In the face of the political violence and unrest, living standards in Zimbabwe are continually dropping. Mass human rights abuses accompany the dwindling economy and harsh political climates. These human rights abuses have had an extensive history in Zimbabwe and are known to causes clinically significant psychological disorders and social upheaval. Since 2000, the human rights abuses have also been directed at the white farming community. This paper explores the psychosocial effects of the political violence directed against two white women farmers. The two participants were interviewed by means of in-depth semi-structured interviews. Questionnaires were also administered, and there was researcher-participant observation. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and content analysis was used to make sense of the data, while a hermeneutic and phenomenological approach was taken to interpret the data. It was discovered that the lived-experiences of these two participants during the last three years in Zimbabwe have been profoundly stressful, and in many circumstances, traumatic. The continuous threat and pressure of the on-going political violence and unrest was noted to be especially stressful.

Introduction

History reflects that oppressive political regimes maintain their power through mass human rights abuses. Zimbabwe is no different. The country has an extensive history of "gross human rights violations" (Human Rights Forum, 2000, p. 1) particularly over the past three decades (Alexander, McGregor, & Ranger, 2000; Hill, 2003; Hammar, Raftopoulos & Jensen, 2003). Over these decades there has been a strikingly similar pattern in the tactics deployed in the methods of organized violence and torture (OVT). Organized violence is violence committed against civilians by an organised group of people who may or may not be Government or Government supported personnel. It may be defined as "violence which deliberately inflicts pain and suffering to achieve a political objective" (Human Rights Forum, 2003). Along with organised violence, torture is an extreme form of trauma that deliberately and strategically attacks the body, psyche and spirit of the individual; "it is a violent process that seeks to destroy all levels of meaning and replace this meaning with a state imposed definition of reality" (Chester & Jaranson, 1994, p. 1).

It is the view of the Human Rights Forum (2000) that the political upheaval over the last three decades; the Liberation War of the 1970s, the low intensity war of the 1980s in Matabeleland and the Midlands, and the deteriorating human rights climate in the 1990s, all form the context in which the current situation must be seen. Human rights abuses during the Liberation War prior to 1980 Independence, have been well documented, both at the time by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP), as well as subsequently by historians (Alexander, et al, 2000). The reports indicate occurrences of extra-judicial killings, physical torture, rape, mass terror, and disappearances (Human Rights Forum, 2000). From the pattern of OVT, the pungwes deserve particular attention. These night meetings were a combination of traditional ceremony with songs and dances, but were also occasions for ‘political re-education’, where ‘sellouts’ and political opponents were tortured and frequently executed (Hill, 2003; Stiff, 2000; Human Rights Forum, 2000). Fairly recent studies in the field of OVT in Zimbabwe have indicated that there are high rates of psychological disorders - such as Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, and somatisation disorders - in areas that suffered during this war (AMANI Trust, 2003). The Human Rights Forum (2000) indicate that 1 in 10 persons over the age of 30 was shown to have physical disability, psychological disorder, or both. There has been a strong pattern of human rights abuses, which seem aimed at bringing people not only physically, but also psycho-socially to their knees. These patterns have repeated themselves throughout the last three decades, and seem to be repeating themselves again along with the current political climate in Zimbabwe. Stiff (2000) explains that by the millennium, Zimbabweans were highly dissatisfied with the ruling party’s "waste and rampant corruption" (p. 15). They were disillusioned with Zimbabwe’s military involvement in the Congo - which provided commercial and economic benefits for many of Mugabe’s elites (Stiff, 2000). It seemed that the economy was at an all time low. Unemployment was at record levels and there were widespread shortages of diesel, petrol and basic food commodities such as bread (Buckle, 2001; Hill, 2003; Stiff, 2000). Mugabe then attempted to introduce a new constitution, which would have allowed him to continue in office as President for virtually the rest of his life. Opposition was mobilised by civic groups and a new political party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) emerged, led by popular trade union leader Morgan Tsvangirai. The electorate rejected the draft constitution in a referendum and Mugabe blamed his defeat on the country’s 60 000 whites, particularly the white farmers, whom he accused of supporting the MDC and influencing their workers to vote against the draft. Stiff (2000) tells of how Mugabe vengefully launched invasions led by ex-ZANLA ‘war veterans’ onto white owned farms. Re-establishing the mass human rights abuses of the past, these so-called ‘war veterans’ (so-called as many of them were not born at the time of the Liberation war) embarked on a campaign of murder, rape, beatings, torture and intimidation, combined with a forced political ‘re-education’ programme accompanied by the notorious pungwes. Despite these tactics, the MDC became the only opposition party since 1980 to win sufficient seats to provide a substantial parliamentary opposition (Stiff, 2000). On Mugabe’s orders, despite the election being over and in defiance of his own High Court, the farm invasions intensified over the next three years. From 2000 to 2002, human rights activists estimated that more than 200 000 people had been internally displaced (Blair, 2002) and there are more than three million Zimbabweans living in exile (Hill, 2003). Indeed, there is no doubt that Zimbabwe is experiencing a massive humanitarian crisis, perhaps the worst since independence in 1980 (AMANI Trust, 2002; Hammar, et al, 2003; Hill, 2003).

