El rol de lo institucional en la Escucha de la Tortura

Abstract

This study derives from a broader qualitative research focused on elaborative processes associated with the socio-biographical impact of torture listening on professionals of the National Commission on Political Imprisonment and Torture held in Chile between 2003 and 2004. The research produced the life stories of 19 professionals who worked in this Commission, selected with purposive theoretical sampling. The data analysis was performed according to the grounded theory model. The results show how these professionals, through their institutional biographies and the group dynamics that emerged in the institutional context of the Commission, subjectively appropriated and adapted the role prescribed by the institution. Furthermore, it is shown that professionals are proud of their role in the Commission, but are also critical of reparation politics arising from it. The article then discusses how the position of "State listening" metaphorically situates professionals in the ambivalences of Chilean society with regard to torture listening. © 2013 by Psykhe.