Translated to English by

Aluna Acompañamiento Psicosocial

Political Violence and War

as Causes of Psychosocial Trauma
in El Salvador

Ignacio Martín-Baró
Summary

Faced with the image that El Salvador offers the US government as

"an incipient democracy," several daily events in the most basic social
relations show a very different reality: that of a country at civil war.
From a psychosocial perspective, the Salvadoran war can be defined
by three characteristics:
(a) the social polarization, intentionally sought by rival groups; (b)
the institutionalized lie, that with time eventually reaches new levels;
and (c) violence, which has gone from being predominantly repressive
to being mainly warlike, with the consequent militarization of the
country. This warlike situation produces a psychosocial trauma, that
is, the traumatic crystallization in people and groups of dehumanized
social relations. Polarization tends to be somatized, institutionalized
lies precipitate serious identity problems and violence leads to the
mind itself becoming militarized. Hence the urgency to undertake the
psychosocial task of depolarization, de-ideologization and
demilitarization of the country.

* Revista de Psicología de El Salvador (El Salvador Psychology Magazine), 1988. Vol. VII,
Nº 28, pp. 123-141. UCA (Central American University), San Salvador, El Salvador, C.A.
1. Two images of El Salvador What, then, is the reality of El Salvador? Let us examine a series of
daily events that directly concern the area of the so-called mental
According to the US government, El Salvador represents a better health, but that in their concrete terms reveal a very different reality
example of the Latin American "new democracies" that have emerged from that offered by the spokesmen of the Reagan administration.
during the last decade, particularly in the Central American area,
where Nicaragua would be the only exception. This fact would also 1. The department of Chalatenango, in the north of the country, is one
reflect the success of Reagan's foreign policy in Latin America. To of the most conflictive areas, over which FMLN insurgents
prove his assertion about El Salvador, the following data is used: exercise practical control for a good part of the year. A small
population in this department is hardly inhabited by a few tens of
(a) (a) The Salvadoran government was elected in a free election, very poor peasant families, composed of a few adult men, the
according to a democratic constitution. elderly, women and children; there are no young people.
(b) There is growing respect for the human rights of the Periodically, the Armed Forces launches military operations that
population in the country. According to the US government, affect this small town, including bombings, mortar attacks,
80 percent of violations to those rights that still occur is caused minefields, searches and destruction of homes and crops. Every
by the rebels. time an operation starts, the population shelters in their little
(c) The Salvadoran army has become increasingly professional, houses, seized by a series of psychosomatic symptoms: generalized
submitting itself to civil power. tremor of the body, muscle "lassitude", diarrhea. Since the
(d) Although there are still some problems, for example, beginning of the war an elderly couple has opted to hide in a "tatú"
regarding the fulfillment of the population´s basic needs, or (a cave like hiding structure) or refuge every time an operative
the effective operation of the justice system, to a large extent takes place or when the Armed Forces approach. The result has
these must be attributed to the situation created by the been that the mere announcement of an operation produces in the
Marxist-Leninist groups that practice violent terrorism with man what the whole town knows as "the pain:" a violent intestinal
the support of Cuba and Nicaragua. cramp, an overwhelming headache and a generalized lethargy,
making him unable to even walk.
Unfortunately, this image of the country is a very typical ideological
elaboration of the Reagan administration, but that reflects little or In a small study with 250 people of all ages, conducted recently at the
nothing the real situation of El Salvador. A government´s democratic San José Calle Real shelter, located on the outskirts of San Salvador,
character does not depend or, at least not only, on the way it is elected, (36% of the refugees there), it was found that the presence of the army
but on the forces that each day determine its performance. And a in the vicinity of the shelter was enough for 87 percent of them to
verifiable fact is that when it comes to defining the fundamental experience tremor, 75 percent felt tachycardia and 64 percent were
policies of El Salvador, the ghosts of the United States "national invaded by a generalized body tremor (ACISAM (Mental Health
security" count more than the most basic needs of the Salvadoran Training and Research Association), 1988, pp. 12-13).
people. That Duarte's government has some significant control over
the Armed Forces of El Salvador is something that no Salvadoran has 2. Usulután is another area in the southeast of the country, with two
in mind, and this is simply as a result of the daily experience of who distinct regions: one a Coastal rich cotton producer, and another
is really in charge. Finally, attributing the main human rights more mountainous, with large coffee farms. The FMLN has a
violations to the rebels does not exempt the government from its share permanent presence there, and the Armed Forces carry out
of responsibility. Furthermore, that judgment constitutes a gross continuous counter-insurgency operations. A series of surveys
distortion of the data, more suitable of a "psychological war" found that the government soldiers systematically practice the
campaign than of an objective analysis of the events. sexual abuse of young peasant women living in the area. As
indicated by one of them, to avoid the continuous massive

