All in the mind? The pathologization of trauma in Timor-Leste

Given the failure of many peace-building operations to ensure a sustainable peace, it is perhaps not surprising that the prospect of retaliatory violence in post-conflict societies is frequently identified as a security and development concern. Drawing on a critique of the so-called 'therapeutic security paradigm', this paper critically examines discourses of traumatization in TimorLeste. At one level, it is noted that the bio-psychological model of 'trauma' can be incongruous with East Timorese notions of health, widely understood as being socially embedded and relational, rather than biological and individual. On another, the paper argues that there is no one-to-one correlation between experiencing events that might be classified as 'traumatic' and going on to suffer a pathological traumatization. Individual and community resilience should not be underestimated, and the rationale for international supervision of 'traumatized' societies should be questioned. Therapeutic interventions, such as the East Timorese Commission for Truth and Reconciliation, may be a pragmatic option given the lack of international support for pursuing criminal justice or financial reparations. However, remedies aimed at the psyche that come at the expense of the material may pose a greater threat to sustainable and secure community than does pathological traumatization, particularly at this time of acute social change.