Transitional Justice measures implemented in Argentina: their psychosocial impact

Abstract

El terrorismo de Estado es el más ignominioso porque los poderes y recursos de un país se utilizan para generar terror y obtener ciertos objetivos políticos en lugar de estar al servicio de la ciudadanía. La Justicia Transicional (JT) incluye debates sobre la democratización, los derechos humanos y la reconstrucción del Estado post períodos de extrema conflictividad social. Finalizada la dictadura militar (1976-1983) en Argentina, se implementaron mecanismos de JT para afrontar las consecuencias de la violencia colectiva estatal: Comisión de Verdad, procesos penales, reformas institucionales y gestos reparadores. Se desarrolló un estudio descriptivocorrelacional, de diferencias de grupo, diseño transversal no experimental, con el objetivo de analizar el impacto psicosocial de las medidas de JT, en base a una muestra intencional compuesta por 576 participantes. Los hallazgos respaldan la efectividad de las medidas combinadas de JT, la debilidad del reconocimiento y las disculpas, y diferencias en términos de afectación de la violencia

Terrorism carried out by State forces is the most reprehensible action to be taken because the power and resources of a country are used to generate terror. Such power and resources are aimed at reaching certain political goals instead of serving citizens. Transitional Justice has raised complex debates related to democratisation, human rights and the reconstruction of the State and its institutions after periods of severe social conflict. After the last military dictatorship in Argentina (1976-1983), different transitional justice mechanisms were implemented to cope with the consequences of the State?s collective violence: Truth Commission, criminal trials, institutional reforms, as well as reparatory gestures. A descriptive-correlational study of group difference was developed, with a non-experimental cross-sectional design. It was aimed at analysing the psychosocial impact of transitional justice measures taken in Argentina. The study was conducted on a non-probabilistic sample composed of 576 participants. Findings support the effectiveness of combined Transitional Justice measures, the weakness of recognition of criminal acts and apologies, and significant differences in terms of violence affectation.