The good, the bad and the ugly: social cure and social curse in the context of political violence and repression

Kellezi, B ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4825-3624, 2025. The good, the bad and the ugly: social cure and social curse in the context of political violence and repression. In: Acar, YG, Këllezi, B and Penić, S, eds., The power of collective resilience against political violence and repression. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 43-68. ISBN 9781032708492

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Abstract

Political violence and repression (PVR) are widespread and can have long-term psychological consequences for those directly involved as well as their wider social worlds, including families, communities and nations. The long-term effects of PVR can be felt and transmitted across generations in part because of the fundamental role that social groups play in the experience, impact and responses to such events. Growing evidence has demonstrated how group processes can lead to collective responses of resilience which can facilitate coping with and overcome the impact of PVR on health and well-being (defined as social cure). On the other hand, there is also growing evidence of the potential harms deriving from intergroup and intragroup processes in the context of political violence and its aftermath (defined as social curse). This chapter will review the existing social cure and curse literature on political violence and repression and illustrate the importance of justice processes in these curative or harmful group processes. These interactions between social cure and curse as well as justice processes will be illustrated using research from the contexts of war/intergroup conflict (Kosovo and Northern Ireland), dictatorship (Albania and Romania), witch-hunting (The Gambia) and immigration detention (UK).

Item Type:	Chapter in book
Alternative Title:	Social cure and social curse in the context of political violence and repression
Creators:	Kellezi, B.
Publisher:	Routledge
Place of Publication:	Abingdon
Date:	2025
ISBN:	9781032708492
Identifiers:	Number Type 2437774 Other
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Jeremy Silvester
Date Added:	13 Aug 2025 10:45
Last Modified:	14 Aug 2025 09:11
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/54172

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