On August 20th 2009, Mohmed Megrahi, convicted in 2001 for the murder of 270 people on Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie Scotland, was freed from prison, having been diagnosed with advanced cancer of the prostate. His 27-year sentence was commuted by the Scottish justice Secretary on the grounds of compassion. Arriving in Libya,he was met by the son of Colonel Gadhafi while thousands celebrated in the city of Tripoli where he is regarded as a hero. This contrasted sharply with the outrage expressed by American relatives of victims. Stan Maslowski, whose 30 year old daughter Diana died in the bombing, reported that he found himself crying in bed when told, as he "re-lived" the experience that he had, when first told there were no survivors from the Pan Am bombing. "I dont think there will ever be any closure for any of us".
The truth is, lawmakers, and politicians have reversed the trauma-narrative for the relatives of the victims, where closure had already been established. This might very well have unhinged the crucial component of trauma recovery.
The process of healing from psychological trauma involves shifting brain activity from those areas involved in sensory-perceptual activity towards those brain areas involved in labeling,and interpretation. While the sensory aspect of brain activity is vivid and intense, the words and meaning of the trauma-narrative are able to transform the initial sensory experiences of the trauma into those which are coded into a distant memory abstract.
For many victims the trauma is put to rest when the predator is caught and punished, or following some form of compensation.
In contrast, when victims suffer from flashbacks, it means that the trauma is being painfully replayed in the present.
Flashbacks are intense recollections of the trauma, dominated by negative emotions, and associated with heightened emotioal arousal. It is only when the victim creates a meaningful narrative that the traumatic-event can be safely relocated into the past. To the victim, the narrative must make sense.
By being legally resposible to the victim`s plight, society sends a message to the predator that it will prosecute those who violate the innocent. This facilitates the physiological shift in the mind of the victim from that of shock and terror, to one of trust, safety, and belief.
Responses expressed by most family members suggest that the reversal of the narrative does not sit well.