2
 violations, the "most clever ones" (their term) have to resort to It should not be forgotten that some sectors of Salvadoran society still
becoming protected by some soldier or officer, prostituting with consider the elimination of "all subversives" in the manner of 1932 as
them and asking to be protected from others. Of course, this data a solution to the civil war, in order to "win in this way" -or, at least, as
does not enter into the human rights statistics of the US embassy in affirmed by them- "Another fifty years of peace."
San Salvador. But, according to available information, it
constitutes a common practice of the members of the Armed Forces These four facts are sufficient - the psychosomatic symptoms in
and not of the FMLN. the face of military operatives, the massive rape of peasant women,
the disarray of criminal violence by soldiers or officers and the almost
To complement this data, it should be added that, in a survey murderous configuration of the infantile mind - to prove that the reality
conducted in February 1988, when peasants were asked what they of El Salvador is very different from that presented by the official
thought were the causes of the war, 59.1 percent of the interviewees, reports of the US government. Three features can be useful to define
who so far had expressed themselves with great spontaneity, became that specific reality: its growing impoverishment, the legitimacy of an
frightened and responded that they did not know about that (IUDOP authority above the law and the continuity of the civil war.
(Public Opinion University Institute), 1988). Even when they were
pointed to the obvious traces of war -burnt-out crops, houses with (a) Above all, more than a poor society it is an impoverished one,
bullet marks or bombs-they insisted on their ignorance and that it not only divided, but violently torn, in which the most basic human
happened "when they were not there." Certainly, if fear has diminished rights of the majority are structurally and systematically denied. There
in the last few years among the population of the metropolitan area of is no reference here to rights such as freedom of the press or freedom
San Salvador, it remains a dominant reminder among the peasantry, of worship, which seem to greatly concern the US government in
even those who live in less conflictive areas of the country. regards to Cuba or Nicaragua; the reference is to the much more
fundamental right to preserve life, to have enough to eat, to have a
3. Increasingly, massacres of civilians are carried out by soldiers place to live, a job in which to become fulfilled as a human being, a
on permit or ex-soldiers who throw grenades at a private house, inside school where you can educate your children. What use is it to the
a bus or in the middle of a dance. It is not uncommon for the Salvadoran peasant that the government does not censor the
perpetrators to be drunk when doing so. The reasons are usually newspapers, if they cannot read them, as they are illiterate, nor do they
jealousy or a desire to assert their power or "authority." Only in the have the money to buy them or, above all, is their hunger and pain,
last week of February 1988, the press reported no less than four cases their suffering and longing reflected in them?
of this kind.
(b) For the majority of Salvadorans, the Government Armed
4. In an investigation carried out between April and May 1987, Forces continue to be the representation of a frightening and abusive
which attempted to reproduce studies carried out in the United States power, an arbitrary and omnipotent "authority", expression of an
on the formation of the concept of social class (see Leahy, 1983), more organized system at the service of the needs of a minority of ten or
than 200 children of various ages and belonging to different social fifteen percent of the population. It is not a matter of denying the
sectors were interviewed. One of the questions that was asked was: partial improvements experienced by the Salvadoran army, both in its
"What would have to happen so that there were no poor people?" technical performance and in its relations with the civilian population.
Several of the interviewees, belonging to high socioeconomic sectors, However, the armed forces in El Salvador remain as an institution
gave the following answer: "To kill them all." Of course, this can be above the law, and whether or not it respects the rights of the people,
interpreted in several ways, and the Study is still not concluded. But is left to the arbitrary whim of its trade interests and, what is worse, to
in none of the studies developed in the United States these types of the narrow understanding of each particulate situation by the local
responses were obtained. official and even the simple soldier, constituted as "authority."

