Source: (2008) A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Welfare in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley.
This study investigates the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission
(GTRC), an intervention aimed at cultivating healing, reconciliation, and promoting wellbeing among the victims and community affected by the 1979 ‘Greensboro Massacre’ in North Carolina. In 2004, non-profit and grassroots organizations launched a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to address social trauma persisting from the violence. These Commissions are increasingly popular interventions promoting restorative justice and they are a primary mechanism for fostering social wellbeing after mass violence, yet their effectiveness in promoting social recovery and social welfare after conflict remains largely unexamined. This is the first Truth and Reconciliation Commission established in the United States, and the first to be operated solely by community organizations instead of a government sanctioned entity. This research seeks to understand the GTRC’s impact through the themes of truth, healing, reconciliation, and welfare. An exploratory qualitative research design was used, in which in-depth, open-ended interviews were conducted with victims of the ‘Greensboro Massacre’ who subsequently participated in the GTRC (n=17).
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