ORGANISED POLITICAL VIOLENCE IN THE FARMING COMMUNITY

There has been a relative dearth of comprehensive scientific reports on OVT in the farming sector, however organisations such as the AMANI Trust are rectifying this. The AMANI Trust (2002) has attempted to obtain direct evidence from the commercial farms, and has focussed a lot of its research on the effects upon commercial farm workers. The continuing violence has meant that farmers, farm workers and MDC supporters have had to flee their homes to escape this government supported harassment, assault and in the worst cases, death (AMANI Trust, 2002; Hill, 2003). It has been particularly difficult for the farm workers who have grown up on the farms with no other traditional homelands. The farms not only provided them with accommodation and employment, but medical care and schooling for their children as well (AMANI Trust, 2002). This has meant that many of them have been left homeless without any of the above-mentioned services. For the farm owners the loss of their farms has destroyed their livelihoods and their means of economic security (Buckle, 2001, 2002; Hammar, et al, 2003; Hill, 2003). On the farms listed for acquisition and settled by ‘war veterans’, the farm workers and farmers have been subjected to continual intimidation, theft of personal belongings, vandalism and destruction of their homes (Hill, 2003). The police and army, far from trying to protect the rights of the farmers and their workers, are often part of the problem, standing on the side when violence erupts and continuing to harass the displaced farmers and farm workers (AMANI Trust 2002; Hill, 2003). The AMANI Trust (2002) emphasize that the most serious long-term consequence of OVT is psychosocial stress.

STRESS AND COPING

The word ‘stress’ means different things in different contexts. Indeed, research in this field has been plagued with controversy (Chesney & Rosenman, 1983). Despite this fact, research has shown that in many respects, people and their bodies respond in a similar manner when exposed to demanding circumstances (Chesney & Rosenman, 1983; Payne, Horn, & Relf, 2000; Sapolsky, 1994; Selye, 1983). Stress then, could be seen as a "non-specific response of the body to any demand" (Selye, 1983, p. 2). Spielberger (1979) says stress refers to both the circumstances that place physical or psychological demands on an individual and to the emotional reactions experienced in these situations. It can be conceptualised as a relationship between demands (stressors) and the ability to deal with them, which occurs when demands exceed the ability to cope (Schlebusch, 1990). Stressors can be qualitatively divided into four categories: 1) Acute, time-limited stressors (e.g., being threatened in the street); 2) Stressor sequences (e.g., losing one’s home and then one’s job); 3) Chronic intermittent stressors (e.g., deadlines for journalists); and 4) Chronic stressors (e.g., living in a stressful environment) - both the psychological and physiological effects of each type of stressor are likely to differ (Marks, Murray, Evans & Willig, 2000).

Sapolsky (1994) claims that unpredictability makes stressors more stressful. For example, the unpredictability of when bombings would occur each night in the Nazi Blitzkrieg bombings of London, made the actual stressor a lot more stressful. The same unpredictability may occur in Zimbabwe where farmers get threats to their well being but are never sure when the attacks will take place, if at all. The stressfulness of loss of control and unpredictability share a common element; they cause arousal and vigilance (Sapolsky, 1994). And it seems evident that the effects of the sense of control on stress are highly dependent on context.

The definition of stress used in this paper is as an injury or threat to our physical or mental well being, a loss or a perception of a loss, or a challenge that we fear which is partially or totally beyond our control. Since the main emphasis of this paper is on the psychosocial impact of these farmers’ experiences, it may also help to note the complexity of ‘psychological stress’. Psychological stress can be defined in at least two different ways. It refers firstly to the dangerous, potentially harmful or unpleasant external situations or conditions that produce stress reactions, and secondly to internal thoughts, judgments, emotional states and physiological processes that are evoked by stressful stimuli (Spielberger, 1979).

Although there is variation in the specific content of psychologically oriented stress models, all of them begin with propositions that social and psychological sources of stress influence health outcomes (Avison & Gotlib, 1994; Chesney & Rosenman, 1983; Payne, et al, 2000; Sapolsky, 1994; Selye, 1983). Furthermore, several investigations have documented the important roles played by ongoing stressors or chronic strains in affecting both mental health outcomes and ones perceived social support. In this regard, where early work in this area focussed primarily on stressful life events (such as divorce or losing a job) and chronic strains as major sources of stress, more recent investigations have examined other dimensions of stressful experience such as the societal dimension in the form of OVT and racism (Hammar, et al, 2003; Hill, 2003). These sources of stress are potentially interactive in their effects on health (Avison & Gotlib, 1994).

Another central postulate of all stress process formulations is the existence of factors that mediate the experience of stressors and expression of symptoms of illness or dysfunction. These mediating factors either intervene between stress and illness or have interactive or buffering affects that moderate the impacts of stressors on distress and disorder. Social resources or social supports, coping resources or psychosocial resources, and coping responses or behaviour are three critical groups of mediating factors (Avison & Gotlib, 1994).

Lazarus and Folkman (1984) developed an approach, which may be deemed useful in this case as it takes account of the psychological factors in the appraisal and response to stress. However, the model has been criticised for taking little account of the social context, virtually ignoring physiological response, and placing heavy emphasis on cognitive processing (appraisal) which takes little account of ‘gut reaction’ or habit, therefore assuming that people are rational information processors (Payne, et al, 2000). For this reason, only the relevant aspects of the model will be brought to the fore. One important aspect of the Lazarus and Folkman (1984) model is the emphasis placed on coping. They differentiate between two coping styles: 1) Emotion focussed coping - where the objective is to reduce feelings of distress associated with the threat, and 2) Problem-focussed coping - where the individual actively seeks ways to mitigate or deal with the threat. It has been proposed that problem-focussed coping results in better outcomes as the threat is confronted and dealt with, but there may be certain situations (as is the case in Zimbabwe) where problems can’t be avoided or confronted and emotion-focussed coping is a more adaptive response (Payne, et al, 2000). Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) model envisages stress and coping responses as being influenced by a number of factors, including usual coping style, personality factors, tangible resources, social support, and concurrent life stressors. The latter three factors are important consideration points when looking at the situation in Zimbabwe as there has been a grave impact on people’s tangible resources and social support, and there seems to be an abundance of concurrent life stressors that accompany any one particular stressor at any given time. It is worth noting that a stressor can also be the anticipation of something happening, thus the stress response can be mobilised not only in response to physical or psychological insults, but also in expectation of them (Sapolsky, 1994).

