Forgiveness as a positive contributing factor on the mental wellbeing of Congolese refugees and asylum seekers post-war experience

ABSTRACT

The ongoing political violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has exposed female Congolese to traumatic events and adverse situations such as sexual violence, genocide, torture, political persecution, and the loss of loved ones, which have made them to leave their country. These traumatizing experiences negatively affect the mental wellbeing of Congolese. The study explored the impact of forgiveness on mental wellbeing among Congolese refugees and asylum seekers post-war experience. Ten female Congolese refugees and asylum seekers with post-war experience were purposely selected and interviewed through semi-structured interviews. Key findings of the study showed that forgiveness resulted in the improved mental wellbeing of Congolese female refugees and asylum seekers, with reduced anger, anxiety, depression, stress, and rumination. Forgiving participants reported that their mental wellbeing improved compared to those who found it difficult to forgive rebels and state forces causing war in DRC. These findings indicate the importance of incorporating forgiveness in mental wellbeing interventions to improve the mental wellbeing of war survivors. The study provides recommendations on how mental health practitioners can incorporate forgiveness in mental wellbeing interventions.

KEYWORDS:

• Refugees
• asylum seekers
• forgiveness
• mental wellbeing

Acknowledgments

The author is grateful to all Congolese refugees and asylum seekers who shared their experiences. The author would like to thank the Refugee Children’s Project (RCP) for providing the venues to conduct the interviews. RCP also provided counseling and debriefing sessions to the participants after the interviews.

Declaration of interest

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.