How empathic are war veterans? An examination of the psychological impacts of combat exposure.

Trujillo, Sandra; Trujillo, Natalia; Ugarriza, Juan E.; Uribe, Luz H.; Pineda, David; Aguirre–Acevedo, Daniel Camilo; Ibáñez, Agustín; Decety, Jean; Garcia‐Barrera, Mauricio A.

doi:10.1037/pac0000255

Cited by 12 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 10 publications

(14 reference statements)

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“…In addition, the distribution of willingness to cooperate scores suggests that, regarding trust and cooperation, two different sentiments existed: a majority sentiment that was positive, although not very much so, and a minority sentiment that was quite negative. This result was consistent with the findings of Trujillo et al () that a substantial minority of excombatants in the Colombian conflict may suffer from a lack of empathy, and was reminiscent of the previous findings of Menezes Fonseca, Neto, and Mullet (), that it is particularly difficult for homicide offenders to trust and forgive other people. Kaplan and Nussio () also pointed out that personal dispositions (namely, preference for a violent lifestyle) may play a major role in Colombian excombatants' level of recidivism.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Reconciliation sentiment among former perpetrators of violence during the Colombian armed conflict

López

Rincón

Marín

et al. 2018

Conflict Resolution Qtrly

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This study assessed reconciliation sentiment among former members of Colombian paramilitary and guerilla groups. A total of 103 participants who were detained in rehabilitation centers were presented with an augmented version of the Reconciliation Sentiment Questionnaire. Overall, participants considered that they had achieved some measure of reconciliation with the people they harmed. Most viewed themselves as able to control their nervousness and impulses in situations in which victims were physically present or victims were simply evoked, and most felt sure, to a reasonable extent, that victims did not intend to seek vengeance. Nevertheless, a minoritymostly former members of the guerillas and detainees who did not attend rehabilitation programs-was not sure that acts of vengeance would not be attempted. A majority of participants was, to some extent, willing to trust and cooperate with former victims and probably the society at large. Only two, however, were totally convinced that it would be possible to do so.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Reconciliation sentiment among former perpetrators of violence during the Colombian armed conflict

López

Rincón

Marín

et al. 2018

Conflict Resolution Qtrly

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“…However, ex-combatants who did not participate in rehabilitation programs had smaller support networks, and former guerrilla combatants-as opposed to former paramilitary combatants-scored lower on the sentiment of reconciliation scale (López-López, Rincón-Unigarro, et al, 2018). Relatedly, despite their hypothesis of low empathy levels among ex-combatants in Colombia, Trujillo et al (2017) found that combat exposure was not necessarily related to generalized low empathy; instead, different empathy profiles were found. Finally, Ugarriza and Craig (2013) identified ideological differences among ex-combatants associated with life experiences before and during their enlistment.…”

Section: Former Perpetrators Of Violencementioning

confidence: 78%

Psychology of peace: Findings and challenges for the multidimensional transformation of violent social practices.

López‐López¹,

Marín²,

Correa-Chica³

et al. 2021

Political Psychology in Latin America.

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This chapter outlines a multidimensional analytical approach to peace grounded in the field of peace studies to suggest future research directions. This multidimensional model of peace (López-López, 2016, 2020 recognizes the relevance to the analysis of peace-building efforts of psychosocial processes alongside economic, political, legal, cultural, environmental, and security processes. We review studies that have examined the psychosocial dimension of peace in the context of the Colombian armed conflict in order to explore interrelationships among the dimensions of the model. This psychosocial perspective is intended as a contribution to peace building both in Colombia and in other places where conflict has been a main driver of collective and individual histories.The chapter is divided into two main sections. The first section outlines the need for a multidimensional model of peace and defines each of its dimensions. The second reviews social and political psychology research conducted in the context of the Colombian armed conflict in order to highlight the relevance of the biopsychosocial dimension of peace in peace-building settings. Each section is based on a narrative literature review describing studies that influenced our research, and therefore our intention in this chapter is not to

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“…Regarding the relation of ACE and the IRI scale, our work provides a quantification of the exposure to ACE associated to empathy with similar results than categorical-variable-based studies. Previous research focused on Colombian ex-combatants identified different empathic profiles [ 48 – 50 ]. One of these profiles was effectively characterized by high scores in cognitive dimensions (i.e., FS, PT), suggesting that people exposed to ACE may tend more frequently to assign potential fictional or imaginary explanations to interpret unfortunate situations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental health outcomes in communities exposed to Armed Conflict Experiences

et al. 2021

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Background Populations exposed to Armed Conflict Experiences (ACE) show different levels of impact in their mental health (i.e. clinical and positive components); however, there is limited evidence related to mental health of general population (civilians not classified as victims) exposed to ACE. Government guided mental health assessments exclude this population. The use of a newly validated Extreme Experiences Scale (EX2) seems appropriate to classify victims, ex-combatants, and civilians for their mental health assessment. Methods Here, we propose a novel approach to identify relationships between individuals classified with different levels of ACE exposure—independent of their legal role in the armed conflict, and mental health outcomes. According to the cut-off points derived from the scores of EX2, we classified the sample in low and high exposure to ACE. Results The high-level ACE group (scores > 2.5) included 119 subjects, and the low-level ACE was constituted by 66 subjects. Our results evidence that people with high exposure to ACE experiment higher odds to present anxiety disorders, risk of suicide, or post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as increased cognitive empathy (i.e., fantasy dimension). Conclusion These findings allowed us to identify the influence of ACE on mental health outcomes beyond the conventional frame (victim or ex-combatant), and to discuss effective interventions and implementation of mental health strategies in these communities. We expect to help the health system to focus on key vulnerable subjects by including civilians not recognized as victims, which are neglected from most of the public health screening, assessment, and interventions.

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How empathic are war veterans? An examination of the psychological impacts of combat exposure.

Cited by 12 publications

References 10 publications

Reconciliation sentiment among former perpetrators of violence during the Colombian armed conflict

Reconciliation sentiment among former perpetrators of violence during the Colombian armed conflict

Psychology of peace: Findings and challenges for the multidimensional transformation of violent social practices.

Mental health outcomes in communities exposed to Armed Conflict Experiences

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