Traumatic Losses, Disorganized Cultural Representations and Infant Survival in Post-War Societies: Madzawde and Disrupted Attachment Patterns in Central Mozambique

Victor Igreja, a PhD researcher affiliated to the ASC and LUMC, is a psychologist, medical anthropologist and war trauma researcher with AEPATO in central Mozambique. He is currently involved in a longitudinal research project on the long-term effects of war.

This paper addresses the ways in which prolonged and multiple exposure to extreme traumatic events can affect not only individuals but also their vital cultural representations in central Mozambique. In the wake of these events different cultural and historical representations have been disrupted, leaving the members of these communities with fragmented protective and resilience factors to cope effectively. Emphasis is placed on the disruption of Madzawde, the attachment mechanism that regulates the relationship between the child (during the first 1-2 years of life) and the mother, and the family in general. The war, additionally aggravated by famine, prevented the population from performing this child-rearing practice. Nearly a decade after the war ended, the post-traumatic effects of this disruption are still being observed by traditional healers and health-care workers at the district hospital. The results suggest that this disruption is affecting and compromising the development of the child and the physical and psychological health of the mother. An in-depth understanding of this level of trauma and the post-traumatic effects is instrumental in making a culturally sensitive diagnosis and in developing effective intervention strategies based on local knowledge that has not been entirely lost but is nonetheless being questioned.