Explosive anger as a response to human rights violations in post-conflict Timor-Leste

Over several decades, clinicians have documented a pattern of explosive anger amongst survivors of gross human rights violations. Yet there is a dearth of epidemiological research investigating explosive anger in post-conflict countries. In the present study undertaken in Timor-Leste between March a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social science & medicine (1982) 2009-09, Vol.69 (5), p.670-677
Main Authors: Silove, Derrick, Brooks, Robert, Bateman Steel, Catherine Robina, Steel, Zachary, Hewage, Kalhari, Rodger, James, Soosay, Ian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Age Distribution
Aggression
Anger
Biological and medical sciences
Chi-Square Distribution
Conflict
East Timor
Epidemiology
Female
Health Surveys
Human Rights
Human Rights Abuses - psychology
Human rights violations
Humans
Indonesia
Indonesia - epidemiology
Life Change Events
Male
Medical sciences
Mental health
Mental health Post-conflict Anger Trauma Timor leste Human rights
Middle Aged
Miscellaneous
Post-conflict
Post-conflict societies
Psychometrics
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Sex Distribution
Social conflict
Sociodemographic Factors
Socioeconomic Factors
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - epidemiology
Stress, Psychological - epidemiology
Surveys and Questionnaires
Survivor
Survivors - psychology
Timor leste
Trauma
Urban Population
Victims
Violence
Violence - psychology
Young Adult
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Summary:Over several decades, clinicians have documented a pattern of explosive anger amongst survivors of gross human rights violations. Yet there is a dearth of epidemiological research investigating explosive anger in post-conflict countries. In the present study undertaken in Timor-Leste between March and November 2004, we identified an indigenous descriptor for explosive anger, including this index in the East Timor Mental Health Epidemiological Needs Study, a small area total population survey of 1544 adults living in an urban and a rural area. Other measures included indices of past trauma events, post-traumatic stress and general psychological distress, and socio-demographic variables. We found that 38% of the population reached the defined threshold of one attack of explosive anger a month (average = 1 episode every 2–3 days). Only a minority of persons with explosive anger reached threshold scores for post-traumatic stress and general psychological distress. High levels of trauma exposure represented the strongest predictor of explosive anger. Latent class analysis identified three sub-groups with explosive anger: young trauma-affected adults living in the capital city who were unemployed; an older group, predominantly men, who had experienced extensive violence, including combat, assault and torture; and a less well characterized group of women. The findings offer support for a sequential model of explosive anger in which experiences of past persecution are compounded by frustrations in the post-conflict environment. The data provide a foundation for exploring further the role of trauma-induced anger in the cycles of violence that are prevalent in post-conflict countries.
ISSN:0277-9536
1873-5347
DOI:10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.06.030