3
 (c) The war that has been raging the country for eight years, and encompassing phenomenon in a country's reality, the dominant
which American military advisors estimate can continue for six more, process to which other social, economic, political and cultural
is producing a systematic destruction of the Salvadoran population. processes have to be overpowered by, and which, directly or
Obviously, a very fundamental part of this destruction is the number indirectly, affects all members of a society.
of victims: it is estimated that, already in recent years, there are nearly
seventy thousand deaths due to the conflict. It is difficult to offer an That same absorbing character of war can lead to ignoring the
accurate number of those wounded, although it is known that in every differential ways it affects groups and individuals: what for some
war confrontation, there are usually no less than three wounded per represents ruin is for others a great business, and for certain groups, it
death. However, what we want to emphasize here is not so much the puts them on the brink of death whilst for others, it opens the
bodily destruction but the psychosocial damage. And, as seen in the possibility of a new life. One is the war that the peasants have to suffer
examples presented, the impact of the Salvadoran war ranges from the in their own flesh, and a very different one is the one the bourgeois
physical deterioration that appears by way of psychosomatic industrialist views in his television screen. In El Salvador, those who
symptoms, to the aberrant criminalization in the child's mind, through go to the battlefield are predominantly the poor, the offspring of the
the disruption of social relations subjected to the abuse and violence peasants and of the urban marginalized, not the offspring of the boss
of those who have the power in their hands. or the professional.

It is not by chance that a democratic image is portrayed about El In 1984, from a psychosocial perspective the Salvadoran civil war was
Salvador, even though the reality is drastically different. Part of the characterized by three fundamental traits. (1) violence, which steers
problem is about ideological concealment, an essential component to the best resources of each contestant towards the destruction of the
justify the continuation of what, for the Reagan government, is no rival; (2) social polarization, that is, the displacement of groups
more than a simple "low intensity conflict," but for the Salvadoran towards opposite ends, with the consequent hardening of their
people it constitutes a war that, after being deprived of their national respective ideological positions and pressure on the various social
sovereignty threatens to destroy their identity and even their historical instances to align with "us" or "them;" and (3) the institutional lie that
viability. For this reason, it is convenient to examine the conflict itself goes from distorting the aim of the institutions to the ideological
more closely. concealment of the social reality (Martín-Baró, 1984).

2. The Salvadoran war In essence, this psychosocial characterization of the Salvadoran

war continues to be valid in 1988, which in itself is already a
Every war is a way to resolve a conflict between groups and is deplorable fact. Nevertheless, it is convenient to examine the
characterized by the use of violence, intended to destroy or dominate modalities that these characteristics of the Salvadoran civil war have
a rival. Psychology studies on war predominantly tend to focus in two been adopting as a consequence of the prolongation of the war alone.
areas: one area works towards the efficiency of military actions, by
studying the most effective ways of organizing and operating, or by 2.1. Social Polarization
directly contributing elements that assist in the war effort (the so-
called "psychological warfare"); the other area concentrates on the The 1984 analysis showed that the degree of social polarization of
psychological sequelae of war and is oriented towards prevention and the Salvadoran population had reached a ceiling, and that significant
treatment. signs of depolarization were observed, that is to say that there were
conscious efforts by some groups and sectors to dealign themselves
However, there is one aspect of war of great importance that must be from both contenders (Martín-Baró, 1984, page 507). The processes
analyzed by social psychology: that is its defining character of the of polarization and depolarization are not uniform or mechanical, but
social whole. Due to its own dynamics, a war tends to become the most are more closely related to the advance of military activity and to the