Chronic stress

A growing body of research attests to the substantial impact of persistent life strains on both the psychological and social level (Avison & Gotlib, 1994; Chesney & Rosenman, 1983). Chronic strains fall into broad areas (McLean & Link, 1994), the two important areas for this paper are: a) chronic strains that derive from societal responses to characteristics of a person that include him or her as a class of persons, such as racism or sexism; and b) chronic community wide strains that may operate at an ecological level, such as chronic strain of residence in a high crime area or residence near an environmental threat. Frequency of such daily hassles (such as waiting eight hours in a petrol queue in Zimbabwe, the average waiting time reported during the fuel crisis) has also been considered to be a source of chronic strain.

Long-term stress affects people on various levels. It can affect people on a physical, psychological, social and spiritual level (Payne, et al, 2000; Parkinson, 1993; Sapolsky, 1994). Psychosocial stress is displayed by way of changes in the emotional, cognitive and behavioural characteristics of the individual and in changes in their relationships to others (Payne, et al, 2000). Emotional problems include depression, anxiety, hyper-vigilance, and anger (Chesney & Rosenman, 1983; Payne, et al, 2000; Sapolsky, 1994). One of the defining features of depression is a loss of pleasure, otherwise known as anhedonia. Cognitive changes include lack of concentration and attention; preoccupation; helplessness or hopelessness, and feelings of distance and detachment (Payne, et al, 2000). Lastly, behavioural changes include irritability and the expression of anger, hostility, suspiciousness and distrust; restlessness; crying, tearfulness and sighing; and social withdrawal - remaining isolated and rejecting social groups and friendship (Payne, et al, 2000; Sapolsky, 1994). People may also feel a sense of unreality and disconnectedness from the world, and change may be seen as anxiety provoking as it may require learning new skills (Chester & Jaranson, 1994). Sapolsky (1994) claims that certain features dominate as psychosocially stressful: loss of control and of unpredictability within certain social contexts; a loss of outlets for frustration; a loss of sources of social support; and a perception that life is worsening.

The psychological damage resulting from uncontrollable, terrifying life events is a great area of interest at present due to a heightened concern about the recognition of the psychiatric consequences of political persecution (van der Kolk, 1987). Although the nature of a trauma, the age of the victim, predisposing personality traits, and community response all have an important effect on ultimate posttraumatic adaptation, the core features of posttraumatic syndrome are fairly constant across these variables (van der Kolk, 1987). This has led to the scientific categorisation of posttraumatic disorders in the American Psychological Association’s (2000) DSM-IV-TR (Diagnostical and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). The DSM-IV-TR defines PTSD as: "The development of certain characteristic symptoms following a psychologically distressing event which is outside the range of normal human experience" (p. 424). This response has been described as phasic reliving and denial, with alternating intrusive response (hyperactivity, explosive aggressive outbursts, startle responses, intrusive recollection in the form of nightmares and flashbacks) and numbing responses (emotional constriction, social isolation, retreat from family obligations, anhedonia, and a sense of estrangement) (Joseph, et al, 1997; Sapolsky, 1994; van der Kolk, 1987). The presence of these symptoms after a traumatic event may or may not occur, depending on the individual, but if they do, it is considered to be normal. Joseph, et al (1997) also advocate a perspective which views the symptoms of PTSD as continuous with normal patterns of adaptation. Along with psychological numbing, ‘learned helplessness’ may present itself as a defense following repeated events that are highly stressful or traumatic (Sapolsky, 1994; van der Kolk, 1987). Learned helplessness shares many features with depression regarding motivational problems and people in whom the effects of trauma become ingrained often develop a chronic sense of helplessness and victimisation (van der Kolk, 1987).

Joseph, et al (1997) have taken a psychosocial perspective when understanding adaptations to a wide range of traumatic life stressors. They believe it is not just what happens to people that is important, but also what it means to those people in relation to their sense of who they are, the world they live in and what their expectations are for the future. Exposure to traumatic events can challenge the whole meaning of a person’s life and his or her sense of purpose. One person might construe an event as a lucky escape from which some benefit has been derived, whereas another person might construe the same event as a catastrophic misfortune, which proves that life is meaningless.

Loss and bereavement

Although loss and bereavement are generally thought of when a person has passed away, it is suggested that we think of the loss of a farm as a loss which would require a bereavement process, whereby the people involved would have to go through the various stages of grief. Bereavement is associated with more severe and chronic disturbance (Parkinson, 1993). It can be seen as the loss of something or someone significant, which typically triggers a reaction known as grief, which is manifest in a set of behaviours called mourning (Payne, et al, 2000). Grief has been defined in terms of mental pain, distress and deep or violent sorrow: bitter feelings of regret for something lost (Payne, et al, 2000). The function of grief is to adjust to the loss so that society and individuals can go on functioning in spite of the change the loss has caused. In sum, it can be seen as the set of responses to significant loss, which provoked the need to adapt (Payne, et al, 2000).

Parkinson (1993) discusses how a common response to a crisis, such as the crisis of losing one’s home and farm, can manifest in one of two ways. One response is that things that were once very important become irrelevant. These may be things such as material possessions that were lost during the crisis or traumatic event and the person now finds them irrelevant for survival purposes, and therefore no longer important. The other response is the complete opposite of this. Things that were perhaps not very important or were taken for granted can assume a value seemingly out of proportion to their worth. According to Parkinson (1993), those who lose their homes often exhibit this type of response, where buildings, toys, shoes and other objects can be the focus of their emotions. Breaking this powerful sense of attachment to objects can evoke very strong feelings of loss.

