<h2> Truth and Reconciliation Commissions: Problems in Transitional Justice  and the Reconstruction of Identity</h2> <strong> <nobr>Kevin Avruch</nobr> </strong><p> <font size="-1"> George Mason University, <span id="em0"><a href="mailto:kavruch@gmu.edu">kavruch@gmu.edu</a></span><script type="text/javascript"><!--  var u = "kavruch", d = "gmu.edu"; document.getElementById("em0").innerHTML = '<a href="mailto:' + u + '@' + d + '">' + u + '@' + d + '<\/a>'//--></script>                 </font></p><p>     This article considers some of the main features of so-calledtruth  and reconciliation commissions, their history and structureand  their characteristic concerns with respect to their centraldilemmas,  including: how they grapple with notions of truth,justice,  liability, reconciliation, apology and forgiveness,and how  they address the need to support the "reconstruction"of  selves and identities in the wake of massive trauma and collectiveviolence.  A particular concern is with how such commissionsor related  tribunals engender what can be called a "one-to-many"dynamic,  in which they try to effect social reconciliation whilefocusing  attention, via testimony and story-telling, on thetraumas  and suffering of individual victims.</p><p>    </p><p><strong>Key Words:</strong> apology • conflict resolution •  identity • truth &amp; reconciliation commissions • violence</p><p>                                                                                                                                                                                      </p><p>      <font size="-2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif">   </font></p><font size="-2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Transcultural  Psychiatry, Vol. 47, No. 1,         33-49 (2010)<br>         DOI: 10.1177/1363461510362043<br>  </font><br>http://tps.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/47/1/33<br><br>Bu V.E. Wilson<br>Regulatory Institutions Network&nbsp; RegNet&nbsp; | The Australian National University | Canberra ACT 0200 | AUSTRALIA | Mob: +61&nbsp; 0 407 087 086<br> http://regnet.anu.edu.au<br><br>