Abstract
The Research Dossier comprises a Literature Review and a Research Project in two parts, Research Project Part 1 and Research Project Part 2. These were designed as a series of three interconnected pieces of research, with the Literature Review and its Reflexivity section, functioning as the basis for the two research reports, which use the same set of primary data analysed from different methodological positions. In terms of focus, although the significance of justice to survivors of human rights atrocities has been codified in international law, in which it is assumed to have more than material significance, psychology literature in this area is limited. Given escalating global tensions, in which (in)justice has been cited as a factor at least in the public sphere, this research series focuses on the psychological meaning and construct of (in)justice and its significance to the experience of civilian survivors of war trauma. The research series was initially informed by my personal and professional experience with individuals and communities on the ground, as well as more recently within clinical practice working with survivors in the UK, for some of whom the lack of justice appears to be a significant maintaining factor. In addition to highlighting the significance of injustice to human suffering in this context, deconstructed along with justice, to reveal the social and political influences from which meaning is drawn, the research series is aimed at stimulating debate and further enquiry within the profession as an approach which challenges the dominant epidemiological conceptualisation and individualistic approach to suffering in this context, whilst findings support a more holistic and inter-disciplinary psychosocial approach that meets the needs of survivors and their communities. The research series also reflects on the wider societal contributions that Counselling Psychology as a discipline can make in advancing social justice and in engaging, at least through research and in public debate, with the root causes of suffering, beyond the confines of the therapy room.