Inside the belly of the beast. Reflections on the history of IRCT

This paper is looking back and taking stock of the history of IRCT from the perspective of a founder of a treatment centre, former member of the IRCT council and ExCom and author of Torture Journal. It is the story of enthusiasm, ambition, dedication, devotion, hope and dreams that the worldwide bat...

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Main Author: Christian Pross
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims 2022-06-01
Series:Torture
Subjects:
Online Access:https://tidsskrift.dk/torture-journal/article/view/131298
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author Christian Pross
author_facet Christian Pross
author_sort Christian Pross
collection DOAJ
description This paper is looking back and taking stock of the history of IRCT from the perspective of a founder of a treatment centre, former member of the IRCT council and ExCom and author of Torture Journal. It is the story of enthusiasm, ambition, dedication, devotion, hope and dreams that the worldwide battle against torture could be won in the near future. And it is also the story of a rocky road with failures, disillusionment, disappointment, team conflicts and burnout which commonly but insufficiently is described as “vicarious traumatization”. Most centres were established by charismatic, visionary pioneers with entrepreneurial skills and a missionary sense, which enabled them to build and defend their organisations against reluctant bureaucracies and the prevailing attitude of denial and indifference in society. Because they tended to ignore and neglect structural issues and develop a sense of grandiosity, these types of leaders often obstructed the transformation of the organisation into a professionally managed health care institution.
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language English
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publisher International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims
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spelling doaj-art-ac38f9231f7b457bb65e5f875d6e30b62025-08-20T03:44:21ZengInternational Rehabilitation Council for Torture VictimsTorture1018-81851997-33222022-06-01321-29810410.7146/torture.v32i1-2.131298124592Inside the belly of the beast. Reflections on the history of IRCTChristian Pross0Center Ueberleben BerlinThis paper is looking back and taking stock of the history of IRCT from the perspective of a founder of a treatment centre, former member of the IRCT council and ExCom and author of Torture Journal. It is the story of enthusiasm, ambition, dedication, devotion, hope and dreams that the worldwide battle against torture could be won in the near future. And it is also the story of a rocky road with failures, disillusionment, disappointment, team conflicts and burnout which commonly but insufficiently is described as “vicarious traumatization”. Most centres were established by charismatic, visionary pioneers with entrepreneurial skills and a missionary sense, which enabled them to build and defend their organisations against reluctant bureaucracies and the prevailing attitude of denial and indifference in society. Because they tended to ignore and neglect structural issues and develop a sense of grandiosity, these types of leaders often obstructed the transformation of the organisation into a professionally managed health care institution.https://tidsskrift.dk/torture-journal/article/view/131298culture of organizations dealing with traumavicarious traumatizationpioneer organizations
spellingShingle Christian Pross
Inside the belly of the beast. Reflections on the history of IRCT
Torture
culture of organizations dealing with trauma
vicarious traumatization
pioneer organizations
title Inside the belly of the beast. Reflections on the history of IRCT
title_full Inside the belly of the beast. Reflections on the history of IRCT
title_fullStr Inside the belly of the beast. Reflections on the history of IRCT
title_full_unstemmed Inside the belly of the beast. Reflections on the history of IRCT
title_short Inside the belly of the beast. Reflections on the history of IRCT
title_sort inside the belly of the beast reflections on the history of irct
topic culture of organizations dealing with trauma
vicarious traumatization
pioneer organizations
url https://tidsskrift.dk/torture-journal/article/view/131298
work_keys_str_mv AT christianpross insidethebellyofthebeastreflectionsonthehistoryofirct