4
evolution of the political situation. In this regard, since 1984 several Salvadoran people to seek a solution to the conflict through military
important processes have been observed. Perhaps the most significant means, even though it may adopt forms such as inhibition or
is the resurgence of the mass movement, with clear sympathies skepticism, that are not always socially or personally constructive.
towards the FMLN's stance. However, the conscious effort to polarize
and encourage popular organizations to shift from the demands of But, even though the level of social polarization has tended to
better work conditions towards a more conscious political, radical and diminish and there is a popular resistance deaf to any effort to further
even violent position, has resulted in a new decline of the movement. radicalize the conflict, the campaigns to polarize keep the country in
The ones who have parted are those who do not feel with the strength an environment of tension that is not only warlike, but also
to enter into such dynamic, or fear a repetition of the repressive psychosocial: the facts are ideologized, people are demonized, the use
terrorism of 1981-1982. On the government´s side, the Armed Forces of those same political spaces that the evolution of the conflict has
have launched several counterinsurgency plans, and one of its forced to open are criminalized. All of which leads to an apparent
essential components is the so-called "psychological warfare." These bogging down of social confrontation, and to making it harder to
plans have expressly sought to win "the minds and hearts" of the establish areas for the interaction of the various social groups with a
civilian population, in order to constitute them as the main obstacle view to achieve common interest objectives. That is why the Duarte
against the rebels, who are depicted as vulgar terrorists and enemies government encountered a serious problem when it was forced to
of the people. comply with the Esquipulas II agreements against its main source of
power, the United States, and with the open reticence of the Armed
Each of the parts has made a concerted and conscious effort, not Forces. In fact, he had no recourse but to resort to the record of
only to maintain social polarization, but to deepen and extend it. In formalistic compliance, which served more as a justification to
order to achieve this goal, both contenders have tried to emphasize continue the war than as a step towards peace.
elements of antagonism, rather than elements of possible agreement,
and have exploited as much as possible the sources of resentment and 2.2. The institutionalized lie
inter-group hatred. Both have presented each other as the incarnation
of evil, as "the enemy" to be eliminated. This aspect is more The systematic concealment of reality continues to be one of the
contradictory in government propaganda than in the FMLN, both fundamental characteristics of the Salvadoran war, and it takes several
because of its magnitude and intensity, which is incomparably greater, forms:
and due to the violence it inflicts on language. Thus, the message
conveyed under the slogan "united to rebuild," a name given to the (a) First of all, it is about creating an official version of events, an
most ambitious counterinsurgency campaign of the Armed Forces in "official story," which ignores crucial aspects of reality,
the last two years, clearly said "disunited to destroy," or, "united distorts, invents and even falsifies others. This official story is
against each other to get rid of them. " imposed via an intense and very aggressive propaganda
display, which is supported even by putting at stake the entire
The level of social polarization that is found today in the country - clout of the highest official positions. Thus, for example, the
beyond conjunctural moments, as are the electoral periods - is less than President of the Republic became a public sponsor of the
that which occurred in the first years of the civil war. Somehow, version that sought to incriminate the FMLN for the murder
fatigue and reason, the disappointment with the military solution, the of Herbert Anaya Sanabria, president of the non-government
demands of everyday coexistence, added to international pressure and Human Rights Commission.
the emergence of tainted options, have been opening political spaces,
that some have tried to take advantage of to build bridges and draw (b) When, for any circumstance, facts appear in the public light
new horizons. In any case, the amount of resources devoted to keeping that directly contradict the "official story", a "sanitary cord" is
social polarization alive points to the growing resistance of the laid out around them, a circle of silence that relegates them to

