Chapter 4: Social Services

Healing the Hurt: A Guide for Developing Services for Torture Survivors was developed by The National Capacity Building Project at The Center for Victims of Torture for practitioners who may or may not have worked previously with torture survivors. It is a multidisciplinary guide that addresses some basic considerations when working with this population. This handbook is a primer, and it should not take the place of more in-depth training in torture treatment. We hope you find this resource helpful in your work with torture survivors. Various chapters are referred to under Providers Resources at HealTorture.org. Access to all handbook chapters is available by downloading the PDF files.

You can view and download the full book here or scroll down to view and download Chapter Four.

Chapter Four

Torture occurs within a cultural and social context. It breaks the connections between individuals and their social environment. It separates the bonds of communities. Social work interventions, therefore, are directed at individuals, their families and immediate environments, community, social, and functional groups, and policies and systems. These are accomplished through direct service, resource development, community interventions, education and training, research, and public policy work. The provision of social services to survivors of torture is administered by workers with a wide variety of educational foundations and life and work experiences in an assortment of settings. While this chapter is written for professional social workers, the material is appropriate for social services providers regardless of background, training, or specific tasks.

Providing appropriate and effective services to torture survivors requires a degree of expertise in four core fields:

• Knowledge of the story of refugees and asylees — before, during, and after the violence

• Understanding of the nature of torture and its long-term effects on survivors, their families and communities, and the professionals who work with them

• Cultural work with traumatized people

• Best practices for working with interpreters

This chapter augments the information concerning the core competencies presented in Chapter 3. A discussion of social work interventions during resettlement and in the political asylum process, sample scenarios illustrating the impact of the effects of torture on accessing social services, and guidelines for cultural competency and for working with interpreters and clients are included in this section. A brief note on policy work and a summary conclude the chapter.