Preamble Narratives and Social Memory - Universidade do Minho

Transitional Justice Processes, Shared Narrative Memory about Past Collective Violence and ReconciliationManuel Cárdenas, Darío Páez & Bernard RiméThe general purpose of the present study was to compare social beliefs, attitudesand emotions between people agreeing and disagreeing with the activities of the NCTRand NCPIT, and among population affected and unaffected by past political violence inChile. Particularly we should contrast the association between a positive evaluation ofCommissions functions and reconciliation, expecting that a favorable perception of the TCs’construction of an integrative narrative will be associated with greater positive emotionalimpact, higher levels of belief in the sincerity and effectiveness of apologies, attitudes morefavorable toward social remembering as strategies for coping with past collective violence,and a more positive evaluation of emotional and social climate: low levels of anger, sadnessand fear, high levels of hope, security, intergroup trust, confidence in institutions and agreementwith tolerance and universalistic justice values.MethodSampleThe sample consisted of 1278 participants, 629 men (49.2%) and 649 women (50.8%),with ages ranging from 18 to 90 years (M = 39.66 years and SD = 17.36). Data were collectedin the country’s most populous urban areas: Santiago (26.1%), Valparaíso (30.8%), Concepción(14.4%) and Antofagasta (28.7%). Participants were unqualified blue collars (8.1%), qualifiedblue collars, white collars (14.9%), executives or self-employed (22.7), retired (4.3), housewife(7.8), students (24.6%), or other (17.6).ProcedureInterviewers were volunteer university students trained in the application of the scale.A random-route and stratified sample was used to establish appropriate population ratiosfor sex and different age groups in each city (National Institute of Statistics, 2002). To beincluded, participants had to sign an “informed consent” letter explaining the study objectivesand guaranteeing response anonymity and confidentiality. The ethical criteria of theNational Commission for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICYT, its acronym inSpanish) were applied. Participants were selected by team members trained in data collection,who worked with a guideline of the features participants were required to report (city,sex, and age group). Once they had agreed to participate in the study, respondents filled outa paper-and-pencil questionnaire individually, having previously reading a text informingthem about the NCTR and NCPIT.Pilot data collection showed that a questionnaire based upon a high number of itemswas inadequate. Respondents complained of redundancy and expressed boredom. As in othersurveys addressing the general population, we opted for a limited number of items with alarge content validity, being aware that usually reliabilities of 2-4 items scales are moderate(Gibson, 2004; Davidoof, Schmidt & Schwartz, 2008). The questionnaire comprised fivesets of variables. Preliminary questions first enquired about respondents’ socio-demographicNarratives and social memory: theoretical and methodological approaches64