The Need for Post-Conflict Rehabilitation: A Psycho-social Approach towards Curbing Extremism in Pakistan

Abstract

Violent extremism (VE) has emerged as one of the most serious subjects in the contemporary world. A significant issue concerning extremism is the psychological rehabilitation of both the victims and the witnesses of violent extremist acts. This study aims to elucidate the psychological state of the surviving victims and witnesses of violent extremism and their current psychosocial stressors in Pakistan. The objective of the study is to investigate if the cycle of extremism perpetuates through victimization due to lack of post-conflict rehabilitation. Methodologically, the paper is based on the quantitative psychometric evaluation according to the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scale scoring on the victims of VE. This method is widely used for clinical and research practices. This study was carried out in two phases; the pilot phase measured the alpha reliability of the BDI through SPSS, while the main study identified the psychosocial stressors, according to DSM IV, and through history taking. A group of 70 victims of VE in Pakistan, were drawn through convenience sampling. Secondary data comprised of the published literature on post- conflict rehabilitation in Pakistan. According to the findings obtained through BDI scoring of research, most of the VE victims suffer from severe depression and exhibit the tendencies of extreme anger and vengeful behaviour. Such tendencies have made them more prone to engaging in a future conflict. The psychosocial stressors following the acts of extremism further contributed to their depressive state and heightened aggression towards society. The study strongly suggests that there is a dire need for the allocation of resources by the government and relevant authorities, to build post-conflict rehabilitation frameworks in order to sabotage the perpetual cycle of the spread of extremism through victimization. Anti-extremism policy recommendations are also provided based on the findings of the study.