making his observations is well written, informative, and backed by numerous references. The excellent chapter on the Vanni (where a great many Tamil people suffered from unimaginable horrors during the final stages of the civil war)—adapted from articles previously published as papers—is a gripping account of people caught in a conflict that was not of their own making.
The sections of the book not written by Somasundaram himself, are varied in scope, but again well worth reading carefully. There are several erudite and thoughtful articles, but I would pick out for special attention the chapter by Sivayokan on the nature of the mental suffering caused by the “disappearance” (during war and disaster) of relatives and friends. I also recommend the chapters by Galappatti and Samarasinghe on the broader picture of psychosocial and mental health work in a country like Sri Lanka, and the study of the effects of the civil war on soldiers who received treatment for mental health problems at a military hospital. All in all this book is something to be treasured by fellow Sri Lankans like myself and the large numbers of people who fled the country during the past three decades because of the civil war, but the book also contributes significantly to the broader literature on the nature of human suffering resulting from conflict and natural disaster—and what we can do about it.