DATE=10-21-03
TYPE=English Feature
NUMBER=7-37966
TITLE=Common Shock: Witnessing Violence
BYLINE=Faiza Elmasry
TELEPHONE=619-0940
DATELINE=Washington
EDITOR=Faith Lapidus
CONTENT=
INTRO: Every single day, whether we realize it or not, we witness violence. It can be an extraordinary event like the terrorist attacks of September 11th, or it can simply be the mundane ritual of watching the evening news. Those who study trauma say that every violent incident we see affects our mind, body and spirit. But as Faiza Elmasry reports, they've also come up with ways to transform the passive observation of violence into 'compassionate witnessing' that can help heal.
TEXT: For more than three decades, trauma expert Kaethe [KEE-tah] Weingarten has studied violence and the biological and psychological responses it triggers. She says there are different kinds of violence.
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"The first one is the most familiar to people and that is the personal violence where you can actually see somebody hurt, harm or injure somebody else. There are also the violations that are personal and some times much more confusing to pick up like somebody calling somebody a name, somebody cursing somebody, humiliating or shaming somebody."
TEXT: Then there are what Ms. Weingarten calls the structural forms of violence political acts, from voter intimidation to outright war… environmental damage and pollution. Whatever the type of violence, whether witnessed at home, at school, at work or on TV, it has a harmful effect on society. In her new book, Common Shock, Witnessing Violence Every Day, Ms. Weingarten says that's true now more than ever before.
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"Everybody has always lived during a violent time. What's different is that there is a globalization of that violence, we are truly a community without borders. So, if I pick up the newspaper and I see a picture of a child soldier in Liberia with a Teddy Bear backpack, I am deeply affected by that. It could be the child that lives next door to me."
TEXT: Shock is the body's reaction to physical trauma blood pressure and heart rate drop, the person might become confused or lose consciousness. According to Kaethe Weingarten, 'common shock' is the biological and psychological response to the trauma of witnessing violence. Some people go numb, or feel angry, while others feel helpless or paralyzed.
But while we often cannot do anything about being exposed to violence, Ms. Weingarten say we can turn that passive witnessing into compassionate action that offsets the negative effect.
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"For instance you've been in a line, let's say in a supermarket or a pharmacy and the customer ahead of you has been trying to get a prescription and speaks in an incredibly rude way to the clerk who's after all not responsible in any way. That customer leaves and you have witnessed a violation. You can just say to that clerk, 'Wow. I'm really sorry that happened to you, and I really hope you have a better day.' It does not take time, but you'll feel better and the clerk will feel better."
TEXT: Expressing feelings like this is the first step toward what Ms. Weingarten calls the positive witnessing of violence. In her book, she lists other actions, such as consoling a violence victim, donating money or attempting to resolve conflict.
It's a familiar pathway for Fidele Lumaya (fee-DELL lue-MYE-uh). The African immigrant to the United States has worked with the Christian relief agency Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) for ten years.
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"I'd been in the Great Lakes region in African during the 1994 Rwanda genocide. I saw all the Hutu(tribe) people who came from Rwanda to eastern Congo in the camps. We started talking to them about what happened to their country, and we discovered that they also did not learn how to respond to conflict peacefully. So, we started training of them so if they can go go back to their country and something happens they can learn to sit down, talk peacefully and do something else than killing each other. [BEGIN OPT] After that, I went to Angola, you know that Angola has been in war for 40 years. There we also started training the civil society in the peace education."
TEXT: After her experience with the Mennonite Central Committee, Krista Rigola (rih-GOE-luh) began work on a doctorate in Conflict analysis and resolution at George Mason University. She is also working for the Caux (cawks) Scholar Program, which uses positive witnessing to break the cycle of violence.
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"We bring young leaders from around the world. We try to get a good diversity of perspectives and backgrounds. We do a lot of personal training through skills building. Our approach has always been whether we are working with individuals or groups, looking at communication styles and patterns of behavior within conflict, their paradigms, views that relate to conflict. What they teach their children, what our culture teaches us, the proverbs that we have, all these things that come together and influence us and how we act in conflict. First of all, people feel empowered by that. It's always a real gift when people feel empowered, then they work with others and help them have the same personal transformation experiences. It's like the French saying if every one is really working on their corner of the world, the world can be changed." [END OPT]
TEXT: As Common Shock author Kaethe Weingarten writes, violence tears our communities apart, but proactive response will keep us together. In Chapter one, she warns that reading the book may cause pain. But she says it is this kind of pain that gives people awareness, determination and, most importantly, hope.
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