5
 a quick disremembering or to the past, presumably to 1979 - precisely the governments whose actions contributed
surmounted by the evolution of events. The continuous human to precipitate the civil war.
rights violations from members of the Armed Forces
obviously enter in this atmosphere of concealed silence. As a significant contradiction happening within the framework of
this environment of institutionalized lying, is that a series of television
(c) The public expression of reality, the condemnation of human news programs appear in El Salvador that enjoy and make effective
rights violations and, above all, the unmasking of the official use of a remarkable freedom. In El Salvador there are currently no less
story and of the institutionalized lie, are deemed "subversive" than four news programs ("Al Día," "Telepressa," "El Noticiero" and
activities - and in fact they are, as they subvert the lie "TCS noticias") as well as a series of programs linked to them that
established by the order at hand. This leads to the paradox that offer the public information nearer to the facts than those of the
anyone who dares to name reality or to denounce abuses “official story". They also allow for the opportunity to hear opinions
becomes, at the least, a criminal at the hands of the justice and judgments from all kinds of people, without excluding those most
system. What matters is not whether the facts referred to are critical about the process. Though it is not necessary to analyze this
true or not, which is always denied a priori, what is important here, it bears the question: How and why has this been possible?
is that they are named. The realities are not what matter, what Whilst until recently, radio stations and opposition newspapers were
matters are the images. Thus, for example, when Monsignor dynamited and, FMLN stations continue to be systematically
Rosa Chávez, auxiliary bishop of San Salvador denounced interfered with. This does not mean that there are no official or para-
members of the First Infantry Brigade as the perpetrators of a official pressures on these programs, or that there are no concerted
triple murder, with all the characteristics of a "death squad," efforts to assimilate or co-opt them for the benefit of the system
he was immediately criminalized by the highest civil and established. In fact, together with the advent of these programs, a
military authorities. The bishop had to prove his "innocence," Ministry of Culture and Communications was also established, clearly
he was the accused, and it didn´t seem to matter much whether oriented towards a "psychological warfare" and to counteract any
the denounced fact was true or not. possible breach in the "official story."

(d) An additional component of the lies is the degree of 2.3. Violence

corruption that has progressively and rapidly permeated the
various state agencies and the new Christian Democratic As it is known, military violence in the Salvadoran war has two
officials. Of course, this does not represent a historical novelty features: on the one hand, that of an open military confrontation,
in a Salvadoran government; what is new is that corruption independent from any greater or lesser conventionalism. On the other
has so invaded the members of a party that, until that moment, hand, that of covert paramilitary repression, directed not only against
had behaved relatively honestly and whose moralizing and combatants but against all those sectors or groups of the population
presumably Christian-inspired discourse is the furthermost to that support or sympathize with the insurgents, or who are suspected
one of the uses of public resources for private means. The to support or sympathize with them.
overwhelming contrast between political discourse and the
actual behavior of Christian Democrat members in power At the beginning, the Salvadoran war was characterized by a
establishes a new level of deceit and lies, more so as it occurs minimum of open military actions and a maximum of undercover
in circumstances of extreme poverty and hardship for the ones. The "death squads" and not the battalions were the main
majority of Salvadoran people. The most favorable judgment instruments the government had to remain in power in the face of
heard today about the corruption of the Christian Democratic popular and revolutionary unrest. However, due to the prolongation of
rulers is that it does not differ from that of governments prior the war and the demands of the US-promoted project for El Salvador,
this has been reversed and, while military confrontations have become

