The consequences of hope and disappointment: How unfulfilled expectations created in transitional justice initiatives can undermine a peace process

There is a complex, non-linear relationship between initiatives such as transitional justice and wider questions of co-existence and the peace process as a whole. Nothing is guaranteed to bring a specific result, and these interactions can be understood better as a complex adaptive system. One of the difficulties is that expectations are created – consciously or not – among survivors of injustice that their concerns will be addressed or their lives improved. Truth recovery processes, trials of those most responsible for the worst crimes, compensation, and efforts to ensure non-recurrence all build up legitimate expectations: to be heard, vindicated, achieve closure or even retribution, and to have a better life. These may or may not be achievable. What happens when these expectations are not fulfilled? Might it leave survivors or peace processes worse off in some ways, and how might that be avoided?