Unmaking the torturer : re-establishing meaning and identity after committing atrocities

Abstract

During apartheid numerous atrocities, including torture were committed by the security forces in South Africa. Most atrocities were directed at black people, during the political violence. The question which the researcher investigated was how people who worked in the police and had tortured and committed other atrocities re-established meaning and identity after South Africa became a democracy. South Africa’s history was discussed, focussing on factors which created an environment which was conducive to the committing of atrocities. The basic tenets of social constructionism were considered and how they relate to concepts such as agency, power, essentialism, identity, morality, meaning-making, torture, illness and posttraumatic stress disorder. Dialogic analyses were conducted on each participant’s narrative. The researcher is seen as an integral part of the storytelling event. The ways in which the participants positioned themselves in telling their stories are discussed as attempts to reconstitute themselves. The impact on the researcher of working with perpetrators is discussed. Themes were distilled from participants’ narratives. These are discussed with attention given to the problems they identified as having led to perpetration, such as racism, enacting of masculinity and militarisation. Problems they identified which arose as a result of perpetration include aggression, alienation, illness and addiction to violence. They demonstrated extreme shame and remorse in telling their stories.