Windle (1995) proposes that it is also possible to feel a deep sense of grief for environmental loss. Since loss (of the farms) have often been traumatic, the grief in these cases may be what Jacobs (1999) called ‘traumatic grief’. The term ‘traumatic’ refers to the phenomenology of the disorder, and it implies separation distress and traumatic distress. Parkinson (1993) notes the relationship between loss and trauma by saying "the stresses and reactions produced by traumatic reactions are similar to those of bereavement and grief. This is because experiencing traumatic incidents means loss, and loss is an inevitable consequence of human life..." (Parkinson, 1993, p. 1). Loss impacts individuals in terms of physical, psychological, social, sexual and spiritual functioning, and is therefore related to the subsequent health and well being of the individual (Payne, et al, 2000). In terms of the social functioning loss also impacts family systems and disrupts normal social relationships, thus potentially disintegrating social support networks. It is common for people to experience overwhelming feelings of isolation following a loss, even when surrounded by others (Payne, et al, 2000). Anger, hostility and guilt are common emotions following loss, and anger may be expressed more generally towards an ‘unfair God’ (Jacobs, 1999; Payne, et al, 2000). Initially after the loss there might be reduced emotional expression and heightened awareness or numbness (Jacobs, 1999; Payne, et al, 2000).

THE EXPERIENCE OF TWO DISPLACED WHITE WOMEN ZIMBABWEAN FARMERS

The aim of this paper was to determine the impact of the organised political violence as experienced by two displaced white women farmers presently living in Zimbabwe. These women were accessed through social contacts or networking in the country. Data for this paper was obtained through the use of a) three in-depth semi-structured interviews per participant (Kvale, 1996; Seidman, 1991), and b) a self-report questionnaire (available on request). Both data collection methods solicited information regarding the impact of the organised political violence in terms of the organised displacement of white farmers. Data was also acquired through researcher-participant observation (Terre Blanche & Durrheim, 1999). Emphasis was placed on a qualitative and, in particular, phenomenological approach. The data collected was coded, categorised and summarised by way of content analysis (Terre Blanche & Durrheim, 1999) and third-person synoptic summary. These categories were then arranged into themes and the main findings were interpreted. Interpretation of texts was carried out in a hermeneutic fashion (Packer & Addison, 1989). Participants have given permission for their real names to be used.

Kerry Kays’ background

Kerry Kay, well known for her work with JAG (Justice for Agriculture) and with HIV/AIDS sufferers, lived on Chipesa Farm in the small farming town of Marondera, just outside Harare, before the farm invasions began. She lived, with her family, in a house that she and Iain (her husband) had recently built. Her husband Ian grew up on the farm. However, after the launch of the farm invasions, the Kays’ new house was broken into and vandalised, while precious goods were stolen. Kerry recounts how the invaders did "disgusting things" like wiping "excrement all over the house walls". The house was looted a second time after the Kays’ had restored the damage. This came as a big shock to Kerry as she did not think it would ever happen again. The Kays’ received death threats from the ‘war veterans’ who claimed they would kill Ian if the family did not move off the farm. It was not long before a group of youths were sent to kill Ian. Fortunately, and despite their intent, they only succeeded in beating him severely. Kerry says this was awful for the children who saw their father in hospital soon after he had been beaten, "covered in blood from head to toe and smelling of blood". Kerry’s adopted son was also badly beaten, and his guard was beaten to death in front of him. Kerry has also been briefly detained in prison for speaking out against the government- sanctioned atrocities that have been committed against her family, as well as the families of the farming community. The Kays’ now live in Harare. They still live at risk, however, as Kerry’s ongoing courage and participation with JAG has placed her under deep suspicion of the government and ZANU-PF. Kerry recounted an incident where she was called at work and told that there was a truck-load of men (dressed in army outfits) jumping over the wall of her Harare house. The men interrogated the maid about the Kays’ whereabouts. Bravely, the maid did not reveal any information about the Kays’.

Cathy Buckle’s background

Much of Cathy Buckle’s story, another displaced white farmer, has been told in her books ‘African Tears’ (2001) and ‘Beyond Tears’ (2002). However, since the publication of her books, Cathy has not ceased to live under extreme circumstances of stress. Having lost her farm, Cathy now lives in a house in Marondera. She finds living in this small town highly stressful. There are strict government-imposed laws within the town, which, according to Cathy, makes it very isolated. These laws include the banning of independent news papers. Since she still openly writes about the situation in Zimbabwe, Cathy feels quite afraid when she and her young 10 year ole son go out in public. She has had nerve-wracking incidences with the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) and has had threats that her house was going to be petrol bombed. She fears for the safety of her son and rides to school with him every day to ensure nothing happens to him. She finds it incredibly stressful to live with the lack of fuel and the ever-increasing inflation rates, now standing at 600%. Also, she feels that the people of Zimbabwe have been paralysed with fear by Mugabe and his regime. This has prevented them from speaking out, and since Cathy is one of the only people who still does, she finds life in Zimbabwe lonely. Cathy feels she has no where to turn and feels if she ever went to the police for help they would arrest her straight away for being who she is. Thus, Cathy also permanently feels threatened in Zimbabwe. Her reactions to this are also recounted below along with Kerry Kays’ responses.

Aside from the everyday stressors of living in amidst political turmoil and a collapsing economy, the participants identified some major stressors which were affecting them at the time. Kerry felt that one of the greatest things that has come up with all the farmers and their families is betrayal. This betrayal was felt towards the government that, as Kerry says, ‘welcomed them to stay in". Kerry also recounts how she felt betrayed by the people they had cared for; the youths that had attempted to murder Ian had been youths he and Kerry had previously looked after. She also feels that they’re often being "betrayed by the very people that should assist them ... the forces of law and order - have now become the perpetrators as opposed to [helping]". Another major stressor Kerry reported were divisions in the farming community - "the farmers that were being targeted and wouldn’t deal with ZANU- PF - wouldn’t downsize, wouldn’t pay them off - as opposed to the farmers that were making deals". Kerry claims they felt betrayed by those farmers who "did not stick up for what was right". In times of violence and unrest on their farms, Kerry and Cathy said another major stressor was a lack of protection or back-up: "You can’t phone the police - they’re not going to help you". Despite the willingness of neighbours and friends to help, Kerry felt reluctant to call on them in case they compromised their safety or aggravated the situation. Kerry reports that a major stressor for displaced farmers is a lack of focus - "Not having something to focus one’s energy on". Their stress is made worse by a lack of trust for others; Cathy says, "Trust has completely broken up. You can’t trust anybody. And that’s tragic". Both Kerry and Cathy felt that another of their major stressors is the lack of humanity. Cathy told of how it hurt her to see "these youths - Green-bombers as we call them - youngsters - 16, 18, 20 years old, beat on women that are old enough to be their grandmothers. Its hurts so much to think we’re breeding another generation of racism in this country; racial hatred not just black against white, but black against black". Kerry said that one of the worst things for her has been seeing this lack of humanity when seeing what the ‘war veterans’ have done to animals, both domestic and wild. According to Kerry and Cathy, one of the worst things for the women, or mothers, in this situation, has been the effect it has had on their children. Kerry claimed that as a mother, "what hurts your children hurts you twice as much". Another major stress factor was losing their homes. Kerry said, "to have your home looted and trashed is such a violation of the sanctity of your home". She felt the lootings of her house affected her very badly because, as she claimed, "being a woman, a house is her whole life".