6
of paramount importance, repression has been relegated to a less important impact on the Salvadorans way of being and acting. It is this
relevant level. It is a continuously aired fact by the US government, impact that here is regarded as psychosocial trauma.
that there has been a significant reduction in the number of people
tortured, murdered or "disappeared" attributable to government forces. 3.1. Character of the psychosocial trauma of war
Much more questionable is the assertion that the FMLN's human rights
violations have been increasing and that most of the violations that Etymologically, trauma means wound. In psychology, trauma is
occur today in El Salvador are caused by them. In any case, two factual usually used to refer to an experience that affects the person in such a
statements are pertinent here: (a) the number of dead and wounded way that it marks them, namely that it leaves a permanent residue. If
victims in the military confrontation is currently much higher than that the term trauma is used, it is because it is understood that this residue
of victims of repression; (b) the number of victims of repression has is negative, that it is a wound, in so many words, an unfavorable
been reduced, but it is still higher than it was before the war and which remnant for the person's life.
was condemned as unacceptable by various international
organizations. In general, the particular hurt left on a specific person by a difficult
or exceptional experience is described as psychic trauma -the death of
This change in the war´s direction has dragged a parallel a loved one, a situation of particular tension or suffering, a painfully
phenomenon in the social order: it has gone from an order maintained frustrating event-. Thus, for example, a child who sees his parents die
by state terrorism to a militarized order. In El Salvador there has been in an accident or in a fire. Sometimes, in a more analogous sense, the
a militarization of the society and of collective life, both in the areas term social trauma is used to refer to in what way some historical
controlled by the government and the FMLN -without attempting to process may have affected an entire population. For example, this
deny the clear differences that exist between the two cases. would be the case of the German and the Jewish people after the
termed "final solution" experience.
The militarization of the social order means at least two things: (a)
military officers tend to occupy the majority of key posts in the Here, the unusual term psychosocial trauma is used to emphasize
institutional order; (b) the military instance becomes the criterion for the essentially dialectical character of the injury caused by a prolonged
the validity and even the possibility of any activity. In other words, it lived experience of war, like the one in El Salvador. This does not
is difficult to develop any activity or enterprise of any importance in mean that there is a uniform or common effect for the entire
the country that doesn´t first need the institutional endorsement of the population, or that the experience of war can be presumed to have
Armed Forces or the personal sponsorship of a member of the military. some mechanical impact on people. Precisely, if we talk about the
The openly exercised vigilance by the military around production dialectical character of psychosocial trauma it is in order to emphasize
centers, or the control they establish over the various communication that the injury or affectation will depend on each individual´s lived
systems is not but the most visible expression of their growing power experience, which is conditioned by their social extraction, by their
over the functioning of Salvadoran society. degree of participation in the conflict, as well as other characteristics
of their personality and experience (see Martín-Baró, 1984, pp. 509-
3. Psychosocial trauma 511). The suffering brought on by war can even offer some people the
opportunity to grow humanly. The public conduct of someone like the
If human beings are historical products, it is understandable to martyred archbishop of San Salvador, Monsignor Oscar Arnulfo
think that this particular war history in El Salvador will have to impact Romero, paradigmatically show the growth of the person as the
in some way on its inhabitants. It is not necessary to assume some of persecutions and attacks against him intensified. Archbishop Romero
the traditional psychological views on the basics of personality to is nothing more than the best-known example of many other
understand that the prolongation of the civil war must have an Salvadorans who have, due to the war, found the opportunity to
develop exceptional human virtues of pure altruism and caring love.

7
 processes triggered by fear: (1) a feeling of vulnerability, (2) an
But when talking about psychosocial trauma we also want to exacerbated state of hypervigilance, (3) the sense of impotence or loss
highlight other two aspects, which tend to often be forgotten: (a) that of control over one's life, and (4) an alteration in the sense of reality,
the injury that affects people has been socially produced, that is, its as it becomes impossible to objectively validate one's own experiences
roots are not found in the individual, but in their society, and (b) that and knowledge.
their very nature is sustained and maintained in the relationship
between the individual and society, through various institutional, The formulations of both, Samayoa and the Chilean group are
group and even individual intercessions. This has obvious and complementary: while in one case the role of the cognitive and
important consequences when determining what must be done to behavioral aspects is underlined, in the other the mediation of an
overcome these traumas. emotional element, fear, is emphasized. We find ourselves then with
the classic components of psychological analysis: emotion and
3.2. Psychosocial trauma as dehumanization behavior – that some substitute with volition.

Joaquín Samayoa (1987, pp. 215) maintains that the cognitive and Nevertheless, it is convenient to point out the limitations of both
behavioral changes caused by war bring about a process of models. In the Chilean case, it is clear that their analysis is limited to
dehumanization, understood as the diminishment of four important sectors of the population that have been the target of Pinochet's
capacities in humans: (a) their ability to think clearly, ( b) their ability repression. Therefore, those sectors of the population favorable to
to communicate truthfully, (c) their sensitivity to the suffering of Pinochet would be excluded, who, more than fear, would have
others, and (d) their hope. frequently experienced satisfaction and security with policies that
guaranteed their class rule.
What are these cognitive and behavioral changes caused by the
need to adapt to war that would in turn precipitate the dehumanization Samayoa's approach is broader and in principle can be applied to
of people? Samayoa mentions five: (1) selective neglect and clinging all sectors of the population, since they all have to adapt to the new
to prejudices, (2) absolutizing, idealization and ideological rigidity, historical circumstances. But such a nuclear role attributed to
(3) evasive skepticism, (4) paranoid defense, and (5) hatred and a adaptation is precisely what I find unsatisfactory in this approach. It
desire for revenge. Nonetheless, when examining how these cognitive would seem that groups and people are external to the war situation
and behavioral patterns arise and are configured, Samayoa points out that they would be forced to adapt. It would be then, on their behalf, a
three adaptive or survival dynamics: (a) uncertainty in relation to one's fundamentally responsive and even passive conception in the face of
destiny, (b) a lack of purpose and even of meaning in what has to be historical realities. And on the contrary, however alienated they may
done, and (c) the need for personal connection or attachment to a be, the data leads to affirm the essential and active role that groups,
group. and people play as subjects of history. Undoubtedly, for many
Salvadorans war is something that is imposed on them. But for many,
From their psychotherapeutic experience in Chile a different line war is something that they themselves contribute to propitiate and
of thought has been developed by the group headed by Elisabeth Lira develop and, consequently, their participation in those processes
(1985-1986). According to this group, a situation of state terrorism would be misunderstood if viewed from a simply adaptationist stance.
such as that experienced in Pinochet´s Chile causes a state of fear in Probably, Samayoa does not intend to deny this, but his model bears
people and, although fear is a subjective experience and to a certain that limitation or, at least, leaves that ambiguity open.
extent a private one, "when it occurs simultaneously in thousands of
people in a society, it acquires an unsuspected relevance in both, the
social and political behavior "(page 51). According to this group of
psychologists there are four main psychological characteristics of the

