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All four manuscripts in this issue of the Studies are devoted to international social work practice-a welcome first in the journal's 73-year history. Three manuscripts report on initiatives that attempt (1) to help individuals recover from gross and traumatizing violations of their human rights, and/or (2) to reconstruct the social fabric in countries that have endured decades of violent internecine warfare. Needless to say, achieving either one, let alone both of these goals, is very difficult. As two of the papers point out, some policies that seem effective in promoting national reintegration may actually re-traumatize and exploit survivors. The fourth manuscript, which also addresses issues of "truth," describes an innovative, extensively evaluated approach for treating clients with acute psychotic symptoms.
South Africa's "Truth and Reconciliation Commission" is a remarkable expression of faith in the reparative potential of the human spirit. It reflects the belief that victims (and/or surviving family members) can benefit from meeting face to face with the very people who have victimized them, in a context where everyone is encouraged to speak truthfully about the brutal violence they have experienced or perpetrated. The process aims to restore dignity to the victims, bring perpetrators to conscience, and reconstitute "the moral order of society"-a "tall order," by any measure (Walaza, 2003). The underlying assumption (hope), carefully examined in papers by Walaza and Smyth, is that speaking truth promotes individual healing, raises moral consciousness, strengthens the rule of law, and lays the foundation for democratic reform.
Not surprisingly, outcomes are far more varied, complex, and problematic than an insufficiently examined faith in the healing powers of speaking truth might predict. Nonetheless, there are few endeavors that more faithfully incorporate social work's fundamental moral imperatives than those that attempt to heal nations split asunder by human rights violations. Social workers in the United States and in other countries around the world can learn a good deal from considering the programs that attempt to promote healing and national reconciliation described in this issue.
Violence, oppression, and gross violations of civil rights currently saturate the world market. Accordingly, even partially successful initiatives teach us about what is possible, and equally important, what is not. Americans, of course, prefer to believe that internecine strife is an issue that only...