Four levels were discovered along which the long-term stress affected the participants: physiologically, psychologically, socially and spiritually. The findings are described below.

Physical level

Both Kerry and Cathy suffered from physical disturbances: hormonal and chemical disturbances; dental problems, increased substance use; loss of libido; weight loss or weight increase; chest pains; disturbed sleep patterns and increased fatigue; and cognitive defects. With regards to hormonal and chemical disturbances, Kerry referred to experiences of excessive adrenaline rushes, kick-started by such things as "reading a newspaper article or seeing a headline as you drive past, or hearing something that will trigger an emotion." Cathy suggested that the stress may have caused the onset of early menopause; she stated "I’m 45 years old but I’m well-well into menopause".

Dental problems were reported to arise from clenching, which resulted in painful jaws and teeth, as well as teeth rotting or falling out as a result of stress. Participants also reported an increase in drinking and smoking. Cathy admitted to smoking more as a result of the stress. Aside from nicotine and alcohol, Kerry has used Prozac and Amatriptolene.

Psychological level

The participants felt that it was the "ongoing pressure" kept up by the oppressive regime that has had the biggest role in bringing them down psychologically. Emotional disturbances such as depression, anger and hatred, loss and bereavement, environmental grief and loss in self-confidence were reported by participants. Cognitive disturbances were also present. Kerry claims that impaired concentration and short-term memory loss are big problems for her. She also admitted to engaging in what she called "frenetic behaviour" when in an anxious state or in anticipation of a stressful event. Cathy felt that three days out of seven she felt seriously depressed and had serious doubts about her and her son’s lives in Zimbabwe. Kerry and members of her family have taken Prozac to avoid "going all the way down" and getting clinical depression. Kerry feels that a sense of helplessness and hopelessness accompanies the depressed feelings.

Loss and bereavement were major psychological factors that came up. Kerry explained how "farmers losing their farms is not just like someone losing their business or being thrown out of their business ... it’s a way of life. Its where your kids were born, its where you were married. It’s where most of your husbands grew up. Some of the farms are 3^rd and 4^th generation. So, it’ been traumatic. It’s a huge bereavement. It’s an incredible loss in their lives, the loss of their farms ... and they need to go through all the stages - the denial, the anger, the pain, the anxiety and the huge emotions and heartache".

Both participants related to having felt very insecure over the last three years. Kerry said that it has been particularly bad with the men, as they have often lost their role as breadwinner - a man has lost what "he’s worked for his whole life and probably three generations before him and what he’s working for, for his kid’s education for one of them to come back on the farm ... that is all taken away with the stroke of a pen".

Social level

The manifestations of stress on a social level were rather ambiguous. On the one hand a greater sense of community resulted from ‘common suffering’ and families felt they could not have pulled through without each other, while on the other hand there seemed to be a loss of community through lack of trust or state imposed isolation. This was accompanied by evidence of family discord. Domestic family discord seems to have come about, because, as Kerry and Cathy related "you always take your stress out on those closest to you". As mentioned, Kerry admitted that the stress has affected her marital relationship as well. Aside from irritability and lashing out, loss of libido is considered to be a possible contribution towards marital discord. Cathy also found that she was fighting a lot more with her mother, her only family left in Zimbabwe. It seems that the nomadic lifestyle many farming families have had to endure, has affected them - Kerry explains, "You rent a house and then you move from place to place, not having a set home" and this can be very unsettling, particularly for children.

Cathy feels that her social situation is "weird" because on the one hand she is being admired, and on the other hand avoided for fear of being seen talking to someone who speaks out. This leaves her with a sense of loneliness. Also, living in Marondera seems to have been rather isolating - "the thing is this is a very small town. We’re completely closed off. There are no independent papers or anything". The lack of fuel has also resulted in less mobility and therefore inability to socialise or attend social functions. Due to a lack of trust, however, people (like Cathy) are wary when going out. Despite feelings of social alienation or isolation, there is also a sense of growing social cohesion amongst those that are suffering by way of this oppressive regime. People, like Cathy and Kerry, feel they can talk to complete strangers as though they have always known them, because everyone is in the same boat. This is often due to the fact that they all have common topic of conversations: politics, the price of bread, fuel shortages, atrocities committed on farms, and so on.

Spiritual level

Two distinct attitudes regarding spirituality were discovered. The first: "Spiritually, God has planned what has happened to Zimbabwe. It has grown people spiritually." (Kerry). The second: "God has deserted us." (Cathy)

Kerry, felt that they would not have coped if they were spiritually bereaved, and have found that their churches have been a vital support during times of stress. Cathy feels that the church has betrayed the country by not speaking out against the current situation. She says "you’ve got the Anglican Bishop openly supporting the President. You’ve got the Apostolics openly allowing themselves to be used by the government. So I’m utterly appalled by what goes on in the church in this country in this crisis". She feels they should be giving the country guidance and leadership but they are either "towing the line or they’re terrified".

