What is 'agency' in torture and trauma recovery? An inquiry into the properties and explanations of the concept of agency and it's impacts.

Abstract

This paper presents learnings from trauma recovery mechanisms and social movements from around the world relating to a survivor's role and as such- their agency. It unpacks various conceptual frameworks as possible alternative, effective and strategic pathways in torture rehabilitation. Ongoing and new challenges such as resourcing, cultural adaptability limitations, lack of access to services and inhumane foreign policies pose barriers to established systems that render some practices inadequate in terms of meaningful service delivery or social impact for torture survivors (Wheildon et al., 2022, p. 1689). It is well documented that "Torture aims to dehumanise survivors through calculated acts of cruelty to remove the survivors' dignity and make them powerless." (Luci and Di Rado, 2020, p. 3). As such this paper deliberately straddles multiple thematic fields, all grappling with relatable notions of restoring power or agency to survivors. At the risk of discursiveness into fields beyond torture rehabilitation then, this paper aims to showcase and learn from other successful movements. It also invites you as the reader into this discourse of inquiry and self-reflection, in order to counter the ten- dency of assuming a prescriptive, blanket (or blank) meaning of survivor engagement activities. Its findings suggest the manifestation of bespoke programming according to context and survivors' needs. It does not suggest a systematic overhaul, but rather a shift of incremental and cumulative changes that are recognised as advantageous. This paper deep dives into theories on agency, looking firstly at the broader archetypes that provide commonality and structure before then exploring particularities from different contexts. Implications for practice are then discussed, with nuances drawn out from the findings.