Psychosocial Approaches to Peace-Building in Colombia

Part I: Background.- Introduction: The Beginnings.- Historical Data about the Colombian Strife.- Part II: Peace-Building in Colombia.- Peace Cultures and Cultural Practices in Colombia.- Reflections on Psychological Damage of People Exposed to War Situations in Colombia.- To feel and to resignify forced displacement in Colombia.- Personal Resources and Empowerment in a Psychosocial Accompaniment Process.- Memory, narrative and social transformation of reality.- Discourse as strategy for the construction of peace cultures.- Genderization and links with illegal armed groups in Colombia.- Eight cultures of peace indicators applied to Colombian Conflict during 2002-2006.

Stella Sacipa-Rodríguez is a Psychologist (Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 1971) with a Masters degree in Communication (Pontifical Javeriana University, 1995). Her master thesis was on 'Meanings constructed by a political organization' (M-19) received the Award of Merit. For 14 years she has researched in the fields of Peace Psychology and psychosocial accompaniment to people and communities affected by socio-political violence in Colombia. She is the co-founder of the research group Social Bonds and Peace Cultures, and its leader for 10 years. She has trained professional psychologists and psychology students support to victims of war. She has studied, written and lectured about political psychology, psychosocial accompaniment to victims of armed conflict, meanings of peace and cultures of peace, in Colombia. Currently, she is a professor of Peace Psychology at the Pontifical Javeriana University.

Maritza Montero is a social psychologist and holds a Ph.D. in sociology. She currently teaches at Universidad Central de Venezuela Doctorate Program and has lectured extensively in the Americas, Europe and Australia. She is on the editorial boards of several national and international community and social psychology journals, and is an associate senior editor of the <i>American Journal of Community Psychology</i>. She has won several national and international scientific awards among which the Interamerican Society of Psychology (1995) and the Venezuelan National Science Award (2000). Maritza has served as the president of the International Society of Political Psychology (2006) and as the vice president for South America of the Interamerican Psychology Society (1997-1999). She has contributed several books and numerous papers and book chapters published in Spanish, English, Portuguese and French. She has been a member of the International Committee for the Liberation Psychology Conferences and her 2007 production includes books published in Argentina,