The participants, particularly Kerry, felt they had been subject to psychological torture. Aside from threats, physical assaults and imprisonment, methods carried out when looting or besieging the houses (such as smearing excrement on the walls), seeing what had been done to animals and others, all served to add to psychological breakdown. Kerry says that when you look back at the events which have taken place, you can see that they have "smashed, maybe not completely broken, but they’ve smashed thousands of people .... millions of people psychologically ... from this pressure being kept up the whole time".

‘War veterans’ looted the Kays’ house for the second time on the same day they beat up their adopted son and beat his guard to death in front of him. Kerry said this incident absolutely "flattened" her son. Kerry also recounted a story of when they were under siege (i.e., barricaded in their house) and ‘war veterans’ forced the farm workers into the Kays’ garden and forced them to "look happy" and sing liberation songs. This was psychologically degrading both for the workers and for the Kays’. Cathy claims that, through psychological torture, "Mugabe is paralysing people with fear".

One symptom of Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that came through quite clearly was numbness. Kerry said that apart from the physical injury, the first thing she noticed about lain was that his eyes were shut down. She says she has seen this in a lot of farmers, where they shut down for at least six weeks. Nightmares and flashbacks were also reported. Kerry admitted to numbing herself to avoid being tearful. Despite this, flashbacks would cause increased tearfulness. Kerry claimed, "You know, we’re not living under close threat. But if somebody comes and just opens the door you get a hell of a fright". Panic attacks were also reported.

Participants generally felt that they coped with the situation by taking it one day at a time, although they acknowledged feeling at times that they could not cope. The main themes that came up under coping were: defenses and individual coping responses; social and / or societal support; medication and counselling and religion. The two main themes are recounted below.

Defenses and individual responses

Cathy says she is a workaholic and lives on her nerves. She works to try and get it out of her system, "I mean for me writing the two books was just getting it all out of my system. And just seeing it in black and white makes it real. And once you can see it, you know it is real. You have to accept that it has actually happened to you". She claims that you also have to keep readjusting your standards in order to cope with the dwindling resources and situation. Kerry says that to "move on in a new life, however it is, getting jobs - it doesn’t matter - its survival". She says one has to be able to "shut the doors" around your stressful experiences, because it is not possible to cope with all the thoughts and emotions at once. Kerry claimed honestly that she is "shut off" about her home. She says she does not allow herself to think about it, because if she does she cries. She tells people, "If it helps you survive, close it off for the time being, but also understand that you need to revisit it. Because you get all these triggers and suddenly you just well up with tears. You know, I’ll walk into somebody’s home and see the same tiles as I had in my kitchen and I’ll just think, Oh my God! .... My beautiful home! And then you just close that off again". The way Kerry copes when she is under threat is she starts cleaning. As mentioned earlier, she calls her behaviour ‘Frenetic behaviour’ and she says, "you’d sort of think, ok, what do we do now? - you get everything in order in the house. You’d rush around closing all the curtains and the windows, lock the doors, see the maid’s inside, her little boy’s safe ... I couldn’t just sit and wait for something to happen". Cathy claims that "what you have to do is find the good things ... whether it is the avocado tree or the sunrise or ... it sounds crazy, but you actually find yourself hanging onto those things. And just the simple things ... give you hope for that day".

Social and/or societal support

Kerry has helped farmers by finding out how they are coping, and if they are not, she goes and visits them to talk. Apparently this is the case with quite a few people within the farming community, and there seems to be a good network of social support in the community. Cathy mentions how people who have faced traumas, and have chosen to leave the country, often really battle due to the lack of social support from people who understand how it feels to lose your farm. Cathy and Kerry also feel that the suffering experienced by a large number of the population has "levelled the playing fields" between groups that had previously had little to do with each other which has meant that the social support network is potentially broader.

On a societal level, organisations like Justice for Agriculture (JAG) have given farmers a focus. Kerry claims that "once you give people hope and something to focus on, and it only needs to be a small thing, they start to move forward". JAG requires that farmers do their "lost document" (a list of ) everything they have lost. Kerry said "an interesting thing emotionally and psychologically about this lost document, is that it’s taking you back through everything ... and all those emotions come flooding back ... it’s a way of re-visiting those doors, re-opening those doors, dealing with it again and crying ... and that’s also a way of healing". She notes how with JAG, you can give farmers something specific to do - a target, where they feel they will get restitution, because its going to go through the courts of law eventually.

Talking to a good friend about it is also seen as a vital coping method. Kerry claims you have to make a time and a place where you can let go of those emotions. As mentioned however, Cathy feels very lonely at times since people are afraid to be seen in public with someone who openly speaks out against the government. Social activities are also made difficult by lack of fuel.

DISCUSSION

The outcome of this study has highlighted the point made by Cathy Buckle (2001, 2002) that the loss of farms has the potential to destroy the livelihood and economic security of farm families. Both Kerry and Cathy were exposed to, in greater or lesser forms, organised violence and psychological torture as described by the AMANI Trust (2002, 2003) and the Human Rights Forum (2000, 2003). Among the forms of torture and harassment described by these organisations, the following forms were experienced by the participants and their families: physical assaults; psychological torture and ill treatment; theft of personal belongings and vandalism of homes; and witnessing violence or torture. Kerry’s husband and adopted son were both physically assaulted. Her adopted son also witnessed the torture and murder of his farm guard. The Kays’ house was vandalised and looted twice, with important documents and valuables stolen. The types of psychological torture experienced were threats against person (both Kerry and Cathy), abuse with excrement (on the walls of Kerry’s house), and menaces against own life and family (both Kerry and Cathy). As mentioned, studies into the impact of political violence indicate that there are both psychological and social stresses. The psychosocial effects of the political violence of the two participants will be discussed in the paragraphs that follow.

