The proposed research will examine the impacts of state-sponsored rape on the mental health of survivors and their communities. Through sixteen months of ethnographic participant observation and interviews with Kanjobal Mayan refugees in Mexico, and Los Angeles, the project will: 1) identify the culturally-specific Kanjobal notions of mental well-being, trauma, and coping; 2) use these notions to evaluate the mental health impacts of testimonials of state violence for Kanjobal survivors; and 3) determine whether Kanjobal women who have been raped by soldiers use means other than public testimonials to express and cope with their experiences of gender-specific state terror. The results of this research will help narrow the gap between Western mental health paradigms and the unique cultural experiences of violence trauma and coping. They will also serve as a practical aid for mental health practitioners serving the war- traumatized Guatemalan Maya population.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F31)
Project #
5F31MH010840-03
Application #
2415817
Study Section
Violence and Traumatic Stress Review Committee (VTS)
Project Start
1997-04-27
Project End
Budget Start
1997-04-27
Budget End
1997-08-26
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
1997
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Michigan Ann Arbor
Department
Social Sciences
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
791277940
City
Ann Arbor
State
MI
Country
United States
Zip Code
48109