ABSTRACT
In South Africa, since 1994, hundreds of suspected witches have been burned to death and thousands of older women and men suspected of witchcraft have fled to one of seven refugee camps established by the Ministry of Safety and Security in the rural Northern Province (Chandler, 1997; Ntsewa, 1998). Most of the psychological, sociological, historical, or anthropological literature relates to the process of persecution, and the psychosocial influences at work in the cycle of violence. When the killing stops, these same factors continue to stress the system, and have a role in the profound aftermath of the violence. In order for counselors to successfully intervene in South Africa, it is important that such professionals understand the complex multidimensional factors embedded in an historical network of relationships. The goal of the present chapter is to re view the literature on this phenomenon and then to discuss a specific intervention used to address first the violence and then the reconciliation process.