STRESS AND COPING

As indicated, if stress is viewed as injury or threat to our physical or mental well being, as a loss or a perception of a loss, or a challenge that we fear is partially or totally beyond our control, then it is fair to say that the participants have been suffering from intense levels of stress. Kerry and Cathy each experienced threats to their physical and mental well being. In addition, they experienced multiple losses in the process of losing their belongings as well as their farms, farm animals, and livelihoods. The loss of their farms was subjectively rated as ‘traumatic’. This point is illustrated by Kerry in her statement: "So, it’s been traumatic. It’s a huge bereavement. It's an incredible loss ..." The challenge of losing their farms was also totally beyond their control. This serves to intensify the level of the stressor and as mentioned by Sapolsky (1994), unpredictability and loss of control cause arousal and vigilance. This arousal and vigilance was noted in Kerry, where she said she would engage in "frenetic behaviour" when there was a pending threat. Indeed, a stressor can be seen as the anticipation of an event (Sapolsky, 1994) and both Cathy and Kerry had numerous occasions where they anticipated something bad happening, after receiving threats of petrol bombings and the like. Cathy claimed that her anxiety, and therefore her levels of arousal and vigilance, had almost reached a state of "paranoia".

Acute stressors would have occurred when Kerry and Cathy were faced with threats from invaders. Stressor sequences can be seen where the invasion of a farm carries with it a sequence of stressful events. This can be seen where the Kays’ house was looted once, looted again, they lost the farm, lain was badly beaten and then so was their son. Chronic intermittent stressors are inherent in the deteriorating climate in Zimbabwe, where the prices and availability of commodities keep fluctuating, political violence flares and dissipates, and so on. Kerry recounted how there would be "periods of normality in one’s life" and then another extremely stressful event would occur and one would "have another huge crash", she described the long-term stress of farmers as being "like an ICU monitor, flickering up and down, up and down". Chronic stressors involve living in a stressful environment, and this is definitely a predominant stressor in the case of Kerry and Cathy, who both lived under constant threat and "continual intimidation" (AMANI Trust, 2002). Other major stressors mentioned by the participants were lack of protection or backup and a lack of trust for others. It was mentioned that security forces ignore basic rights of civilians and are often part of the problem (AMANI Trust, 2002; Blair, 2002; Buckle, 2001, 2002; Hill, 2003; Stiff, 2000). This was confirmed by both Cathy’s and Kerry’s statements, where Cathy said the police were "the last place" she would go and Kerry said that "You can’t phone the police, they’re not going to help you." A profound lack of trust is said to be part of continuous traumatic stress syndrome and it is interesting to see that it came up as one of the major stressors among the participants, Cathy in particular.

As indicated earlier, psychologically oriented stress models all begin with the idea that sources of stress ‘influence health outcomes’. The following kinds of stress were observed in both participants: insomnia or changes in normal sleeping patterns; increased fatigue; loss of appetite; and increased substance use. Kerry claimed, "Everyone is smoking more, everyone is drinking more," and Cathy’s response to a question on the effects of stress was, "I smoke, I swear ..." In addition to nicotine and alcohol, Kerry indicated using prescription drugs, such as Prozac and Amatriptolene - "I used Prozac for eight months ... and I am still taking Amatriptolene". Psychosomatic complaints (chest pains) were only noted with Kerry. Gastro-intestinal changes were not mentioned by either of the participants. Hormonal and chemical changes were also reported, where Kerry referred to excessive adrenaline rushes and Cathy claimed that the stress had caused the early onset of menopause.

Over-secretion of stress hormones is said to be harmful (Sapolsky, 1994), and may, as Kerry suggested, serve to decrease or suppress other much-needed chemicals like serotonin. Although not listed in the literature, Cathy told of her dental problems, she said, "My teeth are all rotting and they’re all falling out [from the stress]". Kerry also mentioned teeth problems resulting from clenching the jaw during times of tension. Lastly Sapolsky (1994) noted that sex hormones are suppressed during times of stress. This may explain a loss of libido in both men and women, and may also explain the early onset of Cathy’s menopause. Both participants indicated a loss of libido. As indicated, psychological distress is displayed by way of changes in the emotional, cognitive and behavioural characteristics of the individual (Payne, 2000). Depression and anger were reported by both participants. Cathy claimed she felt depressed "three days out of seven." Although hyper-vigilance and anxiety were only implicitly referred to in describing events (e.g., Kerry’s ‘frenetic behaviour’ and Cathy’s self-rated ‘paranoia’) it was observed in the mannerisms of participants. Thus, it could be said they exhibited, and admitted to, behaviour changes. Cognitive changes were noted with Kerry where she said her short-term memory and concentration had been badly effected by the stress. On a spiritual level, while some may find solace in religion or spirituality, others express anger towards an ‘unfair God’ (Payne, et al, 2000). This dichotomy of responses was noted in the two participants. While Kerry felt that "God has planned what had happened to Zimbabwe" to deepen people’s spirituality, Cathy felt betrayed by God. She also felt betrayed by the church. She said she was "absolutely appalled by the church" and their lack of action during the crisis. Churches may be seen as forms of community and social support, but people may feel angry or let down by their religion, and loss of faith may result if their church does not provide the anticipated help or support. This describes how Cathy felt and she said she would not feel so spiritually bereaved if the church had done something more during the country’s crisis.

Social support is said to be important in buffering the effects of stress, as well as the development of stress disorders (Sapolsky, 1994). However, some people find that social support is not very helpful and may still feel very isolated after particularly stressful or traumatic events (Payne, et al, 2000). While Cathy felt socially isolated and "lonely" due to her outspokenness, both Kerry and Cathy seemed amazed by the level of social support from ordinary people and even strangers. They felt they could chat to strangers about almost anything, whereas before the crisis this was not necessarily the case. However, deep feelings of distrust sabotaged complete senses of social or community support and Cathy related how she had to exercise caution when going out or talking politics in public. On a community or societal level, Kerry claimed that JAG (Justice for Agriculture) was "helping give displaced farmers some focus". This was seen as beneficial on an emotional level as they had to deal with past experiences by drawing up "lost documents" to report what had happened on their farms.