8
3.3. Crystallization of social relationships war polarization. What is meant is that the acute experience of
polarization can be and is often entrenched in the body. It is no
We believe, from our perspective, that the best way to understand wonder, then, that the groups and people most likely to experience this
the psychosocial trauma experienced by the inhabitants of El Salvador type of disorder are those who are gripped by the tear of polarization:
today, is to conceive it as the crystallization or materialization within the inhabitants of places that continually pass from the control of one
people of the social war relations that are experienced in the country. side to another, or those that are subjected to an intense ideological
It is not hidden behind this approach the understanding of humans as bombardment by any of the sides and are unable to affirm their own
the product of a peculiar history, which in each case is concretized in preference. Similarly, those that have to force themselves to assume
the social relations of which the individual is an active and passive extreme and rigid positions in favor of their own group. Social
part. From this it derives that the nature of the main social relationships derangement relates to the personal and even somatic dislocation that
will take shape in people. What role each of the psychic elements play can lead to complex forms of psychotic alienation, observed in some
- knowledge, attachments, volitions - will have to be examined in each young people from conflicting populations.
situation, but in principle, all people are affected by the experience of
war. From this stance, it follows that each person will be affected Secondly, in various ways, the prevailing climate of lies negatively
according to their particular social location and their specific way of permeates the foundations of people's identities. First of all, the
participating in the war processes. blurring of reality generates a schizoid dislocation between the
subjective experiences and the social life, that doesn´t offer a field to
The psychosocial trauma experienced by people then denotes formally validate their own knowledge or, in the best of cases, refers
alienating social relationships, which deny the human character of the them to an excessively restricted social circle. This difficulty to
"enemy" who, as such, is rejected as an interlocutor and is even sought formally validate generates both, a feeling of insecurity about what is
to be destroyed. The affirmation of one's own personality is affected thought and a skepticism regarding the various social and political
by the dehumanization of the other who in turn, one dialectically options. When the lie has to be assumed as a way of life and people
constructs through. are forced to lead a double existence -the case of those who work in
clandestine conditions- the problem is aggravated. Not so much
If the war in El Salvador is characterized by social polarization, because there is no way to formalize and validate one's own
institutionalized lying and the militarization of social life, we must experience, but because the need to function on two planes results in
examine how these three outstanding aspects of social relations an ethical and existential muddle. Many end-up abandoning that
become crystallized in people. It is not about looking for a mechanical heartbreaking lifestyle, which in turn can produce a deflation of their
correspondence that would objectify what are only analytical aspects own image and feelings of guilt about their own convictions and, with
of a historical reality. On the contrary to see how the specificity of the their old companions in the struggle. Lira and her colleagues have
Salvadoran war makes imprints both on groups and individuals, how clearly analyzed the identity problems derived from the impossibility
it manifests as psychosocial trauma. What follows are some to organize life according to one's own political values, when these
hypotheses that attempt to account for the disorders already values are contrary to the established regime (Lira et al., 1985-1986,
encountered, but as working hypotheses, they need to be subjected to Weinstein, 1987).
empirical verification.
Finally, the militarization of social life can lead to a progressive
militarization of the mind. Again, it is not a simple or mechanical
Firstly, we believe that the various forms of somatization constitute effect; but there isn´t much doubt that the almost compulsive violence
the bodily rooting of social polarization. It is not stated that every that takes hold of interpersonal relations, even the most intimate ones,
process of polarization ends up taking root in the organism, or that as well as the sociopathic destructiveness that some members or ex-
every psychosomatic disorder must be attributed to the experience of members of the military expose, are intrinsically related to the growing

