The Immaterial Reparation: Identity, Agency, and Restorative Justice

After more than five decades of war, Colombia is currently undergoing multiple transitional justice processes. This situation poses fundamental questions about the psychological effects of the restorative justice paradigm. In this study, we describe the relation between restorative justice measures and the presence of agentic responses to the identity crisis produced by forced displacement after a massacre. This article uses qualitative analysis to examine the personal narratives of 26 war survivors of two massacres, La Chinita and the Naya river massacres, some of whom had participated in processes of restorative justice. Results show that displacement produces an identity crisis characterized by discontinuity in participants' roles. We found, additionally, that restorative justice favors the development of agentic responses to the identity crisis, by supporting participants' active participation in the search of justice and reparation. Agentic responses are related to restorative justice because they depend on guarantees of nonrepetition and on symbolic reparation. Results also show that acts of restorative justice in which survivors can confront perpetrators, increase survivors' agency by allowing them to decide whether to forgive. Agentic responses are also associated to the development of leadership roles in survivors. Public Significance Statement The present study suggests that restorative justice processes and social mobilization favor the development of agentic solutions to the identity crisis produced by forced displacement. These strategies foster psychological well-being and support the recovery of survivors of the Colombian armed conflict. These results emphasize the relevance of restorative justice in the healing of war survivors and its importance for postconflict societies seeking justice and reparation.