Lazarus & Folkman’s (1984) model is useful for its emphasis on coping. Where Kerry and Cathy felt they had no control, they coped by focussing on positive things in their lives or by shutting negative thoughts out. Cathy said it was "just the small things ... that would give you hope for that day." She also said she constantly made and re-adjusted her boundaries regarding her needs or comfort in order to cope - "so you constantly readjust your boundaries". Problem-focussed coping can be seen in the results where medication and counselling are concerned. Both Cathy and Kerry went to counselling and said it helped them cope. As previously mentioned, Kerry also took medication to help her through her most stressful times. Emotion-focussed coping was also indicated by means of social support and finding solace in religion. As mentioned, only Kerry found that religion helped her to cope. It seems that both Cathy and Kerry were active in their coping styles; Cathy through her writing, Kerry through her community outreach Both Kerry and Cathy appeared to be hardy and seemingly had good senses of self-efficacy. However, their perceived control of the situation was hindered by the inherent lack of control over the whole situation itself. Both reported having had feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, although this is not the learned helplessness (Sapolsky, 1994). Tangible resources would have been affected by the dwindling economy and fuel and food crises, thus making it harder to cope. Cathy said that "when you see infrastructure collapsing around you" you start to feel hopeless about the future. Social support networks seemed to serve well as a method of coping, but were marred by distrust as well as "a loss of community" in a widely traumatised population. Lastly, there seemed to be a vast array of concurrent life stressors at any given time in Kerry’s and Cathy’s situations. This would also make it harder for them to cope, as the stress would keep compounding. Stress is less severe if there is a suitable outlet (Sapolsky, 1994). Family and friends were seen as mediums for outlets of frustrations and Kerry said, "You always take things out on those you love the most". Cathy also admitted that her mother and her were "always at each other". Perhaps this outlet serves as an emotion focussed coping method, diffusing emotions by displaced aggression.

Feelings of loss and bereavement were prominent. If as it is defined, bereavement is the loss of something significant and triggers feelings of grief, then the loss of a farm involves bereavement and grief. Kerry described the loss of their farm as traumatic. It might then make sense to call the grief she and her family experienced in losing their farm as ‘traumatic grief’ (Jacobs, 1999). This idea is further supported by Parkinson (1993) who noted that traumatic incidents are similar in many ways to experiences of bereavement

It has been noted that the effects of political violence may elicit posttrauma responses, however there is controversy surrounding what diagnosis these responses fall under. Disorders like Acute Stress Disorder would be ruled out in this situation as it lasts for a maximum of four weeks and participants were interviewed well after their experiences of their most traumatic events. There is, however, a possibility for Adjustment Disorders, which refer to the states of subjective and emotional disturbances arising in a period of adaptation to a significant life change or to the consequences of a stressful life event (Joseph, et al, 1997). Both Kerry and Cathy admitted to having experienced depressive moods, anxiety, worry and a feeling of an inability to cope. Cathy felt it was hard to plan ahead and said it was "hard to see past tomorrow". She found it difficult to continue in the present situation and seemed to wonder whether she was going to be able to do so. She said, "three days out of seven you have serious, serious doubts". Neither Cathy nor Kerry reported any disability in the performance of daily routines.

One might expect to find Kerry and Cathy as diagnosable with PTSD. However, it is not conclusive that they suffered from PTSD although they report some of the symptoms of PTSD. Of the intrusive responses, the following symptoms were reported by the participants: hyperactivity, startle responses and intrusive recollection in the form of nightmares and flashbacks. Kerry said the flashbacks were "terrible and were hard for people to deal with because they couldn’t understand why they would just suddenly well up with tears". Explosive aggressive outbursts, another intrusive response, were not reported by Cathy or Kerry. Of the numbing responses, emotional constriction was noted in both participants, while social isolation and a sense of estrangement were only reported by Cathy. Retreat from family obligations and anhedonia were not reported by either of the participants. On the contrary, they kept to their family obligations and found pleasure in the "small things". Cathy recounted how she would find these small things whilst cycling to school with her son, and the things she would see along the road would give her hope for that day. The presence of the symptoms listed under the intrusive and numbing responses may or may not occur following traumatic events, depending on the individual.

Associated symptoms of PTSD - substance use, cognitive impairment, health deficits and changes in social relationships - seem also to have been found. As mentioned earlier, both participants admitted to some sort of substance use, either in the form of nicotine and alcohol, or in the form of prescription drugs like Prozac. Kerry admitted, as mentioned, to experiencing cognitive impairment with short-term memory loss and inability to concentrate.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

It has become clear that the OVT tactics used over the last three decades have served the purpose of bringing people physically, socially and psychologically to their knees. Clinically significant psychological disorders such as PTSD, depression and somatic complaints have been found in the adult populations that were subjected to OVT during the liberation struggle, as well as the low level war in Matabeleland and the Midlands (Alexander, et al, 2000; Hill, 2003; Human Rights Forum, 2000, 2003).

From these two participants accounts, it can be concluded that the series of events in their lives over the last three years, involving exposure to OVT, has been intensely stressful. In addition to repeated incidences of psychological torture and threats to their well being, they have had to deal with high inflation rates, shortages of food and fuel, along with their standards of living dropping perpetually. Aside from the loss and plunder of their homes, it is suggested that the most significant stressors they have had to face since the year 2000, is constant threat and pressure kept up by the intimidation. The unpredictability of the political situation (Hill, 2003) and therefore the lack of control these two participants had over what happened to them, would have substantially increased the intensity of these stressors (Sapolsky, 1994).

Copyright: The Authors

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Zelda G Knight*and Kerry Wallace
Department of Psychology
Rhodes University
6140
Grahamstown
SOUTH AFRICA
* To whom correspondence should be sent

E-mail z.knight@ru.ac.za