9
preponderance of military ways of thinking, feeling and acting in and not in force, so that coexistence can be based on mutual
social life. The most serious aspect of this psychosocial militarization complementarity to resolve problems, and not in violence so as to
occurs when it becomes a normal way of being, transmitted through impose our own alternative.
socialization processes, as in the case of children, who naively affirm
that in order to end poverty it is necessary to kill all the poor. Bibliography

4. Conclusion: the psychosocial task ACISAM. (1988.) Presencia del ejército en el refugio de San
José Calle Real: Una vivencia amedrantradora. (Presence of the
The indefinite continuance of war supposes the normalization of army in the refuge of San José Calle Real: An intimidating
these dehumanized social relations whose impact on people goes from
the somatic injury to the mental structure, weakening their personality
experience). Avance (San Salvador), January 1988
as they find themselves unable to authentically affirm their own IUDOP (Public Opinion University Institute) (1988.) Las
identity. One cannot understand biological crises without its direct condiciones de vida del campesino salvadoreño desde su propia
reference to the polarizing tension. And neither can sociopolitical perspectiva. (Life conditions of the Salvadoran peasant from
inhibition be understood bar in the face of a climate of institutionalized their own perspective) Serie Informes Nº 13. San Salvador:
lying, and furthermore, ideological stereotyping in the face of the Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas.
militarization of social life. But, in turn, people who develop within Leahy, Robert L. (1983). (Ed.) The child's construction of
this context will assume as innate the contempt for human life, the law social inequality. New York: Academic Press.
of the strongest as a social criteria and corruption as a way of life, thus
precipitating a serious vicious circle which tends to both, objectively Lira, Elizabeth, Weinstein, Eugenia and Salamovich, Sofia.
and subjectively perpetuate the war. (1985¬1986). El miedo: un enfoque psicosocial. (Fear: a
It isn´t the purpose of this paper to examine the ways in which this
psychosocial approach). Chilean Journal of Psychology, VIII,
problem ought to be tackled. But undoubtedly, individual or group pp 51-56.
Psychotherapy, understood as a process of psychological intervention Martín-Baró, Ignacio. (1984). Guerra y salud mental (War and
is not sufficient. By all means, it is not a question of abandoning, to mental health). ECA, pp.429-430, 503-514.
their own fate, those people who already suffer in their own flesh the Samayoa, Joaquín. (1987) Guerra y deshumanización: una
alienating ravages of war. What is asserted is that even in the case of perspectiva psicosocial (War and dehumanization: a
the same individuals involved, this effort is insufficient. As long as psychosocial perspective). ECA (Central American Studies), pp
social relations -structural, group and interpersonal- remain 461, 213.225.
unchanged as they occur today in the country, the particular treatment Weinstein, Eugenia. (1987). Problemática psicológica del
of its consequences will, at best be incomplete. exilio en Chile. Algunas orientaciones psicoterapéuticas.
(Chile´s exile psychological predicament. Some
In El Salvador, it is necessary to initiate an intense task of
depolarization, de-ideologization and demilitarization. In positive
psychotherapeutic orientations). Boletín de Psicología (UCA,
terms, it is essential to work to establish a new framework for San Salvador,) pp. 23, 21-38.
coexistence, a new "social contract" in the best sense, that allows for
a collective interaction without discrepancies becoming a source for
mutual annulment; we must work towards a social honesty that can
lead us to know the realities before defining them, to accept the facts
before interpreting them. Finally, we must strive to educate in reason

10